A building boom will continue this summer in Gatlinburg, the lift capital of the Southeast. Ober Mountain plans to construct two new Doppelmayr quad chairs replacing aging lifts. The first fixed grip quad will replace the 1981 Borvig Black quad, which services ski runs in the winter and mountain biking trails in the summer. The second new quad will replace the 1962 Carlevaro-Savio Scenic double, which accesses a mountaintop overlook. The two Alpenstar quads will be the first new lifts built at Ober in 43 years.
The news comes on the heels of recent lift projects at Anakeesta, Gatlinburg SkyPark, Harper Brothers Mountain and SkyLand Ranch, all of which operate within a ten mile radius in the Great Smoky Mountains. Ober Mountain operates nearly the entire year with multiple lifts serving skiing, tubing mountain biking, scenic rides and an alpine slide in various seasons. The mountain is in the midst of a multi-year rebirth under a new, local ownership group that has also invested in new snowmaking and downhill bike trails. Doppelmayr expects to begin building the new chairlifts in March with completion scheduled for October.
Lift Blog 
Wow this is a big deal.
While I’ve never skied this area the lift layout always seemed weird to me. Any word if the new Black will still cross the old Red?
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You’d have to see the weird craggy terrain they are dealing with up against the smoky mtns.
Been there once when I lived in Atlanta, just to say I had gone. Also not shown on their old school trail map is all the mountainous housing development all over those hillsides around much of the area. Unless they go over the ridge far lookers right somehow, they are pretty locked into their footprint. Not that skiing is particularly viable in that region to bother with expansion.
The scenic lift felt ancient even in the 1990’s when I rode it. Probably the most used chair lift annually overall, though maybe with MTB in the summer the Black is finally getting more overall use.
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I would think the new lift would still have to cross over, however I doubt Red and the new Black will share that one tower. Wonder if Blue Lift will also go away once the new lifts are in use, It is rarely used for anything except hauling sleds anymore, which could easily be done on the new scenic quad.
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There is potential for terrain expansion off of the Blue Lift. In fact, at one time there was a run off the top it. Would be fun to see Blue replaced and new trails there.
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Glad to see some new life in this resort! Keep up the efforts!
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