Blast of snow lets Sugar Mountain Ski Resort open early

SUGAR MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, N.C. — There’s snow on the ground and the slopes are open Friday night at Sugar Mountain Ski Resort.

It’s an early start this year, and Channel 9′s Dave Faherty says that’s welcome news for High Country businesses in desperate need of a rebound after Hurricane Helene.

Sugar Mountain said they had so much cold weather over the last two nights that they’ve been able to cover much of the mountainside. Just about every snow gun at the resort is on, allowing the resort to open Friday morning in Avery County.

The owners here say the early opening will not only help them, but businesses far away from the slopes still recovering from Helene.

“Frequent the restaurants, the hotels, the gas stations and the grocery stores. The entire support system that keeps Avery County alive,” said Kimberley Yochl with Sugar Mountain Ski Resort.

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A few miles away in Banner Elk, Les Broussard says Helene shut down his restaurant, the Banner Elk Tavern, during their busiest time of year. He had to temporarily lay off more than 100 workers as Banner Elk lost water and had damaged roads.

All of that has now been fixed, and he’s been able to rehire.

“We refer to snow this time of year as pennies from Heaven,” Broussard told Faherty. “It helps us transition from the fall, which we lost October because of Helene, but we are back to normal, back online. Things are looking great.”

The North Carolina Ski Industry pumps $240 million into the western North Carolina economy each year.

Visitors at Sugar Mountain are enjoying the winter blast and glad to be here.

“Not just for optimism and to give people stuff to do but it brings people up to all the other businesses. It’s really the lifeblood over the winter,” said Andrew Hart, who was visiting the resort.

About six inches of snow has fallen in the area, enough for some folks to even make a snowman.

You can see conditions at ski resorts across North Carolina by clicking this link.

(VIDEO: Cold weather means NC ski resorts can finally open for the season)