Local Ski Resorts Plan for Big Weekend

BANNER ELK, NC — Skiers are soaking up the fresh, soft powder at Sugar Mountain and feel lucky they caught a real snow weekend.

“This is the first time we’ve come as a family, so we’re looking forward to the fresh snow. We hear that’s one of best things about coming here,” said Tennessee resident Jennifar Sullivan.

“We’re coming up from Atlanta,” said Alfredo Barquin. “We noticed it was going to be a few inches coming down, so we’re pretty excited.”

And so are the ski resorts. Kim Jochl with Sugar Mountain says they’ve had a great week so far and expect to be packed through the holiday weekend.

“Definitely impacts people when temperatures drop and we have snow flurries around Charlotte and the mountain,” said Jochl. “Definitely gets people in the mood for skiing.”

And after a long day skiing, they hit local businesses like Bella’s Italian restaurant in Banner Elk. Business owner Craig Simmons says the patronage is much needed.

“It’s been a rough going for us through holidays and Christmas and New Year’s, but finally we got some snow and it helps our business a lot,” said Simmons.

Which locals says helps keep their economy going all year around.

“The busy weekends over ski season and summer really help the economy so we can have restaurants really good like this,” said Banner Elk resident Adam Binder.

Sugar Mountain says they have all their slopes open, and they’ve even just added a new slope, so they are full operational and looking forward to a packed weekend of skiers expecting more snow through Presidents’ Day on Monday.