Sugar Mountain Resort

Kind of sad, how this place receives all the hate on Unilocal.I have had only one bad experience (A minor difficulty with boot rental size) at Sugar in my… what is this year, the 5^th?
For the first three years we were 45 minutes away from Sugar and we still skied for 4 days. Last year, we were within walking distance! AKA No parking issues! If you are going to sugar and renting a cabin, MAKE SURE it is close, knowing sugar’s parking crap.
I have had some bad experiences; it was my own fault. I almost got kicked off the mountain, but luckily I got the polite ski patrol guy who helped me get my fallen snowboard out of the trees near northridge. (I didn’t get in trouble for going out-​of-​bounds,)
Compared to my last years at sugar, this year was by far the best. In fact, there was only one bad part: They removed the Load Off lift point! Usually, You can get off on the second stop. They entirely removed it! However, that is not enough to make my review fall of to a 4 star.
They added a new advanced slope called Gunther’s Way, a blue/​black that even challenged me (I am 13). They renamed the best slope on the mountain in my opinion (Oma’s meadow), added a new lift going from the bottom of Gunther’s all the way back to whoopdedoo.
They finally made the little grey lift for beginners like my sister; this way people that need to head up to the top no longer interfere with beginners (and their parents).
Knowing that this is in NC, you really can’t get any better than what Sugar has.

We board everywhere… a lot. NC, WV, CO, WY. People ask us all the time where they should go. We never tell them Sugar. They just opened a new 6 person lift and it still takes 45 to an hour to get on for a 10 minute ride to the bottom from the top. This «resort» sucks and the staff is miserable.
Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. Their staff will treat you like a dog before the day is over. Trust me, its like clockwork. You accidentally tear their paper lift ticket off your jacket and they tell you it’s void and make you pay full price for another one. That happened yesterday. To the hillbilly bouncer who felt the need to push me out of the office with his beer belly whIle yelling at me, congratulations… you’ve really gone far in life and i hope you feel special. Yea… they make so many paying cutomers so angry that they need ‘bouncers’ to escort them out. This isn’t the first time we’ve been treated like trash by their staff. Yesterday was the first time we’ve been back in 4 years because the last time they charged us full price for lift tickets and when we got out on the slopes there were huge breaks in the snow all the way across the trail. Mud covering a good 20% of the slopes to the point we had to unstrap and walk down. We finally made it to the infamous administration office and they wouldn’t refund our money. «You bought your tickets an hour ago» they said. Well no kidding we had to unstrap and walk down.
That’s ok though. We win. We had mud all over us when a group of 8 walked in to buy their tickets. We told them not to waste their money… just look at all the mud all over us, it’s a mess out there. They were grateful for the heads up and walked out while we all got a good laugh out of it. We convinced another couple to leave as we were walking to our car.
Way to go Sugar administration. What do they say? Karma is a what? Yea you may think you win but we lost you over $ 800 in revenue from lift tix alone and these people weren’t carrying gear so probably rental fees too.
We will never go back.

I see a lot of locals complaining and that worries me. My only complaint which was the biggest experience here was the group lesson that put us out $ 50 for myself and my 7 year old son. They stuck us in a group of 15 people so I didn’t hear a word the instructor said. Waste of money and time for our lift tickets.

Today I got kicked off the mountain. No it was not because I was going to fast, people. Today I was removed from the mountain with no warning because I sat on my ski poles on the lift. My first and only run went fine until I was approached at the lift line with a man ready to clip my ticket. He said I sat on my poles despite being asked not to and reaches for my ticket. Keep in mind I had headphones in and could not hear him, this was my first day of the season on new planks and I was not even aware this rule was a thing. He scoffed when I asked if I could talk with Gunther and then waited an hour for which I paid to ski and waited for Gunther. I apologized for what i did and Gunther, the general manager, proceeded to have the incompetent lift attendant clip my ticket. Which I refused and left on my own will. I was extremely excited to take a full day skiing at Sugar because of the new lift but they were so protective of it that they have now lost yet another customer to Beech. I’ve always been a Beech guy and will continue to make the longer drive because this place is run by idiots.

