MUST READ! I've been snowboarding for many years, and I have to say... this was the WORST place I've ever been! If you like snowboarding on pure ICE then this is your place. Do yourself a huge favor and go to appalachian ski resort. I've been there many times and have never had to deal with ICE. This place is poorly managed, and extremely dangerous. Also, they advertise a terrain park, but they NEVER set it up. AND, They advertise tubing, huh... don't make me laugh. It's just a tiny hill with snow and ICE, and also very dangerous. We went to check it out, and only one person was tubing. Well, He wasn't tubing when we saw him. He was sprawled out on the ice with an injury. He ended up leaving in an ambulance. Needless to say, we passed on the tubing. What a joke this place is. I would give it a zero, but it's not an option. If you're a beginner I would not recommend this place due to the ice. Save yourself the aggravation, a trip to the ER, and wasted money! Go to Appalachian. You'll thank me later... I promise!
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A great time, close to Asheville, and a great snowmaking team and equipment , but staff could be nicer, I guess somewhat to be expected from high schoolers.
On New Years Eve, one of the busiest days of the year, and the lift attendants are sending up singles and doubles on a quad. Lift line was close to 45 minutes long at time. There was no singles line. The rental equipment was terrible, wet boots that are completely packed out and bindings that are set up with massive overhang off the board. Terribly ran resort .
I'd like to start by saying that if you go here (a popular ski area) during peak season OBVIOUSLY there are going to be long waits. Just like Disney. That's hows things work. We were smart enough to go when it wasn't peak season and had no wait times, we also went during the week and avoided the weekends. If you want a crowd free vacation without long waits then be smart enough to plan accordingly. Do not blame Cataloochee for your poor planning. I feel I shouldn't have to say that but looking at the reviews I felt I needed to. We came here January 2018 during our vacation and had an absolute blast! The staff was friendly and helpful. The area was beautiful and clearly taken care of. We used the rentals and had no issues. After our morning on the slopes we enjoyed food and drinks there. The snowjob drink was just what I needed to warm up. We went here and Ober Gatlinburg and had a way better time at Catalooche. More slopes for the beginners and the atmosphere was just better. At Ober there seemed to be a lot of local teens shouting a lot, it was pretty annoying. Can't wait to come back to Cataloochee!!
Great place to take kids. The runs are usually good. March 6, 2019 - the runs were so good it reminded me of Colorado skiing. Now two days later I got to ski in a blizzard.
I went with my youth group here this weekend, I can say from experience that it was really fun once you learned how to ski. But the I would NOT recommend that you go to the ski class. (Get some one you know to teach you that can take the time to help). For one the instructors are rude and get easily frustrated because you can't ski like a pro by the end of there hour class.2, I was very disappointed with how the staff treated the newbies. This is my third year going and being from Florida, I was not very good, because I had not practiced, simply because it doesn't snow and in Florida skiing is not really a thing we do down here. But my third day I was hitting the double black mountain. If a girl born and raised from Florida where it does NOT snow, anyone can do it. I will be coming but will be ignoring all the rude staff yelling at me to do something, when I don't need help and am NOT in there group. Fun but rude staff.
2.5 hours to get tickets and equipment. The boots all run small, we had to exchange for bigger sizes. Beginners area was full of people and absolutely no were to go. Lots of green/grass where there was suppose to be snow. In all fairness it was about 59 degrees and everything was melting. We left after an hour. Not a good experience overall.
Great place to take the family skiing! I taught our 4 boys how to ski here and they have been skiing as far as Utah and still this place is there favorite! Our youngest son is 6 and he started skiing here at age 3! We love this place!
This place is absolutely righteouse just about all the runs are gnarly especially upper snowbird it's super fun when it's snowing but it's still awesome if it's not snowing I go up there all the time and it's definitely the funnest and best well kept ski resort around here they have some super fast and fun runs for experienced riders and some slow and easy runs for beginners it's definitely aa good place to go
Awesome job hell when all other so called nc ski areas that claim to be one of the best ski beach, looks like they need a crew like cataloochee and how much more terrain is open than them they should be ashamed great work cataloochee
It's hard to believe they charge $67 for one lift pass and 8.50 for a cheeseburger but they do. On the plus side it's only two and a half hours from North Atlanta area which is why I go.
