Snow Far, Snow Good At Stone Mountain

Slip sliding away on the tubing run at Snow Mountain Park. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Residents of Atlanta are not accustomed to snowy winters. But now anybody in the area who wants a day of snow play can head to Stone Mountain Park.

The park has opened its first "Snow Mountain Park," with three football fields of snow, a 400-foot hill with 11 tubing runs and a 30,0000-square-foot play area.

The attraction uses water from Stone Mountain Lake that is filtered and then turned into snow using the same types of snowmaking machines that ski resorts use. As the snow melts, it drains back to Stone Mountain Lake.

The snow park opened Dec. 31 and is scheduled to remain open weekends through March 1.

The controversial attraction was canceled last year when critics balked at the event in the midst of a crushing drought in the state.

The Park had begun making the artificial snow mountain on the same day Governor Sonny Perdue urged Georgians to take “shorter showers” to conserve water.

(AP)

Snow coming to Stone Mountain Park

Snow Mountain finally will get its premiere at Stone Mountain Park.

The controversial attraction was canceled last year when critics balked at the event in the midst of a crushing drought in the state.

This year, organizers say they are using borrowed water from Stone Mountain Lake that does not tap into city water.

(Associated Press)

Drought=no snow at Stone Mountain Park

Stone Mountain Park officials have halted production of a snow-attraction that would have used more than a million gallons of water every 30 days. The Park had begun making a mountain of artificial snow this week—on the same day Governor Perdue urged Georgians to take “shorter showers” to conserve water. Stone Mountain park officials said they had received approval to develop the snow attraction, but understand the concerns of residents in the midst of a historic drought.