Sugar Mountain Resort, Inc.

Reviews 3

AS

Ashley 4vball

My family and I were at this resort 12/26/16 and looking forward to a day of skiing. We brought our own equipment since were experienced skiers from the North and purchased 1/2 day ski tickets (at full holiday prices, $112) plus a locker before we proceeded to the ski lift. On our way up the mountain, my significant other, Garrett and I were concerned seeing individuals being brought down the mountain on stretchers by ski patrol. The conditions obviously werent great but since were experienced and since the resort was open for business, we assumed everything would be fine. We couldnt have been more wrong. On our very first run of the day, Garrett went down Gunthers run. The name of this run is now very ironic to me considering the General Managers name there is Gunther and he is the one who has made this whole experience absolutely terrible. Anyway, Garrett, an experienced skier with 15 years on the slopes under his belt, was not even half way down Gunthers Run when he hit one of the many large ROCKS that was protruding from the snow in the MIDDLE of the trail. There was not any caution sign, tape or warnings of this boulder sticking out of the snow whatsoever and so it obviously caught him off guard catching one of his skis and throwing him into free-fall down the mountain. He slid a good distance on purely dirt and rock since the sides of the trail did not have any snow on them. None of these areas were roped off. I had chosen a different trail for our first run and so I was waiting at the bottom for him. I could not believe when I saw him slowly walking over to me clearly in pain and distress wearing a completely ripped coat, carrying his skis with mud all down his backside. He had cuts all down his spine and ruined his $200 down ski jacket. He has never in 15 years gotten this hurt or fallen like this when skiing. He went to the doctors yesterday, 1/3/16 because it still hurts to breath. We immediately went to the Administrative office to report the incident and ask for our tickets to be refunded since we only did ONE run and did not feel safe on these trails. Clearly, we were not going to continue skiing with these risks. The ladies in the Administrative office informed us that the General Manager was not there however, they told us to fill out the complaint form because their GM "takes these complaints very seriously and likes to read each and everyone himself." They thanked us for being so patient and nice. We returned home the next day and received a template letter in the mail informing us that "it is the skiers responsibility to know the range of his own abilities to negotiate any ski slope and to ski within the limits of such ability." And that there is a "no refund policy". The GM, Gunther didnt even take the time to sign this letter or write his name on it. It was from "Customer Service". Thats some customer service they provide! Funny to us that its up the skier to know his own range of abilities yet how could any skier know that there would be a boulder protruding from the snow in the middle of a trail without any warning or caution tape around it? Upon receiving the letter, I called Gunthers office to try and speak with him. He has not returned any of my phone calls to date. In addition, this morning I called and do you know that he would not take my call! He made one of his admins speak to me instead and she told me that "it is Gunthers policy to only respond to customers in writing, not over the phone". Have you ever heard of anything more ridiculous!? I am also a General Manager by profession and I can tell you that I ALWAYS respond to my customers in the way that they prefer, whether in person, by phone or by email, because I value them and want to keep them as my customers. All that we asked for was a refund of our tickets since we did not get the value that we paid for. $112 is pennies in the grand scheme of Ski Sugar Mountains profits yet I cannot even get the GM on the phone to speak with me. Disgraceful and disappointing.

FR

Frank Y

This was our familys first trip to Sugar Mountain and we will not be going back. Lets get the positive out of the way, the slopes are OK. I mean its no Colorado or Utah, but we know that and are not expecting it to be. For a NC ski resort, I cant complain much about the slopes. However, the snow making machine blows snows right into your face, with force! Every time I ski past them, my entire face suffers. Wish they could do something about this. Now the ugly. The organization of the place is just horrendous. Forget the close-range parking lot, its so small and nobody can really get it. You park below the mountain and take shuttle bus to the top. Having no access to your car presents some big problems for a family with two kids, we managed to stuff everything in two backpacks but still ... You first wait in line to pay for rentals and lifts, then second line for boots, then third line for ski, then fourth line for ski again because people who are over 510 must use a different ski rental area, go figures, nobody told me. Then fifth line for locker. If you dont mind all the separate lines, here is the kicker -- they are are crammed inside a small area! So you got people waiting for different lines, mixed with limited benches for people trying on their boots, there are very little spaces and people are going all directions at any given time. The restaurant is also in the same building, on another level, but sharing limited and small restrooms. Twice in the middle of lunch hour, it was closed for cleaning! For overnight storage, we hate to carry all the skis and boots, and the full size locker was full, the only option was to use a locking mechanism that takes 3 quarters per ski. They are so hard to use! My hand was freezing cold and I couldnt turn them as they are so rusty. I had to change quarters first of course as who has 12 quarters! Had to pick several before I could find some that actually work. We lost our locker key (locker is for boots storage), and finally find the place called Lost & Found, it was a pile of garbage with two buckets on the floor. No attendants, just dig in and good luck. When we return our replaced locker key, the line was so long, I just gave it to the boots return guy and asked him to put the key back for us. He asked if we wanted our deposit back? I said I already lost the key and lost the deposit. I was pretty happy not getting the 5 bucks back because waiting for that line was not worth it, we need to take the kids home. Its really a shame because we live pretty close by and would rather ski some place close to home. If you are going there, you might stop by at a ski rental place before reaching the mountain. But, keep in mind you will have to carry them with you.

RO

Robert Hewitt

My first experience on the mountain was marked by an 8 year old child who was injured while exiting a chair-lift. He was knocked over by the chair and it is a Blessing that he was wearing a helmet. The lift operator showed little concern, did not speak English, and hand-gestured a two-finger step to tell the crying child to walk down the mountain. When I reached for the phone at the operators booth, the operator then became concerned. During a second visit for Oktoberfest, a friend who was in a cast after foot surgery asked the operator for assistance. The chair caught her foot and pulled her to the ground. Again the operator was slow to react and did not speak English. She later had to seek medical attention and the Resort Staff showed very little concern. My final visit (01-10-09) was blemished by a defective binding in a rental ski. One of the Sugar Mountain Ski Instructors, Tom Macon, was very polite and tried to help me but could not facilitate a repair and asked me to complain to the staff. By the time I reached the bottom of the mountain, my toes would not allow me to continue skiing that day. Since I was only on the mountain for less than half-a-day, I asked for a half-day comp for the lift and for the ski rental. The employees in the equipment room were quick to offer me a replacement ski, which I did not desire. The staff would offer me a 1/2 day lift ticket (but only on a Friday), and not a half-day ski equipment rental. This is when I discovered the kind patron in front of me had the same problem with a ski binding and she said that the Resort Director or CEO, Gunther Jochl, will not return calls or answer complaints. Yes, I have experienced similar problems in the past. The director assistant, Darlene Mitchell asked me to fill out a customer comment sheet and she said the director will return my call. When I asked for a copy of the comment sheet she asked me for 25 cents. Instead of making an issue out of it, I asked her for a receipt for the copy and she became pretty upset about that. Before heading home, I decided to stop and chat with a couple of ski shops and, two attorneys. What they all had to say kind of frightened me and until the staff and administration at Sugar Mountain become more concerned for safety and adopt a positive, "customer-friendly" attitude, I am not likely to return anytime soon. The mountain is very beautiful and has a great potential. And, for the two times that I have been skiing on the slopes, I loved it! But, I believe it is time to explore other ski resorts in the area. Especially the resorts that were recommended by the ski shops.