We drove up from Florida with our lab, stayed at the Best Western Banner Elk. I rented my skis from Extreme, located across the street from the entrance of Sugar. I went skiing on Wednesday Feb 11^th. Weather was perfect, sun was out. This is the best advice I have, is to go mid week and arrive early.
Trails are good for what they have. The new Gunther trail (blue/​black) will give a challenge to most. I had the most fun on the far left side of the map on the Oma’s Meadow trail because there was less people here and it’s a wide open blue square.
The best advice I would give to this resort is to get a high speed quad from the bottom to the top with no stops along the way (express). They have two lifts, but they’re slow. And when you get off at the top, you have to poll up a hill. Not that far, but it can cause a bottle neck at the lift exit. The lift needs to exit like it does for Oma’s Meadow, where you get off the lift and you can immediately start skiing down the hill.
We took some back roads to the top of the mountain, and were able to walk our dog in the snow which was nice.

We went skiing Pres Day weekend, so I expected a busy mountain — but this was insane!!! As mentioned it will take you a while to get from the outer parking lots to the mountain, but it was manageable. What they sell as ‘bunny slopes’ however can only be described a extremely overcrowded and very dangerous. You literally have people standing everywhere on the slope, doing basically nothing — and the staff couldn’t care less. Once you made it to the bottom, you will have the pleasure to stand with your small child on a long line which goes back up the mountain! So you are guaranteed that many of the beginners will fall over while standing in line, lose their skis etc. There were many other unforgettable moments, from the chair lift which was so fast that every other person had troubles getting on whilst the staff were watching them with a bored expression or the kid who fell over when trying to get off that same lift and the staff wouldn’t even slow down the lift so the next guy almost crashed into him. By far the worst skiing experience in my life.

We went there strictly to skate, so this review covers only that area of the resort. Boy, if you don’t get there early, expect to walk or take the shuttle buses but we were lucky enough to park near the ice rink and tubing area. They allow you to pay for your session an hour early (I suggest it, session fill up fast and only allow a limited number) but cant receive the skates until 10 minutes before session starts. The gift shop and snack bar are very small so if its very windy and cold it is hard to move about. Gift shop is very limited on merchandise. they didn’t have much for non self advertising stuff, like earmuffs I was looking for. the snack bar offers some gas station type nachos, hotdogs, stuff like that. hot chocolate (very small) $ 3 so don’t expect a grat lunch opportunity. The rink is a decent size but watch out for corners as there a very rough. person at rink is very friendly as offered to tighten up laces for daughter and wife. 1−½ session on weekends and holidays is $ 20. skates were pretty new, figure for women and hockey for men but they don’t have half sizes and daughter had to get mens cause they were out of her size in womens. if you don’t mind a little walk, its not too long of walk to main lodge (unless a lot of snow on ground cause there isn’t shoveled walkways from what I remember from awhile back.)

Did Snow Shoeing and it was a great experience. Cindy our guide was awesome, fun, and provided a lot of great information about the place. It is a workout so be ready. She gets 5 stars. However, the gift shop by the Tubing area sucks ! Bought a pair of glasses, came back within 20 minutes to simply exchange because if a scratch, which you can’t see inside because of the poor lighting and they were to incompetent to do that. Said it was a final sale, even though I didn’t want my money, same glasses and simply stepped out and came back. Manager didn’t even have the courtesy to come, place had 1 customer, me.

After snowboarding for an hour and a half which is when they groomed it… Thinking I had purchased a twilight ticket so I could enjoy the night the sales associate gave me a half day ticket, the management was terrible. Refusing to help me with the situation they just turned me away as if it was not there problem. If you can’t have a decent management to run run the place you don’t deserve a star not even one this is a key part in running a business… Sorry but this place needs to trim some fat before I come back

Terrible experience. The resort was extremely packed to the point that all 6 parking lots were full. They sold out of the 12 pm snow tubing session so we had to wait two hours to buy the 2 pm session. The snow tubing hill is tiny and it’s better suitable for children 12 and under rather than adults. If your lucky you’ll get half way down the hill and then stop. At this point you have to get up, walk over to the left side with your tube and get on the belt to get back to the top of the hill. If your looking for a thrill seeking experience it’s not here. It’s also extremely expensive. There’s no reason we should have to pay $ 30 for snow tubing for two hours, when I went down the hill maybe 10 times and $ 20 for ice skating. And once you finally get to buy tickets to snow tube you have to wait in line to go down the hill on your tube, then come back up and wait in line again. The nearest bathrooms have two stalls and no baby changing station which does not accommodate the 150 people attending every session in which at least ¼ of the people are kids. And the food prices are ridiculous too, $ 4.50 for a tiny hot dog and $ 3.50 for a can of soda. This is ridiculous, I will never be coming back here again.

