It’s wintertime, and in some spots, fresh snowflakes are beckoning skiers and snowboarders to come out and play. However, there is no need to shell out for a plane ticket to find the goods. Southeastern ski resorts from Maryland to Tennessee offer secret snow stashes to fill your day with alpine bliss.
Ghent, West Virginia
The learning curve to ski or snowboard is infamously high, but oh, once you nail a run, there’s no place you’d rather be than the slopes. Winterplace is rated the top learning hill in the Southeast for several reasons. Learn-to-ski packages save budget on the gentler slopes, followed by a logical transition where 75 percent of the slopes are beginner and intermediate terrain. No worries about calling it quits once you catch the ski bug—all but two of the twenty-eight slopes are lit for night skiing.
Beech Mountain, North Carolina
You might not expect to find the East’s loftiest elevations in North Carolina, but at 5,506 feet above sea level, Beech Mountain Ski Resort stands higher than even many West Coast ski areas. The vertical drop of eight-hundred-plus feet is equally impressive. Four quad chairlifts convey skiers and snowboarders to seventeen trails shaped for every ability level. Non-skiers can rip down the huge tubing lanes, spend time on the kids’ sledding hill, and explore the charming alpine village.
Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Riding the Ober Mountain Aerial Tramway is reason enough to visit this winter. Board the tram right in downtown Gatlinburg, and you’ll soar into the Smokies in all their wintry sheen. Ober Mountain offers numerous ways to get your snow season on, beginning with great learn-to-ski or ride packages. The Snow Zone invites kids and their parents for a playdate in the snow, and tubing down the snowy slopes is a great way to round out a winter weekend.
Snowshoe, West Virginia
Snowshoe Mountain offers ample resort amenities within a four-hour drive from Washington, D.C. Celebrating their fiftieth anniversary this winter, Snowshoe’s thirteen lifts carry skiers and snowboarders to five dozen trails designed for every ability level. The 1,500-foot drop serves as an open invitation for shredders to burn those legs through the turns from top to bottom and back again. The Old Spruce Draft House is one of ten worthy après ski options in the ski-in-ski-out village.
Sugar Mountain, North Carolina
Sugar Mountain’s 125 acres make it the largest ski area in North Carolina. The 5,300-foot peak reveals a rare Southern double-black diamond expert run among twenty named runs accessible by nine lifts, including a high-speed six-pack to keep chair ride times to a minimum. The sweets keep coming at Sugar, given that 75 percent of the slopes are illuminated for night skiing. You can also opt for a little snow tubing or ice skating on the 10,000-square-foot outdoor rink.
Nellysford, Virginia
Wintergreen Resort will turn fifty years old in 2025, with twenty-seven runs set in the heart of the Appalachians. Mountain exploration comes in many forms here, like whipping downhill at the Plunge Snow Tubing Park, followed by a hearty soak in the Wintergarden Pool & Spa. The on-mountain experience is both mellow (with some great upper-alpine beginner terrain) and an adrenaline buzz via a quiver of advanced runs of the Highland Express six-pack.
McHenry, Maryland
When winter hits the capital area, adventurers flock west to Maryland’s Wisp Resort, which provides seven triple and quad chairs to whisk skiers and riders up and away onto over thirty named runs. Skiing off the top also reveals a beautiful panorama of Deep Creek Lake, the site of snowshoe and cross-country ski trails steps away from the cozy Lodge at Wisp.
