How Culture Shapes East Coast Skiing: Shown Through Our Local Resorts

A nighttime drone image of Beech Mountain Resort in Beech Mountain North Carolina. This image showcases the front side of the mountain including the “Village” with restaurants and retail buildings. The mountain range of terrain is also visible. Photo Creds: VisitBoone.com

Harper Costin, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

East Coast ski culture is often framed as a lesser version of its Western counterpart, but in North Carolina, skiing operates on a different set of values. The culture that surrounds Beech Mountain, Appalachian Ski Mountain, and Sugar Mountain is rooted less in spectacle and more in a love built by community. Loved by locals, shaped by weather, and reinforced by the committed returners every winter.

These three resorts anchor winter life in Watauga County, where skiing isn’t a vacation activity so much as a seasonal constant. For many students at Watauga High School, the slopes function as an extension of campus. Opening day is excitingly awaited and tracked as closely as a school calendar event. The students that grow up skiing these mountains consider it second nature and, by high school, the routines are ingrained.

Beech Mountain is the highest ski resort in the Eastern United States, at a staggering 5,506 feet. Its higher elevation and colder temperatures allow for earlier and more consistent snowmaking, giving it an advantage when early winter conditions are unpredictable.

Opening day at Beech included excited guests and a music filled, celebration-like environment. Beech hosted a crowd made up mostly of locals and returning commuters who understand that early-season skiing is about patience rather than performance. Despite the conditions, turnout was high, a sign of how embedded skiing is in the local winter rhythm.

Appalachian Ski Mountain followed shortly after, opening with its characteristic emphasis on accessibility. Known for its night skiing, App attracts a younger, more social crowd, including many Watauga High School students making quick trips after class or on weekends. This year’s opening night carried the same energy it always does: bright lights, crowded beginner runs, and excitement in the air. App’s role in the local ski culture is less about terrain and more about exposure; it's where most people in the area learn how to ski, and where the culture replenishes itself each season.

Sugar Mountain’s opening day felt more deliberate. The resort was the first to open but shortly after, had to take a pause in its season until snowmaking could continue. With an older footprint and a reputation as the most “traditional” of the three, Sugar tends to open sections of the mountain gradually. This year, skiers reported variable conditions, with machine-made snow holding up best in shaded areas. The crowd was a mix of locals and visitors, reflecting Sugar’s dual identity as both a community mountain and a regional destination.

Together, these opening days marked more than the start of the ski season; they reaffirmed the role skiing plays in Watauga County’s identity. For Watauga High School students, the season brings part-time jobs as lodge workers and ski instructors, early morning drives up the mountain, and a shared vocabulary of conditions, runs, and snow quality that carries through the winter.

What defines East Coast ski culture here is not ideal conditions, but consistency. Snowmaking fills the gaps weather leaves behind. Community fills in where terrain falls short. Beech, App, and Sugar succeed not because they compete with Western resorts, but because they sustain a culture that shows up year after year, ready to excitedly ski whatever the season provides.