January 2023 by lesley reed
These guys are the best! Their customer service is superb and they know their stuff. We don’t ski at App unless our kids are racing and I choose to come here for gear instead of the numerous ski shops in Banner Elk. I have purchased numerous items including boots, skis, poles and clothing and have been happy with price and quality. I was thrilled to be able to demo the skis I wanted to buy. They have always shown patience in selecting what is best for me and I have never felt pressured to buy. Keep doing what you are doing and we will be back year after year. Thank you for your exceptional service!
June 2022 by Wes & Liz Lewis
The owner is like a brother to me
February 2022 by Bob H.
Poor to mediocre. 1. We skied at ASM on a Monday when the temperature was in the low 30's. The low temp previous night was in the teens. There was about an inch of snow on solid ice in many places. They need to be making more snow. 2. When we arrived there were no signs about where to go to check in, and there was no one at the cashier's window. Turns out the cashier was helping someone at the malfunctioning computer reservation system. Then she came to the window and her ticket printing machine was malfunctioning. 3. We were supposed to "measure our heads" for helmets using one of the many non-functional tape measures affixed to the wall. Gave up on that. 4. Got our skis and boots and helmets. Bindings on my 7-year-old's skis were incorrectly adjusted. Too loose. The bindings would release with even a slight fall. 5. The doors from outside into the changing room were not automatic. Carrying skis you had to try to pull open heavy doors that opened outward. Very, very difficult unless you're an adult male. This is really unacceptable. 6. The "restaurant" was filthy. 7. The group lesson for my 7-year-old had 6 students, including two 5-year-olds who weren't capable of putting on their own skis. They took up a tremendous amount of the instructor's time. Our child maybe got the equivalent of 15 minutes of instruction. The instructor was patient and very competent, but they need to segregate the very young students who are going to take up too much of the instructor's time. The cost for lift tickets and rentals for a 9-hour weekday session for one junior and one senior and a 1 hour group lesson for our child was $145. This is waaay too much to pay considering the quality of the experience. I doubt we will be coming back. I'd say you really have to be ignorant of how a good ski resort is run to be willing to patronize this place. Really kind of pathetic.
January 2022 by Hyoun K.
First time snowboarder here. I knew I wanted to try it and between App, Beech, & Sugar, I knew App was probably the most beginner friendly (from reading other reviews). I now have 1 full day of snowboarding under my belt and couldn't be more pleased. I pre-purchased all the snowboarding clothing prior to flying into Charlotte. I reserved my ticket, terrain pass (not knowing what that was), and snowboard, boots, and bindings online. App tried to streamline the process by sending me an email a day before on what to do when I get there, but it was a little overwhelming. Here's what I did: Step 1: Check in at the counter, get your ticket and locker rental out of the way. I don't know if lockers are cash only because I had cash on me. You get $5 back upon return of the key. Step 2: Go to your locker, throw all your stuff that you don't need in there. Step 3: Get your rental equipment and put it on so you can make sure there aren't any issues. Walk back to your locker and toss your shoes in there. Step 4: Hit the slopes or go to the meeting area for your instructor. I did rent a session with the French-Swiss Ski College and it was really beneficial. I watched a lot of YouTube beginner snowboard videos but it really helps when a person who knows what they're doing tells you what you're doing wrong. This was enough to get me set for the rest of my time there. Ryan Click was my instructor. He was awesome. By the end of my day, I was doing the Blue Square slope - Strudel without falling and was coordinated enough to record it on my phone while going all the way down. I'd highly recommend this place!!!
January 2022 by Matthew Edge
Brandon was extremely helpful taking time finding a helmet that fit and was in our price range.
January 2022 by Brittney L.
Pros: Beginner-friendly slopes. Super helpful staff. Clean facility. Various classes for beginners. Easy access. Easy setup and process. Cons: Food is very overpriced as with any place like this. Some parts of the lodge smell like dirty feet/socks. Crowded. Overall we had a great experience and would visit again.
January 2022 by Chris K.
I'm a 50 year old dad with wife and 3 tween kids. App Ski is our goto place from Charlotte for a day of skiing or boarding. They are always well staffed with local college kids. The check in process is pretty well organized. We usually go for night skiing to avoid the crowds and costs less. The lodge is kinda old and the dining is mediocre but the nuts and bolts for a good ski are all there. Seems more relaxed than beech or sugar.
December 2021 by Miles G.
