ASHEVILLE – Sure, the Rockies have their year-round, snow-capped peaks and attract Hollywood stars to their towering slopes, but the Southern Appalachians also offer stellar snow-sporting — at a bargain price.

Michelle Shuford, 48, learned to ski as a 5-year-old at Sugar Mountain and said the Western North Carolina skiing experience instilled in her a lifelong passion for the sport. Shuford is now membership chair of the Asheville Ski Club and a level II ski instructor with the Professional Ski Instructors of America and American Association of Snowboard Instructors.

“I used to say that skiing in the Southeast was a necessary evil because it used to be that conditions in the Southeast weren’t that great,” said Shuford, who runs Sunrise Sawmill with her husband, but teaches skiing every winter weekend at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley.

“But with today’s modern grooming and snow-making technology, we can have great skiing conditions. If you’re going to spend a lot of money to go out West and pay for hotels and take three days to get your ski legs underneath you, that’s not a good bargain, is it?”

Natural snowfall is provided by Mother Nature when cold air mixes with moisture. Snow-making machines basically replicate the process.

“We take compressed air and blow it through water. It freezes in the air, and consequently we have snow. The advancements in snow-making technology are so much better. Cataloochee has invested so much money and time into snow-making over the last five years. The guns are computerized so as you move up the mountain from base to the top, they make snow optimal for those temperatures and humidity.”

North Carolina has six ski areas, all in Western North Carolina, including the highest ski area in the East: Beech Mountain Resort in Avery County at 5,505 feet elevation; North Carolina’s largest, Sugar Mountain in Banner Elk; and one of the first to open in the country this season, Cataloochee Ski Area in Haywood County, which opened for skiing Nov. 2 and has stayed open since.

The ski area in Maggie Valley will even have a visit from Santa, who will ski the slopes on Christmas Day.

“The standards and the levels that we have to meet is as good as the instructors in the West. You can come and get national standard instruction for a quarter of the price as going out West,” Shuford said. “We have a wider range of conditions that we have to ski in and be able to teach in. It makes instructors in the Southeast more well-rounded, in my opinion.”

It’s also a fact that WNC is churning out some top skiers. Asheville Ski Club, which has a racing team that competes as part of the Crescent Ski Council, has finished first the past two years, and after this past weekend’s slalom racing at Appalachian Ski Mountain in Boone, is leading the racing series again.

David Harrison, the Asheville Ski Club’s race director, said the sport isn’t cheap, but can offer a lifetime of skill, exercise, discipline, team and individual effort, and is something families can do together.

Harrison, who lives in Weaverville and runs a collision shop, began racing with the ski club when he was 12, stopped after high school but recently picked it up again. Now he races with his 17-year-old son and his 8-year-old daughter.

“It was something I enjoyed doing as a kid and I thought it was a good opportunity to spend time with the kids while I’ve still got them,” said Harrison.

“It’s a good atmosphere, it’s outside, you can do it during the day or nighttime. My son and I can drive 45 minutes after work to go skiing at Cataloochee. It’s something to do during the winter to try to keep healthy, and it’s a good thing to do with your kids. Generally, it’s a lot harder to ski here since we have icier conditions. If you can master that, you can ski anywhere.”

The ski club is not all about racing, however. It’s a social club that meets for outdoor activities year round, and offers discounts during winter at WNC ski areas, as well as on trips to the big mountains out West.

Shuford said at one point the club counted a few hundred members, but it is down to about 150 now. She said it is on the upswing again after a decline perhaps owing in part to the Great Recession, and to procrastination.

“Today’s young people don’t seem to be long distance planners. The Crescent Ski Council has already voted on 2016 ski trips, but younger people, Gen Xers, don’t want to put money down on a ski trip in May. They want to wait to see good deals on the Internet,” she said. “And part of the decline (in membership) was the economy. Last year was the first time people felt like they could go on ski trips again. But why should people think about taking up skiing? Because you don’t want to stay indoors all winter. You want to get out in the sunshine.”

She said those willing to do some advance planning can actually save money. Membership in the ski club saves on local lift tickets and passes and up to 40 percent on bigger trips. The club is heading to Switzerland in January and to Steamboat, Colorado, in March. Those new to skiing will also find a welcoming from veteran skiers and those who want to share their skills and knowledge.

Jeff Kenrick, vice president of the Asheville Ski Club, said members range in age from preteens up into their 70s.

“I’m 56 and this is my second year racing,” Kenrick said. “I hadn’t been skiing in 20 years, and a couple of friends invited me to a meeting. My first race was at Sugar Mountain. I loved it. It kind of reminded me of playing sports in high school, before a big football game, the whole spirit of the competition. It took me back to a time I really enjoy.”

Racing is not gender- or age-based, but is based off a pacesetter’s par time, so that as each racer goes down the mountain, their time is compared to the handicap time.

“Points go to the team and divided by numbers, so it’s a team thing and an individual thing,” he said.

Skiing big business in WNC

There are six ski areas in North Carolina: Cataloochee in Maggie Valley, Wolf Ridge in Mars Hill, Sugar Mountain Resort and Beech Mountain Resort in Banner Elk, Appalachian Ski Mountain in Blowing Rock and Sapphire Valley Ski Area in Transylvania County.

According to the the N.C. Ski Areas Association’s economic value analysis report, the ski area industry in North Carolina provides 96 year-round jobs and 1,557 seasonal jobs. The industry generated more than $32 million in gross revenue from ski area operations, including lift tickets, lessons, equipment rental, retail stores and food.

The report also found the ski areas, which generally operate mid-November to the end of March, had an economic impact of $146 million in Western North Carolina during the 2009-10 season. The study did not factor in even more far-reaching effects of ski areas, such as summer value, social, environmental or cultural impacts.

