Where to Ski in the Blue Ridge Mountains

It's that time of year again: The leaves have begun to fall, temperatures are dipping further and further each night, and snow-lovers are gearing up for their favorite season. While the Rockies of the West boast the highest peaks, are memorialized more often in books and movies, and are home to the wealthiest, most-exclusive ski resorts, the Right Coast's Appalachians are home to a few choice ranges of their own. Most notable is the scenic Blue Ridge, which forms the western borders of North Carolina and Virginia; and in these hills, as the locals say, some of the region's best locations for winter sports are to be found.

When planning a skiing getaway, it's often a good idea to choose a destination with access to multiple slopes. If you're thinking about skiing the Blue Ridge, you would do well to make Boone, NC, your home base. With three premier slopes within a forty-five minute's drive, Boone has earned the nickname "Heart of the High Country." Two hours from Charlotte and situated in a valley on the range's eastern side, the college town, named for the famous pioneer Daniel Boone, is just a short distance by car to the big slopes of the range's western escarpment: Sugar Mountain, Beech Mountain, and Appalachian Ski Mountain. All three benefit from their west-facing geography because they receive the bulk of their snow from clipper-type, midwestern weather systems. These snowstorms occur when cold air from the Great Lakes region is pushed south and east, rising in elevation as it encounters the western slopes of the Appalachians. The result of this rising action is condensation, when the cold air encounters warmer air aloft, and when the temperatures are right: Presto, lots of snow!