Ober Mountain Adventure Park & Ski Area, formerly known as Ober Gatlinburg, is a ski area and amusement park located in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, that was established in 1962. The area also contains a large mall with indoor amusements, an indoor ice skating rink, snack bars, a restaurant, and stores. An aerial tramway connects Ober Mountain to downtown Gatlinburg, which is about 3 miles east.

History

The ski area opened in 1962 as Gatlinburg Ski Resort. In 1973, Claude Anders opened the Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway. In 1974, the Gatlinburg Ski Resort began to go out of business due to publicity from a bad lift accident. It was bought the Anders Family in 1975 and merged with the Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway. In 1977, it was renamed Ober Gatlinburg, which is German for "Upper Gatlinburg" or "Top of Gatlinburg." The upper mall opened in 1982. Snow tubing was added to the resort in 2008. In 2012, the resort installed a snowmaking system, which allows them to open earlier in the season, before natural snow occurs. In 2017, it upgraded the snowmaking system, particularly focusing on Cub Way. In 2022, the resort was sold to new owners, who renamed the resort from "Ober Gatlinburg" to "Ober Mountain Adventure Park & Ski Area."

Slopes

A multi-lane snow tubing hill has lanes that are approximately 400 ft long with a 50 ft vertical drop. The tubing hill is serviced by a magic carpet, as is the ski school slope.

Lifts

The Scenic Lift is a double lift that runs to the summit of Mount Harrison, where there is a scenic overlook. The lift is 3019 ft long and rises 779 ft in elevation. The Blue Lift is also a double lift that terminates at the Alpine Way slope and the alpine slide. The Red Lift and the Black Lift are quad lifts.

Aerial tramway

The aerial tramway departs from downtown Gatlinburg and travels west to the resort. The system was built in 1973 by Von Roll Ltd. and has two 120-passenger cabins. They were replaced by Doppelmayr in 2020. The 2.1 mi tram ride runs 17 mph and takes about 10 minutes.

Amusement park

The amusement park portion of Ober Mountain is open year-round. Animals native to the Great Smoky Mountains, including black bears, are available for viewing. Other attractions include: an alpine slide, the Ski Mountain Coaster, indoor ice skating, ice bumper cars, snow tubing, a rock climbing wall, and a carousel.