Cataloochee Ski Area, Maggie Valley

This is a great area to go skiing or snowboarding. The rental process was very smooth and the prices were very fair. The lessons also were very helpful! The man made snow was a middle compact but nothing detrimental to the experience. The long lines were also handled smoothly and with tact. Recommended to everyone within 4 hours of here. Better than the average vacation and doesn't cost much more than you would spend doing something else. Gotta get back to Cataloochee!

Great skiing at great prices/ Our Youth group goes each year. Friendly staff. Normally, plenty of snow in mid February for good skiing. We pay about $55 per person group rate for 15 people when skiing on a non-holiday weekday.

There wasn't any natural snow and it was fairly busy when we were there; but the man made snow was top notch and the staff did their best to hustle lines along. If you have the correct expectations about skiing in this part of the country you won't be disappointed. We'll most likely start making the 4 hr trip annually to ski here. I didn't use any of the facilities here, stayed on the slopes all day. I rented ski equipment and bought lift tickets the night before at the Cataloochee Ski shop in Maggie Valley and would highly recommend doing this.

I visited this place coming from Atlanta ( about a 3 hour drive) around the end of December and loved it. I took my 11 year old brother and we found great beginner to intermediate slopes. Quick service on rentals (took 5 minutes) and the lift lines were quick too. It wasn't too hard to get here either (I drove up in an old coupe) because the roads weren't icy. My only complaint was that there were sometimes patches of just dirt (no snow) in the middle of the slope where people would trip or had to dodge. So they just need more snow really.

As far as NC ski resorts go, Cat is one of the best. A bit smaller than Sugar and Beech, but a worthy alternative if you want something closer than either of those two. Cat has nice, wide, smooth green runs for beginners as well as a couple tight and technical blues and blacks for advanced riders. Much better than Wolf Ridge! Skip the Wolf, ride the Cat!