Appalachian Ski Mountain Saves Its Best Prices for a Tuesday Night

Appalachian Ski Mountain's 2026-27 ticket page shows two prices for the same eight hours on the same slopes. An adult 8-Hour Flex ticket costs $57 on a weekday and $85 on a Saturday or Sunday. A Sunday-through-Thursday night session costs $40. The calendar sets the price, and on this rate card the cheapest hours fall during the workweek.

If you live in Blowing Rock, the hill off Ski Mountain Road is close enough to fit into an ordinary week, and the rate card rewards that. The resort's projected season runs from a targeted opening on Friday, Nov. 20, 2026, weather permitting, through Sunday, March 14, 2027. The lowest prices fall on the days and hours a weekend visitor from Charlotte can't easily use.

Weekdays Cost About a Third Less

Here is the 2026-27 rate card for the three main daytime and evening sessions, adult and junior/senior prices:

The weekend 8-Hour Flex costs $28 more than the weekday version, so the weekday ticket is about a third cheaper. A weekday Super Session, which can cover a full day and the night after it, costs $66. That's $19 less than a weekend 8-Hour Flex covering only part of the day.

Two small rules add up over a season. Buying a ticket on the day you ski, or at the window, adds $2 per ticket. Children 5 and under ski free with an adult holding a ticket for the same session, but they need a $2 RFID card, proof of age, and an in-person visit to the Guest Services window. Juniors are ages 6 to 12. Appalachian State students can get the weekday student rate of $46 if they show a class schedule and ID on site. Student rates don't apply on holidays or on Jan. 18.

The Night Membership Pays for Itself Quickly

The weeknight price makes the Nights-Only membership easy to figure. At $431 for the 2026-27 season, it costs about as much as 11 Sunday-through-Thursday night sessions at $40 each. The resort projects night skiing from Nov. 20, 2026, through March 13, 2027. The exceptions are Thanksgiving night and Christmas Eve night. On a regular week, slopes stay open until 10 p.m. on weeknights and until midnight on Fridays, Saturdays, and listed holidays. If you ski one weeknight a week starting at opening, you'll reach the 11th session around the end of January, with about six weeks of projected night skiing still left.

The Unlimited adult membership costs $685, and the right comparison depends on when you ski. At the $57 weekday rate, it pays for itself on your 13th weekday. At the $85 weekend rate, it pays for itself on your ninth weekend day. Unlimited memberships cost $585 for students and $531 for juniors and seniors. Family memberships cost $1,090 each for the first and second members, $485 for the third, and $340 for the fourth and any others. A 5x7 membership costs $540 for adults.

Those are the prices for buying after Oct. 10. Discounted membership prices ended that day, and the 29th Annual Preseason Sale & SWAP ran Oct. 9 through 18.

On Friday and Saturday nights, the Midnight Blast session runs from 5 p.m. to midnight for $50. The Half-Night session runs from 8:30 p.m. to midnight for $40, which is the same as a weeknight session but starts after dinner.

Holiday Dates Set the Highest Prices

Holiday rates are the third price level, and they follow a published calendar. The 8-Hour Flex and Super Session holiday dates for 2026-27 are:

• Nov. 26 through 29, over Thanksgiving
• Dec. 19 through Jan. 1
• Jan. 16 and 17
• Feb. 13 through 15

Holiday adult rates are $87 for the 8-Hour Flex and $95 for the Super Session. Midnight Blast holiday nights include Dec. 26 through 31. On New Year's Eve, slopes close at 11:30 p.m. for the fireworks show. Slopes close at 5 p.m. on Nov. 27, Dec. 24, and March 15.

The holiday weeks are the busiest stretch of the calendar. The cheapest stretch is the first weekend of December, for a reason that goes back to December 1962.

Dec. 5 and 6: The Anniversary Weekend at $10

On the first weekend of December, the resort holds an Anniversary Weekend and drops day sessions on Saturday, Dec. 5, and Sunday, Dec. 6, to $10 each. To get that price, reserve online by midnight the night before. The rate doesn't cover rentals. The usual weekend adult 8-Hour Flex is $85.

The anniversary marks a ski area that opened under a different name and survived a foreclosure. In a High Country Press history, Blowing Rock Ski Lodge, the predecessor to Appalachian Ski Mountain, opened on Dec. 15, 1962. Founder M.E. "Bill" Thalheimer built the original operation. When the bank called the loan, Grady Moretz and four partners took it over. The resort's own history dates the foreclosure purchase to Dec. 4, 1968. The Moretz family became sole owners in 1986.

The ski school started in the same years. The High Country Press history says Jim Cottrell began a college ski course in the winter of 1968-69. Cottrell and Jack Lester then launched the French-Swiss Ski College as a business in the winter of 1969-70. The resort says the school has taught more than one million people. According to its lessons page, beginner small-group classes are limited to six people or fewer. For a household with a new skier, a $10 Saturday is an inexpensive way to find out whether lessons are worth it.

The Ice Arena's 2026-27 Schedule Isn't Out Yet

The outdoor Appalachian Ice Arena has refrigerated ice, skate rentals, and three skating sessions a day. The resort's ice skating page says it is the only ski area in North Carolina with a Zamboni to cut its rink. 2026-27 ice memberships cost $265 for an individual adult, junior, or student, with skate rental included if needed. Family memberships cost $465 for the first two members and $225 for each additional member.

The 2026-27 opening-day notice gives the ski opening date but no rink schedule. Last season, the rink opened at noon on opening day, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. Sessions ran from noon to 2 p.m., 3 to 5 p.m., and 7 to 9 p.m. That's last year's schedule, so check before planning around it. An evening skating session followed by a $40 weeknight on the slopes would be an easy outing for a household that skis and skates, if the 2026-27 times match last year's.

Last Winter Ran From Opening to Mid-March

The Nov. 20 target is nine days earlier than last season's opening on Nov. 29, 2025. The 2025-26 season closed March 15, 2026, after 106 days of skiing. By Jan. 26, 2026, the resort reported all terrain open on a base of 50 to 80 inches. Marketing director Drew Stanley told Spectrum News 1 that snow and sustained cold opened the terrain quickly and kept conditions consistent all season. The resort's March wrap-up said the season ended with the annual Winter Meltdown Games on March 14 and 15.

Last season's upgrades are already on the mountain. Ski Southeast reported a new PistenBully Park Pro 400 snowcat for 2025-26, and the resort's November 2025 list also included added snowmaking with automatic snowguns and new snowcat and skier-services buildings. For 2026-27, the resort has said only that planning for improvements is underway. The opening date depends on the weather, and so does the length of the season.

At the posted prices, a weekday skier who skis from Nov. 20 to mid-March pays about $28 less per adult ticket than a weekend skier, and a weeknight skier pays $40 or less per session.

Ski season changes how a Blowing Rock home gets used. Some homes are close enough to the slopes that a weeknight session is easy, and some second homes are booked mostly for holiday weeks. If you're wondering how winter access affects the way you'd use or price a High Country property, the Leslie Eason Team is happy to talk through it, whether or not you ski. Contact Us.