Skied last night, even though there wasn’t a ton of slopes open, I really enjoyed it. We did get stuck on chair lift for about 10 minutes who knows why but we had fun and staff was pleasant. :)

Came here sugar this past weekend. I’ve snowboarded mainly breckenridge, vail and keystone so coming here was a huge downgrade. However it’s the east coast so I’ll take whatever slopes I can get.
I thought the lift tickets were expensive especially weekend prices which affects the star rating. I figure it’s because they keep the snow makers on for a good bit day and night time which is annoying cause they are loud and blow in your face on the lifts.
The redeeming factor of the experience was Wendy in group sales. I came here with a group of 17 and Wendy was exceptionally patient and quick with requests and quotes. I thought she went above and beyond even though I changed numbers for lift tickets, rentals, and lessons numerous times due to the group changing their minds.
Overall I would come back since it is convenient to Atlanta. I do wish there were more runs/​longer runs but I guess it’s not an east coast thing unless you go up to snowshoe or something.
Another thing to note is early in the season the terrain park and a lot of runs are not open so I would call ahead if that’s your thing.

I recently went snowboarding here on a saturday with a group of friends. Overall we had a good experience. We purchased everything as a group deal so getting the lift passes and rentals was a painless experience.
The slopes seems fine to me. Good length and wide enough for all kinds of riders to enjoy it. Keep in mind that the snow is machine made so on the slopes most of it will be either be in the form of slushy ice spots or rough, frozen ice spots (try your best to identify and avoid the frozen parts because it WILL hurt when you fall there). The slopes get compacted and rough after being groomed; proceed with caution if you are new to riding.
Some advice for the lifts. The main lift to the top (located at the end of the slope, to the right side, in front of the lodge) will, of course, always be busy. If you want to avoid that and at the same time enjoy many runs, then you should take the lift on the left side. It will only take you up half way, but then you can keep going up another lift that is a few meters up from that. Ride the slope down to NEAR the bottom where the main lift is located. I emphasized «near» because right before you reach the bottom of the slope, there is a section to your left with another lift that is visually just above the main lift. This lift barely has anyone waiting in it and takes the same path as the main lift. Always return to this particular lift to reduce your wait time.
Food and drinks are expensive at every resort, so don’t be surprised. The food is good enough, especially when you’ve been riding all morning/​day. I highly recommend you bring your own water because if you get dehydrated like me, it will cost $$$.
Come with the right expectations and leave with a good experience. I had fun, and so can you!

We enjoyed a couple days at Sugar, and stayed in a little condo at the top of the Big Red run, so getting to the slope was convenient. The runs are long, which sets it apart from Beech and Winterplace. I thought the slopes were nice, most were wide enough to navigate comfortably.
We did come on a weekend, and the place was absolutely overrun with people, so be on the lookout for out of control skiers and boarders that could possibly take you out. A few of them did, my whole family had stories at the end of the day.
Unfortunately, Sugar’s staff is less than glad to see you. I was chided by the lift ticket booth lady for asking about the college student discount for our daughter, and when we said we saw the discount available on the website, she said «No, that’s not on the website! Everyone pays full price on weekends and that will be $ 418.» Fine, whatever. No «Thank you» or «Enjoy your day» either.
These days, you almost expect crappy customer service, so needless to say I wasn’t surprised. I believe their employees may be ex-​DMV license plate agency reps that were previously fired for being too rude. The lifties were the same way. Basically there’s no spirit of appreciation here for their paying customers at all.
We did enjoy ourselves once on the slopes. Just ignore the rude staff. Trust me, they’re happy to ignore you.

