Going down the Alpine Slide in Lookout Valley. Click to enlarge all our photos.
photo by Harmon Jolley
Most of the students in the Chattanooga area recently began their summer vacation and are pursuing their favorite summer activities. It’s an annual tradition going back many years. This is the first in a series of articles that recall some places which once provided “cool” fun in the hot summertime.
Chattanooga’s normal summer climate includes many hot and humid days which can make us want to jump into some cool, rushing water. A few entrepreneurs recognized this and started businesses that featured water slides as an escape from the sweltering temperatures.
In July, 1977, Dan Hines and Tom Lee opened their Super Water Slide on the slope of Lookout Mountain along Cummings Highway. The property was the former site of the Big Rock Motel, named for – you’re ahead of me on this – a big rock.
The developers of the slide had visited several other operations around the country and selected fiberglass because it gave a smoother ride, provided flexibility of design, and didn’t require riders to use mats.
The Super Water Slide included a 526-foot chute carrying 2,000 gallons of water per minute, and sliders could average a speed of 8 to 10- miles per hour. The slide required no chair lift nor ramp, as visitors just walked up the slope to take another trip. For both tourists and locals, the slide was a great way to cool down. I can testify, having made a few visits after work.
Mr. Lee and Mr. Hines formed the Le-Hi Corporation with plans to franchise the Super Water Slide and worked with the Chattanooga Choo-Choo on their indoor water slide that is still used in their hotel today.
Sadly, the Super Water Slide last appears in the 1990 city directory. Today, the property includes a small roadside park, with vegetation again covering the slope where the slide was. The “big rock” is still there, with a faded sign of the Big Rock Motel painted on it.
There were two other water slides that operated during some of the years that the Super Water Slide was open.
The Roaring Rapids Water Slide was in Hixson on Highway 153, where the Wal-Mart Super Center is today. Customers walked up a stairway to enter the water slide, which went straight down with a few cascades along the way.
I remember that the water pressure was fairly strong and that it didn’t take long to plunge into the splash pool. The Roaring Rapids was in operation from 1981 to 1983.
Raccoon Mountain Caverns and Campground also had a small water slide at one time. They are best remembered, however, for the slide adjacent to their property which didn’t require getting wet. This was the Alpine Slide, which was in operation from 1978 to 1999.
The business was developed by Mr. George Nelson, Jr. of Minnesota and was the first Alpine Slide in the nation. There would eventually be at least 27 other locations including Gatlinburg.
Riders took a chair lift up the mountain and then stepped into a small fiberglass sled and traveled down one of two twisting concrete chutes at an average speed between 10 and 15 miles per hour.
The rider controlled the speed of the sled by means of a hand brake. There were also signs that warned against trying to slow down by grabbing onto the concrete chute (good advice). Other signs cautioned against trying to rock the sled out of the track (more good advice).
As it went across each seam of the concrete, the sled made a clickety-clack sound that was reminiscent of riding in a train. To return the sled to the top of the mountain, the ride operator hoisted it onto a hook attached to the chair lift.
Unlike the summertime water slides, the Alpine Slide was open most of the year. Customers included tourists and locals, including businessmen wearing shirts and ties. Cummings Cove and Black Creek Club acquired the property in 1999.
If you have memories of these slides, please contact me at jolleyh@signaldata.net