Skiing at Cataloochee, North Carolina with Young Kids

We just got back from an amazing weekend in Western North Carolina. Y’all this ski trip was night and day from two years ago and I cannot say enough amazing things about Cataloochee and their staff.

First off, let’s talk about location. Cataloochee is located outside of Maggie Valley in Western North Carolina. Luckily, this mountain is only 30 minutes from my in-laws making it the perfect place to ski for our family. The neighboring town is not much to talk about but they seem to have many places to dine and stay. They offer tubing too which looks like a lot of fun and we will definitely check it out in the coming years!

A couple years back, when my boys were 4 & 6, we went to Cataloochee and put them in ski school the week between Christmas and New Years. And lesson learned, if you want the most out of a ski trip in North Carolina, aim to travel on the weekdays or at least not on a holiday weekend. The slopes are too small and too crowded on holidays and/or weekends IMO. Thankfully, my mother in law suggested us take the boys out of school on Friday and venture to ski school. Additionally, I think their ages made a HUGE difference (obviously depends on child) but I would aim for a minimum of 5, preferably 6, before really investing in ski lessons (again, IMO).

This ski school experience was AMAZING! Originally, we were planning on taking the boys out of ski school following their lunch, but they were having so much fun they stayed for the entire time (7 hours!). While they were at ski school, Drew and I were able to get in a ton of runs and enjoy some alone time. Admittedly, we checked on the boys more times then I should admit and took plenty of videos of them from a distance–but it was so fun to see their progress and I wanted to make sure they were still having fun! I did the final blue run with them and it was such a joy to see how proud they were at their progress 🙂

Since we went on a weekday, the boys had basically one on one lessons for the first part of the day and by the afternoon they were skiing with each other and one instructor–seriously the best money spent! They had a blast and learned to do “French fry” and “pizza” to stop. Walker keeps talking about how Reid can do “French fry” stops and is eager to be able to do them on his own too.

The ski school gave the boys rentals, snacks, lunch, plenty of breaks and a chance to interact with other students. They had such a blast that the next morning they were asking to go back. I hope that what they learned in their full day lesson will stay with them for a lifetime and that they are going to be just as eager to get back on the slopes next ski season!