Let it snow! Southerners get taste of winter at Snow Mountain Park in Georgia

Southerners check out winter at Atlanta snow park

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — Sledding, snowball fights and building a snowman are not typical Atlanta activities.

But on Snow Mountain at Stone Mountain Park, which just opened for its second season, 240 tons of machine-made snow a day allows Southerners to experience winter fun without the Northern chills.

Ten-year-old Nick Velez from Clermont, Fla., who visited the park in December, didn’t remember ever seeing snow before.

“I think it’s cool, how you can make snowballs and how you can have fun in it,” he said, dragging his inner tube behind him as he followed his grandmother, Deborah Rosa, up the hill.

Southerners dressed for their artificial snow day in a variety of get-ups. Rosa wore leopard-print boots and a fur-lined jacket, but some visitors wore cowboy boots or just tennis shoes and a fleece pullover. Others donned full snowsuits or ski pants and heavy boots.

As a Southerner originally from Memphis, I arrived at the park stuffed into multiple layers of clothing — gloves, hats, scarves, fleece vests, extra socks, tights and ear muffs. My husband John, who grew up in a snowy Pennsylvania farm town, was a little more cavalier, with one pair of socks, jeans, a few layers of shirts under his wind breaker and gloves.

We headed first for the tubing queue, grabbing donut-shaped inflatables and jumping on a conveyor belt to take us up to the top of the hill. The park was sold out for the day, with hundreds of people on the hill and a 20-minute wait to shoot down one of the 12 tubing lanes.

Brendan Sheppard, 35, of nearby Norcross, Ga., was happy to be there despite the lines. “I thought it would be fun for the kids, but I ended up having a lot more fun that I thought,” Sheppard said. “You don’t usually get to do this at home.”

My first trip down the 400-foot tubing hill was exhilarating: wind in my hair, my inner tube turning rapidly in circles as I sped to the bottom. I wanted more. Even my husband, who’d been grumbling about the wait, was smiling.

The next two trips down the tubing hill were just as fun as the first, and the line went faster each time. On the third try, we opted for a double inner tube so we could go together, though that turned out slower than the single ones.

At the park’s Snow Zone, a machine spits white, fluffy flakes into the air every few minutes and a kiosk provides free accessories for guests building snowmen in the park: scarves, hats and even eyes. A park worker warned the crowd in the large snowy field not to throw snowballs, but many visitors couldn’t resist. I was hit at least once in the shoulder by an errant pitch.

My childhood did not prepare me for the art of making snowmen, so I put my husband in charge of that while I made snow bricks using a rectangular mold.

Snow Mountain is scheduled to remain open until March 7, when the weather typically gets into the 60s and 70s, but the snow-making process and technology used at the park can keep the snow fresh at even higher temperatures, a park spokesman said.

It takes 70,000 gallons of water per day to create Snow Mountain. In 2007 — the year Snow Mountain was set to debut — the attraction was canceled at the last minute because of drought.

In 2008, park officials created a looping system where water is collected from the park’s lake, which is replenished by the melting snow.

We ended the day with hot chocolate and s’mores by fire pits designed for do-it-yourself marshmallow melting. We happily ate our graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow treats while watching the tubing and snow playground from distance.

It was a perfect day for a girl from below the Mason-Dixon line.

If You Go…

SNOW MOUNTAIN AT STONE MOUNTAIN PARK: In Stone Mountain, Ga., about 15 miles east of Atlanta; www.snowmountainpark.com or 770-498-5690 (metro Atlanta area), 800-401-2407 elsewhere. Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, through March 7, with two holiday Mondays, Jan. 18 and Feb. 15. Check Web site calendar for exact hours. Tickets, $25; parking, $10. Some days do sell out; advance ticket purchase recommended.