If you plan on snowboarding here, I would not recommend. I've been to a dozen ski resorts, and this has by far the worst customer service. On December 29th, my girlfriend and I drove up from Charleston, SC where I'm stationed on one of the rare occasions I get time off work. She really wanted to learn how to snowboard, so we paid $330 for rentals and tickets. When we got there, I already noticed a severe lack of snow. They have the machines to make it, but they hadn't been used in at least 3 days. Every hill had large patches of grass and dirt showing through and the snow that did exist was slushy and not good condition for a first timer. All of their black diamond slopes we're shut down because of this. It was also severely overcrowded, because they announced a 50% off ticket prices for skiing only. Despite this, we already paid for the trip so we were going to make the most of it. We picked up our rental gear and went outside. I spent the first 2 hours teaching my girlfriend the basics, then we decided to take a little break for food. When we came back outside, someone had stolen my rental snowboard. We went to the rental office to report it and to get a replacement, only to be told I had to rent another if I wanted to continue snowboarding for the remaining 12 hours I paid for. All they did was announce the missing snowboard and hoped for people on the slope to stop and check their boards. We checked back in for the next 4 hours and no one had returned the board. They will issue another set of skis if they are stolen, but not snowboards. So for the remainder of our time there, my girlfriend and I did not get to snowboard with each other. She got to go down a few more slopes while we hoped for someone to turn it in. Another man said the same thing happened to his daughter. And when someone tried to turn in his board, the guys at the rental office gave it back to the person returning it because it wasn't his board that he rented. It was the daughter's missing snowboard, but they didn't bother to check if it was the missing one. The only reason the daughter got her board back is because they happened to be walking into the office and overheard the conversation about that guy returning the wrong snowboard. Overall, just very poor management and even worse treatment towards it's customers. Skiers take precedence here over snowboarders. Only skiers got the 50% off slope discount despite the horrible snow condition for everyone and only ski rentals will get a free replacement if they are stolen. Choose any resort besides this one.
December 2021 by Emily L.
As a first time skier, I highly recommend taking the lessons. I did the group and thought Thomas was a very patient and thorough instructor, he did an amazing job! There was only one beginner slope open and the weather was quite warm so even though we rented out all the clothes and equipment, the ski jacket really was unnecessary. I found the slope to be quite fun but repetitive after a bit since it was the only one I was comfortable skiing on. Overall, I had a fun time with the family!
November 2021 by Patricia L
We can't enjoy the ride because web site says you can purchase in situ but when we arrived, it was sold out two days ahead.Also I tried to inform myself by phone but no one answered, because I saw on the web site single ride(16 dollars adult) wasn't available, only 3 rides for 35 dollarsI guess it's fun but I can't really tell about it
November 2021 by Dawn Marie Del Monte
The shop was very clean and had a lot of good deals. There was no wait for the cashier.
November 2021 by E W
my son got some new boots and they were hurting just one of his feet. he has wide feet so his boots are already about as big as they can safely be. i was actually prepared to buy brand new boots. the boot fitter Gen, had some great suggestions and actually didn't think a new set of boots was the best option. she worked with us on some tweaks and suggested some new socks and all has been right with the world since. she actually saved us a good bit of time and money. I am truly grateful.
March 2021 by Joe P.
One of North Carolina's most accessible ski destinations, App Ski Mountain is a great place for beginners to learn the sport, and a surprisingly decent spot for intermediate skiers to enjoy a few hours of fun on the slopes. Less than 2 hours from Charlotte, it's close enough for a day trip -- which is perfect, because it won't take most visitors very long to get bored on the hill and its handful of trails. But their French Swiss Ski College is outstanding, with friendly instructors and super-affordable lessons to help novice skiers of all ages learn the basics. My daughter saw significant improvement in her control and her turns after just a single one-hour lesson, and the mountain's wide intermediate hill gave her lots of room to improve as the day went on. Lift tickets and rentals can be purchased in advance (and actually MUST be, in the Time of COVID), and I was extremely impressed with how quickly we were able to get our gear and hit the slopes. Their rental operation is fast and efficient -- the only downside is the locker rental, which required us to wait in the lift ticket line for 15 minutes at the end of the day to return the key and recover our deposit. The 4 trails are accessed by 3 modern and efficient lifts, and the lines moved pretty fast on our visit. Strudel, the easiest trail, has a forgiving grade but is too narrow and overcrowded with novice snowboarders to create the right environment for beginners to practice. My daughter and I moved to the much wider Appel trail, which beginners will want to access from a midway point on the lift. Even the 'Black Diamond' Upper Appel is a great trail to learn on, and the nearby Orchard Run has some challenging turns. There's even a narrow, advanced trail with moguls for the more experienced skier. Food in the restaurant is predictably poor, and tables are hard to come by at peak times. Parking, however, was close and convenient, so you may want to consider packing a cooler and tailgating it when you need to recharge. All said, App Ski Mountain is a terrific place for Charlotteans to get in some basic skiing without spending hours in the car. And if for those just getting into the sport, it provides a friendly (and extremely affordable) environment to get started.
March 2021 by Steve Day
All was a great 72nd Birthday celebration....but,there weren’t any sweatpants available
February 2021 by Mary Kirchoff
We decided we wanted to purchase skis and decided it was best to demo them first. We picked Alpine Ski Shop as their program was excellent. For $50 you could try as many skis as you wanted that day and if you chose a skis, the $50 went toward the skis. We could not decide the first day, so we paid another $50 to try a day of skis again. In this case $100 went toward your ski purchase. We had so much friendly assistance from Hunter, Ben, Greg, Brandon, Joanna, and John. They all helped us so much. I bought skis after the second day but my spouse needed one more day. You still only get to use $100 toward a pair of skis even if you go 3 days of demo, but it was well worth it. We were so grateful we were able to find skis we loved and were so well educated. We highly recommend the Alpine ski shop at Appalachian ski mountain.
