Beech Mountain thriving despite warm winter temperatures

By: Cameron Crapps | TriCities.com
Published: February 05, 2012

Beech Mountain, NC --

Warmer weather has had much of our region feeling like spring and up on the mountain tops in Beech Mountain, North Carolina, some might think the temperatures have kept winter weather thrill seekers away from the slopes.

Despite highs in the upper 40’s and 50’s, boarders and skiers are still strapping up for a slushy ride.

Michael Saunders says these aren’t the best conditions he’s seen. He says, “It’s slushy but it’s soft, still make good turns. It's not ice."

And Tammy Gates says, "There's not a lot of people up here. These are the days to come up. A lot of people are missing out."

"I've actually done more snow boarding this year than I ever have." Talia Freeman works for Beech Mountain and says they haven’t seen a decline in business. "I think it deters people naturally, the warmer temperatures. Say, where you are in Johnson City, it can be almost 20 degree difference than here. Even the temperatures in Banner Elk can be significantly warmer than on Beech Mountain."

But others are making the drive because there isn't any snow. Freeman says, "An advantage to this year is we haven't had unpleasant road conditions so our client base has been able to get up here."

And Beech is blowing snow every chance they can. Freeman says, "We upgraded our snow making capabilities here so we actually tripled what we had last year in snow making."