Focusing on the resort and tourist community of Slaty Fork, Snowshoe Mountain, Cass and Green Bank

Vol. 5 No. 4
April 2006

Serving SnowShoe Mountain, Slaty Fork, Green Bank and Cass
"News you can resort to"

Second Section of
The Pocahontas Times
Post Office No. 436-640
ISSN No. 07388373

Upcoming Events Around the Mountain Resort

If it's going on in the county, you'll find it here
April
AROUND THE COUNTY
Star Lab Thursdays € National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, 304-456-2150. Gather at the planetarium balloon every Thursday for a unique look at the sky. There is a $3 charge per person and reservations are suggested. Program begins at 2 p.m.
April 7 € Film Fest at NRAO € National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, 304-456-2150. The first Friday of each month is Free Movie Night at NRAO. Screening "Muppets from Outer Space." Come out and enjoy this free movie event at 6:30 p.m. NRAO staff will be on hand for questions and discussion.
April 8 € Greenbrier River Trail Clean Up € 304-653-4722. The Annual Spring Clean Up along the Greenbrier River Trail will be Saturday April 8. Call to be assigned a stretch to be cleaned. Bags and gloves will be provided. Make it a family event and bring the kids along to help! You might see some early flowers popping or a few birds that are returning after spending winter in a bit warmer climate.
April 12 € High-Tech Wednesday € National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, 304-456-2150. Join us for a guided tour through parts of NRAO normally off-limits to visitors, like lab areas where sensitive receivers are deigned and built. Space is limited to 15 per tour, cost is $3 per person and takes about an hour.
April 21 - 22 € Celebrate Earth Day at Mountain Quest, Frost € 866-245-6494 or 799-2284. Mountain Quest invites you to help them observe Earth Day 2006. Inn guests who bring and plant a tree will receive free lodging and breakfast! The "Bring & plant a tree to stay free" event will help to furnish the Inn site with trees indigenous to West Virginia. Enjoy the experience! For more information on desired trees, contact them either on the Web or by phone.
Apri. 23 € Montclair String Quartet € Pocahontas County Opera House, 818 Third Avenue, Marlinton €304-799-6645. The Montclair String Quartet is celebrating its 15th year with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Quartet members are Amelia Chan, Violin; Luigi Peracchia, Violin; Sandra Armstrong Groce, Viola; and Andrea Di Gregorio, Cello. Five dollars lets you in to this wonderful program.
Apr. 28 € The Boilermaker Jazz Band € Pocahontas County Opera House, 818 Third Avenue, Marlinton €304-799-6645. 7:30 p.m. The Boilermaker Jazz Band is an ecstatically fun ensemble that performs authentic hot jazz, ragtime, and swing. They have a wide repertoire that can make an audience swing to a classic jazz standard, get sentimental over an old-time ballad, boogie to a hot jump tune, or get low-down with a gritty blues. Leading the Boilermaker Jazz Band on clarinet and vocals is Paul Cosentino, a full time bandleader/performer who founded the band in 1988 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The band also features fabulous singer Jennie Luvv who will thrill you with her smooth and sultry vocal stylings. From bar room ballads and not-so-standard standards to hot and bubblin' swing, Jennie's performances add a touch of sophistication to the Boilermaker ensemble.
Apr. 29 € 20th Annual Great Greenbrier River Race € Marlinton € 800-336-7009 € Come join the fun with this triathlon event. Canoe, bike and run for great prizes and the chance to place in this annual race. Race starts promptly at 11 am following a mandatory 10 am race meeting. All the fun starts and ends at Marlinton's Municipal Park - at the bridge, right next to the Greenbrier River. After-race fun includes prizes, awards, a gourmet lunch along with live music. Call the Pocahontas County CVB at 800-336-7009 for a registration form or go to the Greenbrier River Trail website, www.greenbrierrivertrail.com for more information. This is one you won't want to miss!
Apr. 29 € Party Under the Stars FREE € NRAO, Green Bank € 456-2150. NRAO Staff will orient you to the star-filled heavens and then view the night sky on the Star Party Patio. Bring optical telescopes and binoculars - you won't believe the view! Program begins 30 minutes before dark.

