The recent cold weather brought as much as 30 inches of snow to the Gatlinburg area over the past week. Of course, most of that was manmade, though the foothills did get a dusting of Mother Nature’s vintage this week. This was the first weekend of snow production and the first weekend of snow sports on the slopes at Ober Gatlinburg. Though the season is just beginning, about 600 people turned out Friday night to burn up the slopes.
Skiers and snowboarders, an ever increasing breed, found 25 to 30 inches of powder on three of the resorts’ five slopes. Ober Gatlinburg officials hope to open the other two runs, one intermediate and the other a black diamond or expert trail, soon, Director of Snow Sports Thomas Diriwaechter said.
“We’ve had excellent weather for the opening weekend and we’re going to continue working to improve our visitors’ experience,” said Diriwaechter. “We had a very good start with snow-making last Sunday and the black diamond slope is ready to open. We just have to get the intermediate one ready to go.”
Skiing is a game of timing, whether in knowing just when to swerve to miss that tree or exactly the right time to open the slopes so your snowmaking efforts don’t end up in a slushy mess. Cold temperatures that moved into the area recently and appear ready to make a long-term stand made this a great weekend to open, Diriwaechter said.
That’s good news as Ober Gatlinburg prepares for the weeks around Christmas, which are their busiest time.
Information provided by The Mountain Press