And just like last year, you thought winter was over! After a few, long, weeks of warm temperatures the weather pattern finally made a turn toward winter conditions. Snow making began yesterday afternoon and will continue as long as temperatures allow. In addition, beginning Thursday and lasting through Sunday cold and snow is in the forecast, which means more snow making, deeper snow depths, more skiable terrain and additional open lifts.

This weekend, December 8 through 10 visit Sugar Mountain Ski Resort, located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, for its annual SugarFest celebration.

Sugar Mountain Ski Resort is open for skiing and snowboarding.

Today skiers and snowboarders can expect an eight to twenty-four inch base on a man-made powder and frozen granular surface. The Summit Express is in operation to Sugar’s peak servicing the Northridge, Switchback, Upper and Lower Flying Mile slopes.

One-hundred percent of Sugar Mountain Resort’s skiable terrain is equipped with an underground piping system and surface machinery that produces manmade snow. Maintaining, upgrading, and replacing the 48 year old system is a constant work-in-progress. During the past summer months a 1,000 gallons per minute, high-efficiency, variable-speed water pump replaced the oldest of the four, increasing capacity by 15%. Two new fully-automated SMI tower snow machines were added to the current fleet. Each of these upgrades means more snow, more quickly.

Barrels and barrels of fun will be rolling during Sugar Mountain Resort’s Oktoberfest. The 27th annual celebration takes place October 14 & 15 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day.