Tabatha Higginbotham, 19, of Birmingham, makes her second attempt at snowboarding at Cloudmont Ski Resort in Mentone, Ala. Employee Chris Rogers gives verbal assistance on using the cable lift.IF YOU GO
Cloudmont Ski and Golf Resort Where: 721 County Road 614, Mentone, Ala. When: Open daily through March 15, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and nightly 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. How much: $55 for adults 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends and holidays, more rates online Contact: www.cloudmont.com or 256-634-4344 Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area and Amusement Park Where: 1001 Parkway Suite 2, Gatlingburg, Tenn. When: 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily through March, 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. weekends How much: $65 for adults 9 a.m. through 10 p.m. weekends and holidays, more rates online Contact: www.obergatlinburg.com or 865-436-5423
Seeing snow on the doorstep has a way of getting folks into the wintry activity spirit, and ski resort operators within a couple of hours’ drive of Chattanooga are thankful for that.
Janis Carter, one of the siblings running Cloudmont Ski and Golf Resort in Mentone, Ala., peeked out the ski lodge window Friday afternoon at the 15 cars or so out in the parking lot, pretty good for a late February weekday, she said.
“Today, we’re pretty busy,” she said. “And there’s still lots of natural snow around.”
Mentone lies just north of Fort Payne, off Interstate 59 about 40 miles from the Tennessee-Alabama line. And the small town, like much of northern Alabama and Georgia, got even more snow this week than Chattanooga and cities farther north.