Probably the most unorganized place I have ever been to. It took 3 hours to get on slopes because of the three different lines you had to get in line for. Waiting was not the issue it was the way they had no order to this place. I do not mind waiting when things are organized and efficient. The slopes were ok but signs were not placed in good spots to direct you which would be on theme here. The only reason I am leaving two stars because of the kids running the place were very sweet. Tip: rent from somewhere down the hill it will save you a good bit ($300 for my husband, myself and 6 year old on site) and the longggg wait time for equipment rental! Also make sure you have four wheel drive if they are packed because we had to drive up the mud hill to park in our SUV
As good as it gets for skiing in the southeast. 800 vertical feet is good. long lines during busy times. you might be waiting in line more than actual skiing if you come during holidays. but it can't be helped because this is the southern most ski resort so everyone south of here will come here. It is very narrow. only 3 lifts for two main routes. Food is typical and expensive. I live 3 hours south and always come here 6-12 times per season.
Terrible lines, waited 3+ hours in the ticket lines and rental eqip't. I purchased online tickets but there is no separate line for having done my due diligence. I also purchased an all day pass and they wouldn't credit me for the half day. They only offered for everyone to stay foir twilight. With young children, that was not an option. The excessive lines carried on to the lifts. After 45 minutes in the lift line, my girls were almost hit so many times by first timers apologizing for not knowing how to stop. I was told by employees, there is no capacity limititation. Overcrowding slopes does not make a good nor safe experience. It was not this way in my past decade of going here. So disappointing.
local mountain, people write bad reviews because they come at bad times when there is a lot of people. the reason staff is rude is because they have to deal with a large amount of people in a short time period, and it is very over whelming for them. just imagine people coming up to you all day and asking the same question, it would get pretty annoying. the slopes are usually always good, people shouldn't complain because the cat hasn't gotten any natural snowfall, therefore we have to go in snowmaking overdrive and make snow at all possible times to keep snow on the ground. i reccomend coming mid january and February for the best experience.
Cost- 4/5. Good value for cost. The Mountain- 4/5. For beginners. Website- 4/5. Webcams and daily info. Staff and service- 1/5. Cascade of failures.
My wife and I are intermediate/advanced skiers who have skied both Northeast and west- Colorado/Utah/Montana.
We were using this for two kids under 8 for second time on skis. We knew it was going to be low on acreage and not for our own skiing expectations. We paid around $200 for the four of us for a weekday lift ticket and rental. The mountain itself was great- we got real snow all day long and they were making snow. A good couple of runs to break the kids back in.
The service and rental layout were low points. Most of the staff were teenagers who were constantly talking in another language. That's absolutely ok as long as they talk to you as well courteously. The lift ticket counter people rushed us even though there were only a handful of people in line. Far from courteous. We then walked over to the boot rental- the boots and skis were in different shops. The person who gave us the boots was extremely hard to understand and wasnt helpful when we told her the boots didn't fit my daughter. We had to ask her to help get the boots on the kids and she wasn't communicating with us. Then we walked over to the skis. They were all talking in another language to each other instead of talking to us. I immediately noticed that they didn't test the boots in the skis before they gave us the skis. "That's ok", I thought, even though the 20 other places I've been to have always tested them first. Should have checked them ourselves! We trek our way to the mountain and up the lift to find out almost all of our skis would not get in properly. We were told to go back to the shop. We refused and asked if they could help us right there. The young man eventually had mercy on us and helped us adjust them. When people fell off the people mover/belt, (one time was my daughter) the young staff weren't watching and had zero reaction time. They had to be flagged down to help.
From there on, the skiing itself and mountain were decent because we had snow- real and fake. It is small but good.