Pros: Sugar has the highest and longest runs in the area. And that is where the pros end.
Cons: parking is a mess, if you are not in a walking distance lot, your school bus shuttle wait exceeds 20 minutes, we waited 40.
You pay for your lift ticket before renting your equipment. We were there on a busy weekend, and families bought lift tickets and found out there was no equipment left for their kids. Absolutely no refunds on lift tickets (around $ 60 each).
The lift lines were outrageously long — 45 — 75 minute waits.
The green slope dedicated to beginners was more crowded than an outdoor concert — groups of people literally standing on the slope chatting and taking pics. Crazy dangerous, and the staff was seemingly unaware of the problem.
In fact, the staff we encountered were condescending, abrupt, uninterested in providing customer service and seemingly unaware of the fact that they had grossly oversold their mountain that day. They ‘helpfully’ suggested people head over to App or Beech to rent equipment once they ran out — b/​c they would not refund lift tix. So hopefully you will take their advice, head over to another resort, and spare yourself the headache. I wouldn’t even return mid week after a 12 inch snowfall — the day was that bad.

Not impressed. Maybe it was party the weather, which was on the warm side, so the snow was very icy and hard… and not very plentiful. Paid for a private ski lesson for my daughter. First they make you pay for skis, etc, and a lift ticket before you can even sign up. Well, needless to say, my 5 year old didn’t even get on any lift, and didn’t even use the bunny hill. However, 86 dollars later, she’d had a one hour lesson with nothing else to show for it. I tried to get the lift money back, but they said she had to pay for it just to get onto the snow. Oh? So if you don’t get a lift ticket, the $ 56 ski lesson is indoors? Unimpressed. Would not come back.

Overcrowded, overpriced, would not recommend this skii «resort». Try this place during the week.
Too many novice skiers on the slopes.

Sugar is what it is. They have the ski business on lock in NC. The best way to sum it up is their #1 priority is getting you to pay for your lift ticket, other than that your on your own to make the best of it.
If you go on the weekend the mornings can be fun, but by noon the crowds will create 30 min lift lines. I have a blast when I can get out there on a weekday and maximize my runs. You will not get a lot of runs in on any weekend or holiday.
The staff is really notoriously and unapologetically awful and inconsiderate. It’s best just to ignore all staff and focus on the slopes which are relatively not bad considering it’s western NC. I chatted with a long time season pass holder and share owner and he was saying the staff behavior is a direct reflection of the owner’s approach to running the mountain.
Bring your own food and drink and ignore the parking staff. The food is god awful and overpriced, service in the bar was tailored to the regulars and locals, and the parking staff is clueless. Just drive around until you find a spot you want.
Worst lifts on east coast.
I recommend if you did decide to stay in the area it’s worth the drive each day to stay in Boone or Banner Elk. Sugar is not a resort I would plan an event or make a vacation out of it. Just good for a day trip.

I’ve never been to Sugar Mountain Resort before, so I didn’t know what to expect at a ski resort in the summer!
Sugarbrew on Saturday was a great way to meet the mountain!
I’d have to say during the busy winter season the main building is fairly small & it seems like it would get packed quickly. I only saw one set of restrooms, so hopefully there are others.
Ski Lift 2 is the only lift open during the summer & it’s a relaxing 20 min. ride to the top. (in the winter, tho — I’d be freezing and stiff by the time I got to the top)
There are plenty of hiking & biking trails to soothe your soul on a beautiful, summer day.
The weather was less humid than Charlotte by far with no buggies around. Definitely wear sunscreen — My sweetie & I got fried.
Check out the resort for summer events. Sugarbrew was a fun wine & beer tasting. There is also an Oktoberfest coming up. It’s only about 2 – 2.5 hrs from Charlotte.
Happy Trails!

If you live in Georgia, this is the best you can get within a 5-​hr driving distance. The price is quite high for the peak season $ 68 (9 – 4:30, or 12:30 — 4:30 & 6 – 10)
I went snowboarding on the 1^st Saturday of January. The snow condition was much better than I expected (snow condition from their website was: man-​made powder and frozen granular). The snow was great, but there were some icy spots.
The lift line was super short for blue runs since we arrived as soon as they opened. Around 12:30, the place started to get really busy and of course lift lines got longer.
Every employee I encountered was very nice and helpful. Big Red and Big Birch were my favorite runs. Can’t wait to go back!