I’ve always been fascinated by weather patterns and apparently Dr Thomas Brigham turned his interest into a major ski success story.

“The History of Snowshoe Mountain.”

If you consider the date the Snowshoe Mountain debuted its now popular resort, you could have predicted a rocky start. The day? How about December 13th, 1974? Doesn’t sound foreboding? If we tell you that is was a Friday, will that make a difference? (Friday the 13th!)

At that time, Snowshoe opened with about 30 acres of ski- able terrain. However, I’m getting ahead of myself. Snowshoe’s founder was Dr. Thomas “Doc” Brigham, a Birmingham, Alabama dentist-turned-ski fanatic. Doc had already built two Southern ski areas, Sugar and Beech mountain. (So we have him to thank for our opportunities to ski the two largest resorts in North Carolina too!)

After getting those two resorts off and running, Doc Brigham set out to find the Snowiest site in the South.

He decided that he had found it after researching logging records in that area that detailed the weather history. The mountain’s elevation and location within a part of the country that sits right “in the path” of snowy weather patterns made it a natural for a ski resort.

Despite the ideal location and snowy weather patterns, Snowshoe had a boom and bust first ten years that was plagued by bankruptcy. One thing that was immediately obvious was that unlike some of our North Carolina resorts, Snowshoe had no basic town services and no dining or lodging choices. In fact, one person told us that they remember some old-timers telling stories about how it was a popular activity to ski at Snowshoe and then sleep in a sleeping bag in what is now Shaver’s Center. (Hence the name, “SkiBum”.)

Even with what was unquestionable the best snow and mountain terrain…the resort was on the brink of liquidation in 1985. After struggling to get “proper” amenities in place in the late 1980’s, the resort began to prosper. The main ingredient in that success was the far-sighted judgment of a Federal Judge and a court-appointed trustee that implemented a change in management concepts. That concept was a simple one that should be the creed of all ski areas: “A resort stands neither on its past reputation nor its potential, but only on its ability to deliver a value-related skiing experience on a day-to-day and season-to-season basis.”

http://www.skisoutheast.com/archived_articles/archives_02232002.htm