Despite — or some say because of — the gradual Earth’s warming known as climate change, ski areas continue to grow and evolve.

At Beech Mountain, extensive mountain biking and downhill trails take over the ski slopes in the summer, catering to the growing mountain biking and hiking enthusiasm.

Skiing improvements this year include a Magic Carpet conveyer lift added to the beginner slope and a continued upgrade of the snow-making capacity with seven new high-tech snow guns. Off the slopes, the View Haus cafeteria has been completely remodeled, with a new fleet of Rossignol ski rental equipment, and a Burton Learn-to-Ride Center for snowboarders in the ski village at the base of the slopes.

At Sugar Mountain, a new intermediate slope named Gunther’s Way debuted this season. Featuring a variety of changing terrain, Gunther’s Way is situated on nine acres and is 150 feet wide and 2,900 feet long with a 700-foot vertical change. Ten new SMI snow-making machines now line the slopes.

“If you put in a brand new slope and don’t expand the snow-making system, you really haven’t made much of an improvement,” said Sugar Mountain Resort President Gunther Jochl. The pump house has been redesigned and rebuilt to accommodate an additional 1,000 gallon per minute vertical water pump.

The new slope changes Sugar Mountain’s terrain classification to 34 percent easy, 52 percent intermediate and 14 percent most difficult. The Ski Area now spreads over 125 skiable acres offering skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, tubing and snowshoeing.

Cataloochee Ski Area west of Asheville continues to offer skiing and snowboarding instruction and clinics designed to get all ages involved in snow sports. The popular Women on Wednesdays program, a six-week ski or snowboard clinic taught by women for women, continues starting Jan. 7. This year, there is a new program called Slide in Five.

Cataloochee marketing director Tammy Brown said the offer includes five days worth of skiing, five lift tickets and rentals, five lessons and a pair of Elan skis, for $299.

“We always have a big crowd on Christmas Day, people burning off those holiday calories, and a lot of people who have family in town and are looking for things to do in the afternoon and checking out their new gear,” she said. “We try to open as early as we can and stay open as late as we possibly can.”

Whether just checking out the slopes for the Christmas or New Year’s holiday, wanting to race or take up a new sport, or just to meet some new people, Harrison encourages families to think about Southern skiing.

“It’s a great thing for families. People should just come out and try it and see if they like it,” he said.

Learn more

The Asheville Ski Outing Club meets once a month at 6:30 p.m. at the Asheville Country Club, 170 Windsor Road. The next meeting is Jan. 8. The next race starts at 9 a.m. Jan. 10 and 11 at Sugar Mountain. Annual membership fees are $35 per individual and $60 per family. Junior memberships are also available and there is an additional fee to join the racing team.

For more information, visit www.ashevilleskiclub.com.

Western North Carolina Ski Areas:

•Appalachian Ski Mountain, 940 Ski Mountain Road, Blowing Rock. Ice skating, skiing and snowboarding. Call 800-322-2373 or visit http://appskimtn.com.

•Beech Mountain Resort, 1007 Beech Mountain Parkway, Beech Mountain in Avery County. Skiing, snowboarding, and outdoor ice skating rink. Call 800-438-2093 or visit www.beechmountainresort.com.

•Cataloochee Ski Resort, 1080 Ski Lodge Road, Maggie Valley. Skiing and snowboarding. Nearby Tony’s Tube World also open. For more information and snow report, visit www.cataloochee.com.

•Sugar Mountain Ski Resort. 1009 Sugar Mountain Drive, Sugar Mountain, Avery County. Now open for skiing, snowboarding, ice skating and snowshoe tours. For more information, visit www.skisugar.com.

•Wolf Ridge Ski Resort, 578 Valley View Circle in Mars Hill Madison County. Open for skiing and snowboarding. Call 689-4111 or visit www.skiwolflaurel.com.

•Sapphire Valley, 207 Sapphire Valley Road, Sapphire, Transylvania County. Skiing, snowboarding, tubing. Visit www.skisapphirevalley.com.

ASHEVILLE The Blue Ridge Parkway is seeking public input, through Feb. 9, on an Environmental Assessment for the Moses H. Cone Developed Area Management Plan. The plan would guide the future development and management of the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, located at Milepost 294, near Blowing Rock, about 90 miles northeast of Asheville.

The purpose of the environmental assessment is to describe the affected environment and analyze potential impacts associated with a no action alternative and two action alternatives.

Recommendations within the EA to be implemented would impact the Memorial Park within the lands administered by the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Memorial Park was originally known as Flat Top Manor and was one of North Carolina’s premier country estates.

Built by textile magnate Moses H. Cone and his wife, Bertha, at the turn of the 20th century, the estate features some 26 miles of carriage roads, manmade lakes, remnant apple orchards and a 23-room manor house. The National Park Service acquired the estate in 1950, managing it as a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

To review and comment on this document, visit the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/conedamp.

The website is preferred, but written comments may also be submitted to: Blue Ridge Parkway, ATTN: Suzette Molling, 199 Hemphill Knob Road, Asheville, NC 28803. Comments must be sent by Feb. 9.

Comments will also be accepted at a public meeting from 4-6 p.m. Jan. 15 at the Blowing Rock Clubhouse, 108 Lakeside Drive, Blowing Rock. Stop by at any time during these hours to meet with parkway staff and provide comments.

Ideas and concerns expressed by those who comment will be used to prepare the final proposal and impact analysis.

Comments are typically treated as a public record and made available for public review. Individuals may request that the National Park Service withhold their name and address from disclosure. Such requests will be honored to the extent allowable by law.