Locally owned by skiers
and snowboarders since 1976.

Alpine Ski Center is the oldest operating ski and snowboard shop in the Southeast. Alpine was started by Bob Quinlan and Hiram Lewis in 1976 at a time when skiing was new to the region. Those early years were centered around growing the sport and ensuring that every first-time skier came back. The customer service that Alpine provided became the foundation of the next 50 years.

Whether it is your first time or 1,000th time on the slopes, you're part of this amazing community of Southern skiers and riders.

That statement means everything. First and foremost, without our amazing customers, none of us could be the professional ski and snowboard bums we all aim to be. But for us, it is also rooted in a general thankfulness that skiing and snowboarding exists at all. It is such an abstract way to have fun and we are genuinely inspired by the adventure-inspired roots of both sports.

Pioneers like Shane McConkey, Jake Burton, Craig Kelly, Warren Miller, Scot Schmidt, Glen Plake, Doug Tompkins, Yvon Chouinard, and many more continue to inspire the sense of adventure that skiing and snowboarding uniquely provides.

In keeping true to the company's roots, in 2023 a group of employees purchased Alpine Ski Center from the original owners to keep Alpine locally owned by skiers and riders. Alpine's ownership and management team has over 200 years of combined experience in the ski industry.

The team at Alpine has and always will be built from people who truly love these sports. Every leadership position is filled by people who started as a young shop kid. But we were all first-timers once, and we hope to pass our knowledge on to anyone that walks through our doors.

Speaking of shop kids — we're firm believers that Alpine has become what it is because of the young skiers and snowboarders that primarily make up our staff. When you shop at Alpine it is our mission to ensure you're interacting with people who love the sport as much as you do.

We will always be a shop that is centered around ensuring our staff has as much fun as possible. After all — it's a ski and snowboard shop. Speaking of, come work with us.

We love all regions where you can ski — the West, the Northeast, Europe, Asia, South America, and all the others. But we have immense pride in being from the Southeast. Fun fact: our local mountains put more first-timers on the slopes than anywhere else. But more than that, it's because people just look at you crazy when you tell them you ski in NC. We love it.

There is a passion here for skiing and snowboarding unlike anywhere else. We're extremely proud of our roots in Banner Elk, NC.