They are beginner slops. The second I got my skis on to hop on a lift a little girl who didn t know how to stop went flying into me from the back and I flew backwards. Of course not the sweet little girls fault but the mom who was allowed to put her poor little girl on a trail that she wasn t ready for. Non of the staff saw and people were falling into each other left and right. Staff was scarce. When they say assume injury, assume injury at this place. Easy slopes though!
Very nice place but I think for the price they charge to go sky they should have the place in a very good condition, the bathroom weren't clean and the we went to eat at the cafeteria and it was garbage everywhere, garbage cans were full, but the rest nice olce for the kids.
They oversold tickets so badly the day after Christmas we never even got skis for our 1/2 day time frame. They offered return tickets which would have been fine if we were local but are completely useless because our group is from out of state.
***Update, this has been made right by us. Apologies have been made and a refund has been sent so they do get back a star for that.
Great place for beginners, families and intermediate skiers. Great lodge with good food and cold beer. Ability to rent everything you need all in on place.
Staff were all nice, and the facilities are okay. Night skiing is set up well, too, except for having to deal with the snow makers blasting you. It s relatively inexpensive, too, although I m comparing that to Vermont, which is pricey for the Northeast.
The lack of stars here is actually not about the mountain itself, though it is small, or any of the facilities...more about the other people that ski here. The mountain seemed to be full of true beginners that had zero regard for their own health and safety, much less yours. I d say about 75% of the other skiers had absolutely no business being anywhere other than the bunny slope, yet were throwing hell to the wind and going all the way to the top. Honestly I saw about 10x more extreme wipe outs than I ve ever seen at any other mountain (and I ve skied US, Canada and Europe many times). Also a significant number of beginners not wearing helmets, which is insane and probably something Cataloochee should make mandatory. I m not a stuffy ski etiquette kind of guy, but my wife was shouted at by someone higher on the mountain than her to get out of the way , and both of us had people ski over our skis on the hill and on the lifts multiple times. My wife also took a lesson and said the instructor was also a beginner skier, and wasn t able to impart much more than the very basics.
If it s a quiet day, and you know what you re doing on the hill, then Cataloochee seems like a decent mountain at a very good price, but I wouldn t recommend it any other time because of the amount of nubes that don t seem to care about using you as their emergency brake.
It s great place for beginners, they have class for very cheap $22. Even it is hard to maintain snow in March, they are doing job in maintaining it. I really loved, I am gone visit place again and again
Catalooche Ski Area was so much fun! Everyone was so friendly and helpful. Considering having to rent everything I needed, it was worth the cost. We want to return every December! Gerald, Sandi, and Paul were encouraging and professional! Catalooche is a wonderful place for all ages and skiing levels!
I broke my arm snowboarding on 12/12/18. From the moment I realized I needed help, ski patrol was on their A game! They were so calming, ensuring, and even made sure all my belongings were accounted for. Every single staff member was helpful and kind! They called my boyfriend to express my injury and made excellent decisions in regards to my treatment options and best next steps. When I heal, I'll definitely be back to board Cataloochee! Great mountain and wonderful staff!
I was very disappointed last time I was there. The slopes were basically a sheet of ice with a dusting of snow. It was impossible to control speed going down the mountain and everyone kept falling. On top of terrible slope conditions, the employees working the lift exit ramps were LAZY and wouldn't get out of the shack to fix the snow as you get off the slopes. It was horrible and everyone kept falling getting off the lift. I emailed the email address on their website about 2 weeks ago to let them know how upset I was that I wasted my time and money that day and I still haven't heard back from them. I guess customer service and customer experience is not priority to them. All this makes me not want to go back.
I had a great time here with my friends. The only problem is it got icy on the second day so it was very dangerous. Some of the lift lines got very long, but that was on a holiday weekend.
