Snow tubing at Ober Gatlinburg.
Yay for winter sports! They are, as far as I’m concerned, the only good thing about winter (except for Christmas, of course!).
And they are starting! According to The Chattanoogan, Ober Gatlinburg is opening for snow tubing this weekend — earlier than usual — to celebrate its 50th anniversary of winter sports.
Hurray!
Snow tubing is open Friday (11 a.m. – 7 p.m.), Saturday (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.), and Sunday (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.). The rate is $25 ($20 on Friday) for 1.5 hours, with sessions starting every two hours.
The tubing looks terrific! This is one thing I’ve really wanted to do in the Smokies, but never found time for. I WILL do it with the kids one of these years. The tube run is 400 feet long, with a 50-foot vertical drop. Fun, huh? And the best part? No trudging back up the hill! Seriously! The hills are serviced by a moving conveyor lift that transports tubers and tubes back to the top.
So, how are the Ober Gatlinburg wizards doing this? Well, there’s new snow-making technology, apparently, so they’ve been making snow for awhile. Check here for a web cam that shows the tubing runs — they are looking pretty ready! (As a side note — I think web cams are pretty neat. As I write this, I can see a little guy with a big snow-blowing (making?) machine, jerkily adding snow to the tubing lanes. I love the arches of snow that keep spreading across the screen. Neat!)
Skiing will open sometime in mid-December. Check back here later for a more exact date, since it depends on the weather. Skiing at Ober — that’s something I have done, and I’ll tell you, it’s pretty good for the Midwest!
Yay, winter!