Complete information on skiing and winter sports in the North Carolina High Country is just a mouse click away thanks to the re-launch of SkiTheHighCountry.com.

The redesigned and upgraded website now features everything skiers need to know about the High Country’s three ski resorts – Appalachian Ski Mountain, Beech Mountain Resort and Sugar Mountain Resort – as well as key info on the snow tubing park at Hawksnest Resort.

Visitors to SkiTheHighCountry.com can access live webcams for real-time conditions, view trail maps, check rates and hours of operations, receive details on ice skating, and browse accommodations. There’s also a dining guide and an overview of activities away from the slopes.

Photo galleries of each resort, featuring the work of award-winning photographer Todd Bush of Banner Elk, are included.

The site was created by Big Boom Design of Asheville and is produced and maintained by North Carolina High Country Host.

High Country Host is a tourism marketing organization that promotes travel to North Carolina’s High Country, a five-county region anchored by the popular towns of: Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, Blowing Rock, Boone, Linville, Sparta, West Jefferson and Wilkesboro.

To view the new site, go online to www.SkiTheHighCountry.com.

For more info on The High Country of North Carolina, call (800) 438-7500, or visit www.MountainsofNC.com.

The new site contains information on lodging, attractions, festivals, shopping, restaurants, heritage events and outdoors activities. There is also a blog, calendar of events, a section for specials & deals, High Country maps and a downloadable vacation planner.

“This new site pulls together all the key information visitors need to plan a trip to the High Country,” says Millie Barbee, executive director of High Country Host. “And, it is user-friendly. There are multiple ways to navigate the site to quickly find what you’re looking for.”

This new site was created by Big Boom Design of Asheville, using a Joomla platform. It incorporates the latest in website technology, including advanced search engine optimization.

“Our desire was to build a site that’s easy to navigate and brings as much information above the fold and to the surface as possible,” said Boomer Sassmann of Big Boom Design. “It’s a well organized second-generation website that also incorporates social media aspects such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.”

The look and feel of the website will change quarterly to match the four distinct seasons that draw visitors to the High Country.

“If this were a traditionally built website, we wouldn’t be able to do that,” Sassmann says, “but because of this Joomla content management system, it is easy to change the look without altering the content.”

To view the new site, go online to www.MountainsofNC.com.

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