1963 early December drove to Cataloochee with two Auburn buddies to SKI and got there at 3 AM. All they had was a solid stone ROUND warming hut About 49 wide with a huge fire pit inside. We found a spot on the bench that went all around the walk and piled in and went to sleep. Everybody was wearing car-coats with hoods NOBODY had ski clothes EVERYBODY had cotton gloves! Early the next morning the fog was thick and the patch of snow was about 40 wide and 200 long! It was too warm to make snow but we did ski for about 4 hours on that little patch with our leather ski boots......At about 11 AM we cut a trail for Gatlinburg and ice skating at the rink that was on the corner of To road to Orchard loop! I learned to skate and ski a little that weekend Been skiing ever since have skied over 40 majors over North America and still ski at 76 years old! We always save a trip for Cataloochee the birthplace of my family s skiing......see you SOON....have fun, wear a helmet and ski inbounds....Lol DON BRADFORD ALABAMA
Not a bad small ski resort. I did not pick a great weekend to go up there, with it being Valentines Weekend and Presidents Day the following Monday. There had to be 4k people trying to get on 3 ski lifts. The wait time was terrible because of it. I will have to go back and try it on a less busy weekend.
As for the actual mountain and skiing. It was a pretty good little ski resort. I do think there needs to be more signs to the names of trails. Overall not a bad place. If you're an experienced skier, about a day is all you can handle. Only one somewhat challenging trail and after you do it several times you tend to get a little bored.
I went late in the season but most of the trails were closed and the ones that were open were mostly mud. Not sure what it is like during peak season however
Had a great time and the staff was very helpful teaching my wife how to ski. They were the only ski slope open during the weekend we went and had not planned to go there but we really enjoyed it.
It is a good place if you live in the south and don't want to travel far. And for it being in the south there is alot of snow and slopes compared to other places in the area. The lodge is crowded most of the time, but from my experience it is fun, like going to a football party. I can't say the staff is the best or most competent, but they are definitely friendly.
I've lived in this area for many years and have boarded at all the local areas. Cat not only has a very aggressive attitude to make the slopes as well covered as possible but also a very good terrain park for more experienced riders. I was lucky enough to score a job last year and can tell everyone first hand the owners care less abt making profit and more abt giving us the best they can offer everything from racing, a day care/ lessons program for kids, and even after school programs and women programs. It's the cheapest around and the management is wonderful its a great place to go and a great place to work.
This is a great place to go skiing. The employees are always very friendly and the rates are reasonable. For those of you who complain about overcrowding, don't go on weekends and you'll be fine!
Poor organization, rude staff and lack of bigger area for beginners. I liked the way they handled the kids though, this is the only thing I liked about this place. I have ski in other areas in NY and this one is much worse. Yes, it is NC, but I have been to smaller mountains in NY and they were much better organized than this one.
Nothing wrong with the place. Very good for what it is and where it is. They're certainly better places for serious skiing, but this is a great place for the family, and more than challenging for the kids.
Horrible experience I do not recommend this ski resort. It was oversold so we had to wait in a 2.5 hour line just to get our rentals. The workers were incompetent which led to multiple injuries in our group. First they failed in adjusting the skis we rented a total of 4 times. Then when we were getting off a lift a little girl had fallen on the off ramp of the lift and the idiot running the lift didn't stop it which led to a crash and an injured knee. They were nice enough to refund one of our tickets, but come on - how stupid do you have to be to not know to stop the lift when someone is down on the off ramp. I will never ski here again and I recommend the other resorts in the area over this one for sure. The runs were all ice and many were closed. Food sucked and employees were rude. Reggy ski experience overall.
Small but fun. I went on a Thursday in Jan from 9 to 130 and there were little to no lines on the lift to the top. They do a lot with a little. The blue run is banked most of the way down with hips and small jumps to make it a playfull ride down. Great warm up to the blacks. Downside is the terrain park is just three rails. Runs are really short too but with no line on a weekday, i didnt care so much
It's been a rough year with the warm weather. But cat still does not groom the slopes enough so it's always slick and icy. This is our last year to get a season pass. We have had passes for 5 years now.
