Take the sky tram from the downtown parking garage. If you ski, they credit back the cost of riding the tram on your lift ticket. If you drive up, sometimes parking is full and the lines to pay and get into the parking lot can be very long.

Ober Gatlinburg is for non-skiers as well as skiers. There are other things to do, as I previously indicated.

It can be reached by road, driving up the mountain from stop light number 10 in Gatlinburg, but this is not recommended because the parking is extremely limited! It can also be reached by an alpine cable car, which is the recommended way to go. At the bottom of the mountain there is a large parking lot a couple of blocks from the cable car. The cost of the cable car ride is about $9 per adult. There are discount coupons in many tourist attraction books, which can be found at most restaurants.

The main reason my wife and I go to Ober Gatlinburg is for the cable car ride (for my wife) and to eat in the restaurant with a view of the ski slopes (for me).

We rode the ski lift to the top of the mountain.

What a view!

The ski lift is kind of scary - we felt like we just might fall out - but the view is worth the scary feeling.

When you walk in the door the people there are so friendly that you feel like you're at home. The day we went up they had the Special Olympics there and it was a sight to watch them. There is a cafe there in the lodge and shops around with a Black Bear habitat as well.

You can imagine that the south does not experience a great deal of snow... this place was pretty darn good... they make lots of snow and keep the place open all winter. This place is like an amusement park. Snow for the skiers, and a lodge for the drinkers, plus lots of tourist activities like the Bear exhibit (oooooh!) We tried to snowboard, and let's just say I think I broke a rib, and my friend split his lip open; I'll stick to skiing from now on! Alice will stick to the lodge...