It’s been a long time coming, but the newest ski area in North Carolina has finally announced an opening day.
Hatley Pointe will drop its ropes on December 21, 2024.
“We had our final lift walk through today which was more than successful (thank you to our lifts ops team for their hard work and grit),” the ski area’s social media team posted. “It has been a long time coming for us all, but trust that we have been waiting on the edge of our seats and feeling every moment of this journey together.”
The ski area is the latest iteration of what was formerly known as Wolf Ridge. Johnson City, Tennessee locals Deborah and David Hatley purchased the resort in March 2023, and began a construction process that was met with several bumps in the road. While it was originally expected to open to the public in January 2024, the Hatley’s found that they needed to upgrade the snowmaking equipment, replace chairlifts, and gut its lodge.
Photo: Hatley Pointe
It's a process that left some locals wondering if they’d ever get the chance to ride at the resort about an hour west of Asheville, North Carolina, but in an effort to test out its snowmaking gear at the end of last season, the resort invited the Recess team, (a Boone-based board shop) to come test out a makeshift park setup. Team riders like Brantley and JK Mullins, Jacob Davis, and Henry Cuthbert got a private session with shop owner JP Pardy, and the content that came out of it looked promising.
Then it was announced that Hatley Pointe would be joining the Indy Pass. It’s just the second ski area in North Carolina to do so – nearby Cataloochee, the mountain that Zeb Powell got his start at, is also on the pass – and spirits were high yet again.
The resort’s Instagram page was then hacked in August after amassing over 100,000 followers.
Then Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina in late September 2024. The resort was spared too much damage, but the region was devastated, and is still dealing with the aftermath the storm left behind.
Though it's billing itself as a “boutique mountain resort,” Hatley Pointe seems dedicated to providing a solid terrain park experience for snowboarders. It has hired Batwing founder Jack Reid to build a series of jibs for its terrain park, and has announced the installation of a tow rope.