This company takes customers for granted and the management is deceiving! They are not proactive at making sure that their customers and their property are safe on their grounds.
Our family visited Tube World and Cataloochee Ski Area during President s Day Weekend. Upon departure, our vehicle got damaged in the parking lot due to almost zero visibility to back out of this specific area of the parking lot safely. The driver has to pay close attention to pedestrians crossing, cars parking and moving around you and, to make it more challenging, there is NOT a functional light to illuminate this section of the parking lot. It is almost pitch black and there are no barricades, lights, reflective tape or cones around the light post.
We immediately asked to speak to the Manager and his response was that he didn t design the parking lot! At that point, we agreed that it was best to file a police report with the Maggie Valley Police Department. To our surprise, the officer mentioned that he had been called several times for the same incident. This is a recurring event due lack of property management and a big safety issue for families that come to do business at Tube World. The manager at Tube World called the President of Cataloochee Ski Area, their parent company, and advised for me to meet with the President on the next day.
The president wasn t there on the following day so I went on the 3rd day and finally had the opportunity to speak with him. After explaining the facts of the incident, I shared that most people would have written a review or blasted them on social media and that I hadn t done that, that I was doing the right thing and went straight to the decision makers to get help and rectify this situation. He acted like he would look into this situation and do his best to come up with a solution. He specifically requested for me to get an estimate for the repairs on our family vehicle upon my return to my hometown. That night, I emailed him to thank him for meeting with me and emailed him on the following day, with the estimate for the repairs as he had requested no response. 2 emails later no response. Next day, I left him a voicemail on his direct line...no response. It is obvious at this point that he is trying to avoid me. Next day, I called the office number again and got a message that states that if this is an urgent matter, call another number, which I assumed was his cell number. I called, no answer, you can't leave a message. I gave it a shot and sent a text to this number requesting a follow-up on our conversation and estimate from 3 days ago. To my surprise, I finally got a response: the pole belongs to BellSouth and the company would not pay for the damage caused to my vehicle. I asked to have a phone conversation to which he responded that nothing could be gained by further dialogue, that he had made his decision fully aware of my threat to destroy him on social media and that he was not willing to pay for my mistake to avoid that. What?! I responded explaining that I never threatened to destroy him or his company, the total opposite. If I wanted to do that, I would have done that immediately instead of trying to reach him for 2 days before having our initial conversation to find an amicable resolution to this situation. What bothers me the most is: Why would you have a face to face meeting with a customer and ask for an estimate to be sent knowing all along that you wouldn t help? I can just conclude that the Management is willing to waste people s time, give them the run around until they leave the town and then not respond in a professional manner.
After almost a week, I have continued to make attempts to get a response, even submitted a second estimate AND STILL NO ANSWER!
I m done, I m moving on, however, this review is intended to enlighten and inform the public of what to expect from Management if there is ever an issue that they have to deal with while on Tube World or Cataloochee Ski Area property.
Fair value, close to Atlanta. Don't expect Colorado and expect tons of yahoos on skis/boards that don't have a clue and are reckless. Snow conditions were decent, but did get icy in the evening after folks had pushed the snow around all day (no additional snow grooming in the late afternoon which is typical at small ski areas). That said, my daughter and I had a good time even though the mountain is small and gets repetitive after a few hours. Lift lines are insanely long (20+ mins) on the weekends at mid-day, come early or late. Staff was fine overall, but as another reviewer noted, the management of the lift lines was basically non-existent. The double chair line was a mass of humanity until after 4pm, just chaos. The quad chair line was also a hot mess and had no employee actively pairing groups up to fill each chair, instead the lift operator would stop the lift until the chair was full...that is a first in my 30 years of skiing. At any rate, is it worth coming here? sure...if you really want to ski or see snow (for you Florida people) without getting on an airplane.
