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Ski USA - North Carolina

Sugar Mountain Resort Reviews


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Visitor reviews for Sugar Mountain Ski Resort

Sugar Mountain Ratings

Overall: 2.4. Based on 5 votes and 5 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 3.0

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Sugar Mountain is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 2.3

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Sugar Mountain has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 1.5

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 2.3

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 2.3

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Sugar Mountain

Public Transport: 1.0

  • There are no buses or taxis to Sugar Mountain
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 3.2

  • No places to stay in/near Sugar Mountain
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.3

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 1.7

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Sugar Mountain

Ski in/Ski out: 3.3

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 2.0

  • There are no child care facilities at Sugar Mountain
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 4.3

  • Sugar Mountain relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.2

  • There are no snow groomers at Sugar Mountain
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Sugar Mountain are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.0

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Sugar Mountain is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.2

  • If snow conditions are poor at Sugar Mountain, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.0

  • Sugar Mountain usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 2.8

  • The staff at Sugar Mountain are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Sugar Mountain are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 2.0

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 2.2

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 3.7

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 2.8

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 3.3

  • No intermediate terrain at Sugar Mountain
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 2.0

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 2.0

  • Not even a kicker at Sugar Mountain
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 1.0

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Sugar Mountain
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 1.0

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Sugar Mountain has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 2.8

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 2.7

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 2.0

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 2.0

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 1.7

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 1.0

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 2.2

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 2.7

  • Overall, Sugar Mountain is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 1.7

  • Overall, Sugar Mountain is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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January 05, 2024
Oldest Dude from Ski USA - California USA - California
I was sent this web address to finally express my absolute disgust for what has become a "culture" at Sugar Ski Area in NC. The gross discrepancies in base snow depth reported by this owner has gone on for years and there is little anyone has done to stop this outrageous behavior. Example? January 2024. If you look at their website they are reporting a base of up to 70 inches! Are you kidding? My go-to Colorado resort is reporting a base of only 12 inches. Honest! a base of 70 inches would be many of the largest ski areas in Colorado, Utah and Cali combined! Consider a young family, perhaps new to skiing decides to go to Sugar Ski Area. The huge expense associated with a ski vacation is well known. Now to get to Sugar and see grass, especially on the tube sliding hill. Almost the snow has been man made and it is skimpy at best. 70 inches? It's deceitful and should not be allowed to continue year after year. If you call the area you will quickly learn that the staff is under orders not to divulge any info that may lead to the truth as to current conditions. I appreciate this forum to report this outrage. If you are a newbie to skiing, stay away! The nearby hill of Beech is not much better in the honesty department. Want to go skiing? Never Sugar Ski Area.
March 03, 2023
Kayla Crow from Ski USA - California USA - California
Horrible experience. Trails were in terrible condition and dangerous. They should not have even been open. Only 2 trails were open and no discounts given and no refunds. Payed $164 for our family to ski on mud slush and rocks. The greedy thief who owns this place should be reported to the better business bureau. We should have never gone in the first place because all we have heard around town is the owner is greedy and sorry. Do not go to Sugar Mountain ski resort.
February 04, 2021
A Miller from Ski USA - California USA - California
Middle aged former ski racer here, living in the skier's hi11 that is NC. For ski conditions, Sugar is the best in NC and one of the best in the SE. The main beginner run is segregated from the rest of the hill, so doesn't have reckless people using it as a highway to the lift. If the air is cold enough, they are making snow on the hill, which means the conditions are always the best in the area (but lots of blowing snow), and there's no skiing outside the area. There's usually no snow except right on the hill. However, and it's a big however, the customer service is the worst I've ever seen. It is cable tv and cell phone levels of bad. Lift tickets cannot be purchased except in person on site nor until the day, unless you come between 8 and 9pm. At 9:00:05, window is closed, even if there's 200 people in line. Kids lessons cannot be purchased except in person on site, from closing time until they sell out or until 6pm. Group tickets, just bizarre. They're a good deal but the headaches are painful. If you can afford the time, drive to Snowshoe or fly out west. If you can't, Sugar is your best NC choice but it's like they don't want customers.
February 12, 2010
Jim McUmber from Ski USA - California USA - California
I have rarely experienced such a lack of customer service. I live in a nearby county and called the resort about rates. Many resorts allow a special rate for kids that are out of school due to a snow day. I called Sugar Mountain shortly after they opened and asked if it applied for my daughter who was out of school and specifically for my county. The answer was not just yes, but emphatic yes that the day lift ticket would be $7 for my daughter. So I drove 50 miles to the resort, waited in line and when I reached the ticket booth, I was informed that my 12 year old daughter did not qualify and would be charged the full rate of $39. My next stop was the administration office to ask if they would honor the rate quoted on the telephone. The office manager gave me an immediate no. She then proceeded to tell me that the staff is trained and would not have quoted me the rates and accused me of not informing them on the telephone what county I was from.. I then told her that the person on the phone was one of their employees and they should at least give me some consideration since I had driven 50 miles to get there. Another emphatic no exceptions and that she was not authorized to do anything anyway (which makes me wonder what her job was if she couldn't take care of a problem of this sort). She then said I could fill out a complaint form which would be addressed within a week or two. I almost expected the proverbial 1/2" by 1/2" complaint form. Then I told her that the ticket agents were not even checking the id's of those claiming to be from local counties. The office manager said this was not true, even though we witnessed it 10 minutes earlier. In fact the agents were only asking for the school principal's name and the kids were all telling each other what to say to get in, even though they were not from qualifying counties. She then proceeded to tell me that the policy was communicated accurately and enforced by all employees. Clearly, they don't know what their employees are saying or doing. It does not surprise me that the earlier reviews said that the employees were rude. This is a direct result of the shoddy management. The bottom line is that you cannot trust the information you get by calling in. You cannot expect them to admit they made a mistake. You can expect to be treated rudely with no consideration of your situation.
February 14, 2007
Michael Cooney from Ski USA - California USA - California
I've only skied one day here and even though there had been no fresh snow the snow blower did a good job covering the slopes. Some slopes were a little bit icy though. Skiing with the snow blowers on makes you really cold, so I'll dress warmer next time and have goggles and a face mask. Slope variety is good, but I think they could use a faster chair lift to the top. Lines grew quickly as more people arrived on the Friday afternoon. I can imagine that the main chairlift could have huge lines on a good weekend. I look forward to skiing here again, but on a weekday.