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Hawksnest Makes Plenty of Snow for Fun Weekend, To Rev Up Snowmaking This Week

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The tubing lanes at Hawksnest were covered in snow this weekend. Photos by Ken Ketchie

By Jesse Wood

During last week’s brief cold snap, Hawksnest made a ton of snow in two to three days to cover all the tubing lanes for a weekend of fun. The tubing conditions were great; unfortunately for winter enthusiasts, warmer temps and the rain have returned.

Tubing is closed on Monday because of the weather and a decision on what to do for Tuesday is still up in the air, according to Hawksnest owner Lenny Cottom.

“It just depends on what the weather does. If it rains some more, it’s not much fun for customers and not a good tubing experience. You can’t really slide around,” Cottom said. “We’ll just kind of play it by ear.”

Arctic air is forecasted to return to the High Country late Wednesday and linger through some of Saturday, according to RaysWeather.com. If the rain holds off on Saturday and Sunday, next weekend should offer a pleasant time for tubing.

“We’ll make snow again this week,” Cottom said, adding that things should be fine as long as the Christmas holiday season is blessed with some snowmaking temperatures at the least.

While Mother Nature has dropped little natural snow this season, Hawksnest has taken advantage of the cold spells in between with its infrastructure investment of more than $200,000 a couple years back. 

Hawksnest opened for the first time this season during the Thanksgiving holiday. It re-opened this past weekend after temperatures dropped enough for local resorts to begin making snow. 

The largest snow tubing park on the East Coast, Hawksnest offers four different tubing areas with more than 30 lanes, which are between 400 and 1,000 feet long with two moving carpets that bring you to the top of the mountain.

Also, don’t forget about year-round ziplining at Hawksnest. 

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Hawksnest offers year-round ziplining.

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