Two days after this post goes up, the first crowd of the season will gather on the Resort Village tubing hill at Beech Mountain. No chairlift will be running. People will be there for a DJ, a skate ramp, food trucks and a rail jam. That Saturday is the first of several separate dates in Beech Mountain Resort's 2026–27 season. Each one brings back a different part of the mountain, and nights on the mountain return last.
For anyone in Banner Elk who thinks of Beech as a place to go after work, the opening day that matters most this year is December 4.
The season starts in four steps
Beech Mountain Resort's posted winter schedule, ticket pages and event listings fit into one sequence. Here is how the first three weeks line up:
| Date | What changes on the mountain | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Nov. 14 | Early Access preseason event at the Resort Village tubing hill | Noon to 4 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 21 | Projected season opening, weather permitting | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily |
| Friday, Dec. 4 | Regular season begins, with night skiing | 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Passholders get 8 a.m. weekend access on Lift 5 | Starts at 8 a.m. |
Each step brings back something different. The first gets people back to the Village, the second opens the slopes, the third brings back evenings, and the fourth gives passholders an earlier start.
November 14 brings people back before the lifts
Recess presents Early Access, which runs from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, on the Resort Village tubing hill near the fire pits. The lineup includes DJ Raheim Andrews, a skate ramp from Zionville Ramp Co., food trucks and a ski and snowboard sale. There's also a rail-jam competition with a $20 entry fee, and you can only register online.
The resort's event listing also celebrates the grand reopening of the newly remodeled Brewhouse at Beech Mountain Brewing Co. For a regular pint, go by the brewery's own contact page. It says the brewery is closed for the summer and reopens Saturday, November 21, 2026, which is also the projected opening day for the slopes.
If you have a rail-jam rider in the house or you're shopping for gear at the sale, the 14th has the most going on of any November date at the Village. If you're waiting to ski, the date to watch is a week later.
November 21 to December 3: slopes open, lifts close at 5
The resort's winter hours page projects opening day for Saturday, November 21, and early-season hours run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day through Thursday, December 3. The Beech Mountain Visitor Center's opening day listing adds that the opening depends on weather conditions.
That 5 p.m. close changes which tickets make sense. Beech sells Flex tickets for 4, 8 and 12 hours, plus night tickets. The current adult prices are:
- Weekday: $50 for 4 hours, $60 for 8 hours, $86 for 12 hours, $44 for a night ticket
- Weekend: $78 for 4 hours, $97 for 8 hours, $116 for 12 hours, $59 for a night ticket
During early season, an eight-hour day from 9 to 5 already uses every hour the lifts run. A 12-hour ticket and a night ticket don't buy you anything more until the lifts start running into the evening. For a short weekday outing, the 4-hour adult ticket at $50 costs $28 less than the same ticket on a weekend.
Juniors ages 5 to 12 and seniors 65 and older pay $40, $50, $71 and $35 for the weekday 4-hour, 8-hour, 12-hour and night tickets, and $61, $73, $93 and $49 on weekends. A $2 media fee is added to lift tickets. Multi-day tickets are priced at the 8-hour rate, and bonus hours stretch each ski day to as many as 12 hours. Once evenings return, that's where the bonus hours count.
December 4 brings back the evenings
The regular season begins Friday, December 4. The lifts then run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. From that date on, Beech works as an after-work stop for Banner Elk. You can ski under the lights on a weeknight, use a $44 adult night ticket, or start mid-afternoon and stay until close.
The next morning, passholders get an earlier start. The season pass page lists 8 a.m. access on Lift 5 on weekends beginning Saturday, December 5. The same page lists daily early access from December 14 through January 1, then weekends only through March 7. The October sale on Unlimited Season Passes ended when prices went up on November 1. Weekday passes are listed at $450 for adults and $350 for juniors, seniors, military and students. Eligible local students, faculty and staff pay $285. Weekday passes aren't valid on holidays.
Taken together, the first week of December is a big change. The lifts close at 5 p.m. through Thursday, then run until 10 p.m. on Friday, and passholders can start at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
The NC 184 culvert work near Banner Elk
Once night skiing returns, more people will be driving home after dark, and NC 184 near Banner Elk still has a Helene repair underway. On October 20, NCDOT reported that contractor Blythe Construction was setting precast sections for a new culvert to carry Hanging Rock Creek under NC 184 near Dobbins Road, with one lane closed starting at 6 p.m. The culvert replaces a structure damaged by Hurricane Helene, and NCDOT expects all of the work to be done later this year.
On October 25, WHKY reported that a utility contractor had started nightly one-lane closures from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. to replace a gas line that was moved for the culvert project. That work was expected to run for about a week. WHKY also reported that Blythe Construction is expected to finish all of the culvert work by the end of the year.
If your drive home from a night session or from dinner in town uses that stretch of NC 184, check DriveNC.gov before you leave. NCDOT points drivers there for real-time conditions and asks them to allow extra travel time.
The Town of Beech Mountain's calendar fills in around the resort's
The town's own events land between the resort's dates and go later in the season.
Saturday, November 28. One week after the projected opening, the Holiday Market & Parade of Wreaths runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fred & Margie Pfohl Buckeye Recreation Center. Admission is free. Local artists and crafters sell their work, and a wreath raffle supports a Camp Buckeye scholarship fund. Since the lifts still close at 5 that weekend, you can ski in the morning and stop by the market on your way down.
Tuesday, December 22. The free Christmas Parade & Santa's Workshop runs from 4 to 6 p.m. with an "All-American Christmas" theme. It starts at Public Works, follows Beech Mountain Parkway past Fred's General Store, loops behind Town Hall on Meadowview Road, comes back by Bark Park Way and ends at Public Works. The town first used this loop for the 2025 parade, saying it would make the parade easier for residents and visitors to see. Viewing spots include Town Hall, the public parking lot, the Brick Oven Pizza parking lot and Fred's General Store. The Watauga Democrat reported that the 2024 parade ran along Beech Mountain Parkway from the ski resort to just past Town Hall. If you watched from a resort-end spot in earlier years, plan on heading toward Town Hall now.
Thursday, December 31. New Year's programming runs from 7 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. It includes a free Family Night at The Lodge and a ticketed 18-and-over party at Beech Mountain Brewing Co. Taproom & Grill, and free fireworks go off at midnight. The town's page says more details are coming, so check it again closer to the date.
For Banner Elk's own December, including A Small Town Christmas and the tree farms' last weekends, see our guide to the choose-and-cut season. If you're comparing the two mountains, our Sugar Mountain preseason update covers the changes on the other side of town.
Planning around the steps
The order of dates is the easiest way to plan the season:
- November 14: go to the Village for the rail jam, gear sale and Brewhouse celebration.
- November 21 through December 3: ski during the day, and buy the 4-hour or 8-hour ticket since the lifts stop at 5.
- November 28: stop at the Holiday Market at Buckeye Recreation Center after a morning on the slopes.
- December 4 onward: night skiing returns, and the night ticket and 12-hour Flex become worth buying.
- December 5 onward: passholders can ride Lift 5 at 8 a.m. on weekends.
- Any evening before year-end: check DriveNC before driving NC 184 near Dobbins Road, where the culvert work is expected to wrap up by the end of the year.
Opening day is still a projection that depends on the weather. Even if it slips, the 5 p.m. close through December 3 and the December 4 start of night skiing on the resort's posted schedule still set the pattern for the first weeks.
If ski season has you picturing a place close enough to Beech or Sugar for a weeknight run under the lights, Kelly Jones knows these mountain roads and how each season unfolds. Start your mountain story by contacting Kelly to tour listings near the slopes or to talk about your property.
