Unbelievable how the weather can change from year to year.

It was close to Christmas when Ober Gatlinburg opened last year because of unseasonably warm temperatures.

But this year, the cold has moved in early.

That means plenty of snow skiing set to begin on Saturday.

"Oh, we were hunting snow!," says Kelly Johnson from Alabama.

Where there's snow, children will make angels.

At Ober Gatlinburg, there's plenty of it.

A pleasant, and just in time surprise for the Johnson family from Alabama.

"Oh, we have to come here to see it. It never snows at home and we come here every year for the Christmas parade," says Johnson.

"This year is an early start for us. Looks like we could open tomorrow at 12 o'clock so that would be perfect," says Thomas Diriwaechter, the director of snow sports at Ober Gatlinburg.

After an overly warm season last year, this year is starting out cold. Twenty-five new energy efficient snow guns have been added to the slopes so it won't be only three slopes opening this year.

"This year we can run the snow guns on five slopes at the same time which we could not last year," says Diriwaechter.

And still under construction, the snow tubing area. It's something new this year for young children and those wary of skiing but still wanting to get in on the snow action.

"A lot of people who come up here don't necessarily want to ski so they have an option and go for the tubing," says Diriwaechter.

But will a down economy put a damper on the ski resort? Diriwaechter feels the early cold will help be a draw.

"Typically an early start helps us a lot because people want to make reservations in advance so they want to make sure we are open for skiing," says Diriwaechter.

Ober plans to be open on Saturday and the slopes have even been pretested.

"I put in the first turn on the fresh powder so tomorrow is the day to go!," says Diriwaechter.

Ober officials expect three slopes but as many as five will be available for skiing this weekend, thanks to the new snow guns.

Officials hope the new snow tubing area will be open by Christmas.