Workers prepare the slopes at Ober Gatlinburg to get ready for Back in Blue Rail Jam. Image courtesy of Ober.

GATLINBURG, TN — The Back in Blue Rail Jam is Ober Gatlinburg’s signature opening season event, Back in Blue Rail Jam, kicked off today. Back in Blue is held inside Ober Gatlinburg’s spacious Tubing Park and provides full facilities and plenty of viewing areas for spectators.

Featuring a full rail jam setup, Back in Blue is the earliest on-snow freestyle competition in the southeast that features up and coming talent from our region including Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. Festivities and a practice session kick off at 6PM, with the rail jam starting at 7PM. The competition is open to both skiers and snowboarders and is free for both competitors and spectators. A $1,200 cash purse will be given to the top competitors, courtesy of this year’s major sponsors Volunteer Chevrolet and Ole Smoky Distillery.

Back in Blue is an energetic event with live music, season pass specials, food & drink specials, and vendor representatives from local and national brands. The event is free for both spectators and competitors and more information can be obtained by visiting www.obergatlinburg.com/ogft and following Ober Gatlinburg Freestyle Terrain on Facebook and Instagram.

Snowtubing at Ober Gatlinburg kicks off Nov. 19. Image courtesy of Ober.

Ober Gatlinburg will open its Snow Tubing season on Saturday, November 19 at 11:00am, the earliest of any tubing operation in the Southeast. Using advanced snowmaking technology, SnowMagic, Ober Gatlinburg was able to begin snowmaking process on October 8th.

The Snow Tubing lanes are 400’ long with a 50’ vertical drop and are serviced by a moving conveyer lift which transports riders and their tubes quickly to the top of the tubing runs. The Snow Tubing schedule opening weekend will be 11am until 7pm on Saturday and Sunday from 9am until 5pm with 1.5 hour sessions beginning every 2 hours. Rates are $25 per person per session.

Snow Tubing is a great way for riders ages 3 and above to experience the fun of winter recreation. Different than open-hill sledding, the tubing park’s expertly shaped lanes guide custom tubes down a course designed to deliver an exhilarating ride. Adjacent to the tubing park is an enclosed viewing area with food concessions, a winter accessory shop and Ober Gatlinburg’s Ski Mountain Coaster.

“We are excited about the prospects of a great season,” said Bruce Anders, President of Ober Gatlinburg, Inc. “The SnowMagic system allows us to offer Snow Tubing to our guests much earlier and gives us the capability to maintain the quality of the tubing surface in the event we experience a mild winter.”