Last year, Ober Gatlinburg in Tenneseewas sold to Joe Baker, signaling a new era for the ski resort. He announced a name change to Ober Mountain and promised investments. They faced their first major challenge during this winter, as warm weather made them shut down their ski slopes back on February 23rd.
In response to these challenges, WATE reports that Ober Mountain will be spending $4 million on snowmaking improvements. The equipment will be “new cutting edge SMI Super Polecat Fully Automated Snow Making Tower Machines manufactured by the company Snow Makers.” This will lead to a more thorough snow surface, giving them 95% slope coverage, and three to five feet of foundational snow. The equipment has been used in the past four Winter Olympics.
Mark Adams, who is the CEO of Ober Mountain Adventure Park, described how the investment will improve the skiing experience:
“This investment is going to greatly improve the skiing experience for our customers. With the addition of these state-of-the-art snow machines, our slopes will have some of the best snow throughout the skiing season, and we know our customers are going to notice a difference right away.”
Skiing operations clearly aren’t the main priority for Ober Mountain, as they’re a tourist hub due to it being in Gatlinburg, which is in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains. Still, it’s nice to see them commit to their skiing operations, even if the tides aren’t working in their favor.
