Roundhouses on Ski Loft Road

Beech Mountain is known for it's unique roundhouses. These are sitting on curvy Ski Loft Road, which snakes along one of Beech Mountain Resort's ski slopes. The house in the middle with the unstained wooden deck belongs to a friend and former guest or ours at Slopeside. He and his family visited Beech Mountain and fell in love with it just as we did and quickly became part-time residents of the highest mountain town east of the rockies. 

This photograph was captured with a DJI Mavic pro drone. 

Travelocity's Roaming Gnome Visits Beach Mountain Resort

Our Travelocity Roaming Gnome arrived on our doorstep two years ago on Valentine's Day and we were thrilled to adopt him!

This little guy was left on our doorstep on Valentine's Day two years ago. I'm ashamed to admit it but he has spent the intervening time hanging out on a shelf in our den. It's not a bad perch if you can get it, relaxing between a numbered bottle of Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia Tequila and a photograph of the one and only Papa Hemingway after a successful day fishing in the Gulf Stream.

However, it has always seemed a bit lonely for a Gnome known for his love of international adventure. During the holidays, he has been visited on occasion by Squeezy — our Elf on a Shelf — but other than that, he's led a far too sheltered life.

That's all about to change. He took his first trip last weekend to Slopeside in the North Carolina mountains for a little spring skiing. As you can tell, he was thrilled to finally stretch his legs. He's currently planning trips to Florida, Charleston, Mexico and Asheville. It's time to get this Gnome on the road. 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300. 

Beech Mountain Ski Village

It's been a tough week up on Beech Mountain as far as snow goes with the temperature getting up into the 50s. Starting Monday, the lows will be below freezing every day for the rest of the week so we'll be back into snow making territory, with natural snow on the books Thursday and Saturday. Winter is back! If you're thinking of making a trip up to the NC mountains for a ski getaway in February or March, we've still got a little availability left at Slopeside. 

This photograph was captured with the tremendous DJI Mavic Pro drone.

Ski Beech Sunset

This photo was taken last weekend over Beech Mountain Ski Resort. It's been a great start to the ski season and it's getting better by the day! 

The brewery, shops, restaurant, Burton ski school, fire pit and ice rink are on the left and the ski rentals and main lodge are in the middle. Slopeside is the chalet on the right side of the photo. 

This photograph was captured with the tremendous DJI Mavic Pro drone.

Snowy Chalet

“I don’t always take selfies but when I do, I’m so far away that you can’t even see me.”

— Me

If you look closely, you'll see me on the deck of this chalet, flying my DJI Mavic Pro. We headed up to the mountains for a little New Year's Eve celebration with friends and some fun in the snow last weekend. We were greeted by a snowstorm that lasted on and off for two days. It was perfect! 

If you want to head up for yourself, check out Slopeside on Facebook. 

This photograph was captured with the unbelievably good DJI Mavic Pro drone.

Alone on Diamond Peak

It's officially ski season! This photograph is a throw-back from a few years ago on Diamond Peak in Lake Tahoe. The season was off to a slow start so we nearly had the entire mountain to ourselves. It was tremendous! If you are a regular visitor to Lake Tahoe and haven't ever ridden Diamond Peak, you've got to check it out. It's a small, locals-only resort. However, what it lacks in fanfare, it lacks in fanfare... and that's exactly what makes it great!

Living on the East Coast and looking for a ski getaway? Check out Slopeside on Beech Mountain!

Let it Snow!

Beech Mountain started making snow this weekend! Ski season is coming soon! 

This pole, outside of Fred's General Mercantile, marks the natural snowfall for each year. At a mile high, eight to ten feet of snow fall every year. Not bad for North Carolina!

Ready to hit the slopes at Beech Mountain? Check out Slopeside, the closest ski rental to the ski village. 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.

End of the Season

Summer season on Beech Mountain comes to a close this weekend. This was Lori's view from her yoga class at 5506' Skybar at the top of the mountain a couple of weeks ago. Everything will be open again in three months for ski season so it's not so much "good bye" as "see you soon!" 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300. 

Fred's General Mercantile

Beech Mountain is such a great place all year! With skiing and snowboarding in the winter and biking, hiking and disc golf in the summer, there's always something going on. The red building in this photograph is Fred's General Mercantile, known to most as just "Fred's." Fred's has been serving visitors and residents of Beech Mountain for decades and is the go-to spot for everything you could need from hardware to wine. There's even a grumpy cat that doesn't like to be looked at the wrong way! Note to self: get a photo of that cat some time.

This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone.

The Highest Pub

Generally, I try not to stand in the frame when I'm taking photographs. Usually when I do, you can see me scowling back at the camera or looking down at the screen completely oblivious to the fact that I'm photographing myself. In this case, I actually managed to smile so I thought I'd share it! 

This is a pub appropriately named 5506' at the top of Beech Mountain Ski Resort and is open most of the year (the resort turns into a Mountain Biking paradise in the Summer). Beech Mountain is the highest town east of the Rockies and this pub is right at the top so I think it can probably lay claim to the title of "Highest Pub on the East Coast." It's also part of Beech Mountain Brewing Company, which brews in the ski village so they have great craft beer on tap.

If you'd like to check out the pub for yourself, rent out Slopeside for a weekend, it's in the ski village and is a nice hike or quick chairlift ride away from 5506'.

This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone that just happens to be on sale $340 off at the moment!