Took my kids and 2 of their friends skiing for the first time. Even though the staff was told it s our first time no one spent 2 minutes making sure that the boots clipped in properly to the ski. My son had to try and adjust his own when it fell off because one binding was set bigger than the other. Have a special needs child and called ahead because they said they have a program for special needs. First the number posted is wrong. Second, left 2 detailed messages for Cassie and got no return call. So i attempted to teach him which didn t go so well. If you are already know how to ski i am sure this is a good, cheap solution for you. If you are a first time skier add the group lessons but you have to get there at least an hour before they start because it takes forever to get your boots and skis. If you miss out on that it s really going to cost you to get a private lesson.
For the amount of money you spend there, not worth it at all. Very crowded, took 2 hours to get the boots, ski and clothing, lines are way too long. After spending close to 800 dollars for a family of six to go up few times, not worth it at all.
Great ski area and snow making capabilities. Down fall is they don't have an unloading zone and don't care to put one in. Can't expect folks with small kids to carry five sets of skis from the parking lot which depending on where you park can be a solid walk. Let people drop their equipment off in front of the lodge for Godsake. Instead of having employee parking right in front of the lodge, use that space for paying customers.
Really friendly staff, ideal for beginners skiing. Short easy run. Yes equipment rental is in 3 different buildings, but they are a 5 second walk from each other. We went with 4 kids ages 3 to 8 and will definitely return!
Went on a sunday, OMG the crowd was too much! If you're planning to learn skiing here, just forget it. There was also a mud pit on one of the bunny slopes. It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to rent the equipment. Then from within 3 and half hours I was only able to ski 3 times on the Easyway Green slope. lines were huge for the lifts, it takes more than 30 minutes to get into a char lift to go to the top. In other resorts when I do 50 ski runs, I was only able to do 3 here, imagine that! I tried to teach my wife on a bunny slope, and it was impossible. Kids were all over the place, my wife quit after 3 runs in fear of crashing onto kids. What a waste of money, will never go there again
Good place to ski and snow boarding. Good price and well maintain slopes. However, hope management find out for faster process on boots rental. I had to wait for 2 hours to rented the boots.
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.
We wanted to take our kids on their first snow adventure. We live in Florida, but have relatives In NC so we decided to go to Cataloochee. My wife and I have been there before so I knew what to expect. Our kids had never been snowboarding or skiing so we got them Cat Tracker school for a half day. It did not disappoint. They had a great time and I got to hang out with my wife for a few hours, kids free. Although there was not a ton of snow, it was enough for their first time. Great place, friendly staff.
Their ski school was ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!!!Awful and utterly useless. Even the instructors agreed. Way too many kids and the instructors did not seem well organized at all. The kids had to wait for over ONE HOUR before anybody helped them, for about 2 minutes. So in total most got about 6 minutes of help in 2.5 hours. The class also started late. Also, on the other band-lift, tons of people had a hard time getting on due to lack of cleaning the rubber mat so many fell off and made the agonizing wait even longer. So they were under staffed and/or poorly organized. The wait to rent gear or pay for ski school was also ridiculously long. However the main issue wss the utterly worthless ski-school. Private lessons is likely a much better option, especially if you are 2 or more. The food and slopes were ok for beginners and for skiers/snowboarders with a little experience. However, avoid their group lessons :(
Apparently we went on "the busiest day they've ever had" and the staff was still friendly and helpful. I was very impressed by the first aid team that helped injured skiers. Although I suck at skiing and it was very crowded, we still had an enjoyable experience.
So excited for a perfect 1 foot of fresh snow on a Saturday morning-they ran every snow blower all day. Zero visibility and LoUD AF. Why would they do this?
First time here was a good experience. People were nice the equipment was good and the slopes we're in excellent shape. The price was about normal for all day lift ticket and rental on a weekend. Good food selection and tasty. They also have a bar. Put two 9 year olds through a half day lesson thru the kids cat tracker program and the instructor did a great job as both of them skied down the mountain the rest off the afternoon. All together pleased and will go back. It was busy but what do you expect on a beautiful weekend with some fresh snow!
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