The queer community loves skiing as much as the rest of the world. One might ask, why specifically skiing? Is there something to the sport in particular? Well, maybe yes, but also it might have to do more with making the ice-encrusted spaces safe for the LGBTQ+ community. Less than a decade after the Stonewall riots in New York, a man named Jon Busch was confronted and attacked for dancing with another man in 1977 at the Aspen Ski Resort bar.
Having helped officially found Aspen Gay Ski Week in 1974, where snow-bound condo parties may have originated, Jon and the queer community were not strangers to the area or the sport, but the 1977 attack would solidify the union of each. Inspired by the bar event, as well as recent news from Busch’s hometown of Portland, Ore. having passed a gay rights ordinance, he and a few local friends, including David Hoch, Tom Duesterberg and Russell Anderson, decided to bring that fight to Colorado’s snowy hills.
After kick-starting the effort by taking a customized version of Portland’s ordinance to Aspen’s City Council in 1978 and having it passed unanimously, 1979 took that step a bit further, making Aspen the first municipality in Colorado to pass an anti-discrimination policy for gays and lesbians. With Boulder and Denver shortly following suit, a legend had been born, as well as a new winter tradition for the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the notable LGBTQ+ athletes that participate in the sport are; Gus Kenworthy, a former U.S. freestyle skier who came out on ESPN in 2015; Anja Parson, a Swedish alpine skier who came out as lesbian in 2012; and Erik Schinegger, who came out as transgender and intersex way back in 1968.
In North Carolina, when it comes to celebrating those fights for civil rights, or just enjoying the sport itself, one only needs to look westward, where the elevations climb and the temperature drops and there’s usually no shortage of the white stuff. Whether thinking of a visit to Asheville, or heading over to Boone, chances are there are places among the ski slopes that would give all the opportunities necessary to create great memories in the snow. Of the resorts in Western North Carolina’s Appalachian hills, here are a few long-standing sites that will help you make your own winter wonderland memories.
Cataloochee Ski Area
Located in Maggie Valley in Haywood County, the Cataloochee Ski Area is one of the earlier opening resorts during each year. In the region the ski area takes up, Cataloochee has eighteen slopes and trails, with nearly half rated for beginners before getting to the more intermediate skill levels. If you or anyone in your group haven’t had the chance to ski or snowboard before, the Ski Area does have classes for both youth and adults. While the season passes for Cataloochee might cost as much as a couple hundred, the day and night passes are affordable, ranging from $30 to $42 depending on age.
Appalachian Ski Mountain
Where Cataloochee provides a good amount of the fun by providing the basics, Appalachian Ski Mountain (ASM) is the full package. Located in Blowing Rock in Watauga County, ASM is as similarly storied as Cataloochee. In fact, the opening of the former inspired the founding of Appalachian in North Carolina’s High Country region in 1962.
While the ski areas are a little less varied, with the trails counting up to 13 in total, it is the accessibility and wealth of activities at the area that make it worthy of checking out. The lodge that it originates out of also happens to be the home of the French Swiss Ski College, which in its tenure has instructed those from as high up as US military divisions, to handicapped athletes and southerners who have never seen snow. If your direction is looking for more intensive courses to conquer, ASM has that, as only two of its ski trails are cleared for the beginner level.
When not taking to the hills, the resort also sports an ice-skating rink as well as a restaurant at the lodge. For vacationing accommodations, ASM offers slopeside lodgings for those who want to be as close as possible, and even if the cabins owned by the resort are fully booked, ASM also partners with a few hotel chains in the area in order to give thrill seekers discounted rates.
Sugar Mountain Resort
Based in the town it shares a name with and located next to Banner Elk, Sugar Mountain Resort (SMR) is the largest ski area in the North Carolina mountains. Sporting a whopping 125 acres of skiable terrain, the resort has 20 trails to choose from that go up the area’s 5,300 foot peak elevation. For expert skiers as well as those looking to test their skills, SMR also has the state’s only double black diamond ski run, a label used for particularly steep inclines, making them the most dangerous thrills to newcomers of the pastime.
Among the outdoor activities the resort offers, SMR also holds the area’s largest ice-skating rink as well as an area for snow tubing. When the fun out in the snow is done, visitors can take advantage of the Last Run Lounge, a full-service bar and restaurant on the grounds. For housing inquiries, SMR unfortunately doesn’t have lodges for rental, however, there are many in the area, advertised on the ski area’s website.
Beech Mountain Resort
Differing from the other resorts, Beech Mountain is a year-round location that, in the winter, provides visitors with slopes to ski and board on, and along other parts of the year are proving grounds for those looking for downhill mountain biking trails. Within the 95 acres that make up the Beech Mountain Resort, there are 17 different slopes to choose from, including one of their specialty runs, West Bowl, which measures out to a mile in distance.
One of the great details about this specific location is how much the resort offers in other activities. Visitors have ample ways to warm up and refresh for the slopes ahead, whether that is bringing families into the Play Yard Provisions outdoor space, grabbing something hot in the First Chair Coffee Shop, or heading to the Beech Mountain Brewhouse for drinks, a full-menu and occasional year-round live music entertainment.
Sapphire Valley Ski Area
Finally, the Sapphire Valley Ski Area (SVSA), located in the town of Sapphire, presents itself as a great beginner spot for learning to ski and snowboard. Other than being a proving ground for new skiers, SVSA also has one of the largest tubbing offerings in Western Carolina, all encompassed in the Frozen Falls Tube Park. Those looking to stay a while in the area can grab a cabin or house lodging through their website link.
Each of these sites operate with snowmaking machines for the times of the year when the temperatures drop off and stay in the lower degrees, so no season in the mountains of North Carolina is ever missing a winter forecast. Many of these resorts are fully open from early-December to mid-March, but there is also a couple that open their doors for business before Thanksgiving weekend, so whether deciding to have a White Christmas, or just wanting to break in the season before the crowd, there’s always something available for skiers during North Carolina’s winter seasons.