On The Mountain

For more info about any events at Snowshoe, call 877-441-4FUN or visit online at www.snowshoemtn.com
April 1 - 2 € Last Hurrah Weekend € We're going out with a bang! Celebrate the last hurrah to the winter season with fun and games, live entertainment, our 4th Annual Pond Skimming Extravaganza and much more. Don't forget, when you book three or more nights lodging over our Last Hurrah Weekend, you'll receive free lift tickets for the length of your stay. Through - Apr. 9 € Ski FREE € You ski ed and rode free to kick off the season, so it's fitting to finish off the 2005/2006 winter season with more FREE lift tickets. During our End of the Season Celebration, when you book three or more nights lodging, you'll receive your lift tickets for FREE (weather permitting).

Awakened from her long winter's nap, mama bear looks down from her den, 30 feet up in the hollowed trunk of a yellow birch on Cheat Mountain. This den, it turned out, contained no cubs or yearlings.

Photo by Drew Tanner

Bearing up: In search of bruins with the Northern Bear Study

Some days you get the bear

Drew Tanner
Staff Writer

Robert Knight, Wildlife Manager for the Cheat Mountain Wildlife Management Area attempts to pick up a signal from a hibernating bear's radio collar.
Photo by Drew Tanner

      Thick grey clouds were beginning to blanket Cheat Mountain. It had been comfortably cool when we stopped in Durbin, but as we ascended the mountain on US 250, the air turned cold and damp.
      "It looks like we might have some weather," Cully said.
      I was riding with Cully McCurdy, a Wildlife Manager for the Division of Natural Resources, and we were en route to a bear den on the mountain that separates Pocahontas from Randloph County.
      McCurdy is part of the team conducting the DNRs Northern Bear Study. While he normally oversees the Rimel Wildlife Management Area in Pocahontas County, McCurdy's experience with big game and expertise in chemical immobilization of large animals led to his being called up to help with the study.
      As we drove into Randolph County and turned off onto a Forest Service road, a light mist hung in the air.
      At a junction with another Forest Service road we met up with the five other DNR staff and volunteers who were part of the team.

"The bears in southern West Virginia have some of the highest reproductive rates of any bear population in the world," Ryan said. "We didn't know this before the study began
Photo by Drew Tanner

      Getting out of our vehicles, we began to bushwhack through the forest of red spruce and fern-covered boulders. Several inches of snowpack were still on the ground in some areas and thick fog rolled through on the cold breeze.
      Robert Knight, Wildlife Manager for the Cheat Mountain Wildlife Management Area, led us through the woods. Using a receiver to pick up the signal from the radio collar the team had placed on the bear the year before, Knight had recently pinpointed the location of her den on a previous trip.
      She had cubs with her when the team found her last winter, McCurdy explained. As yearlings, they would still be wintering with their mother.
      After half an hour of pushing our way through the young spruce, we found it. A yellow birch, much larger than the trees around it, rose up in front of us, topping out around 100 feet.
      The sow, as female bears are called, had made her den in the large, hollowed-out trunk of the tree some 30 feet above the ground.
      The team began to make its preparations. McCurdy and DNR biologist Steven Wilson prepared hypdermic darts with telazol a powerful narcotic that leaves the bear conscious but shuts off its voluntary muscle control and pain receptors.

Cully McCurdy, Wildlife Manager for the Rimel Wildlife Management Area, prepares the hypodermic darts that will sedate the bear and any yearlings she might have in her den. In case any of the bears run, the darts can be fitted with a radio transmitter so wildlife managers can quickly track and find the animals once they go down.
Photo by Drew Tanner

      Other members of the team went to work clearing some of the brush around the base of the tree and pulling climbing gear from the duffel bags and backpacks they had lugged into the woods.
      Chris Ryan, Project Leader for the Northern Bear Study, donned a climbing harness. The process, as I understood it, would go as follows:
      After setting up the ropes to belay Ryan up the tree, the team would throw what they could at the tree near the den to stir up mama bear.
      If mama came out, she would get a dart once she came down the tree. If yearlings came scurrying out, they would get darted, too.
      With all the bears sedated, the team would go to work, tagging ears and taking measurements.
      Once we were done, we would put the young ones next to their mother and leave. The bears would eventually wake up and crawl back up to the den as if nothing had happened.

Down but not out. The sow can still register what is going around her and could even be seen blinking her eyes. The telazol used in the darts work by shutting off the bear's voluntary muscle control.
Photo by Drew Tanner

      This, however, was going to be one of those days that would not go as planned.
      In the process of lobbing the ropes for Ryan's ascent through the crotch of the tree, the ruckus woke up the bear Knight's receiver told us was inside. When groggy mama bear saw the seven of us below, she scurried another 30 feet up the tree.
      With two dart guns close at hand, the team belayed Ryan up to the crotch of the tree so he could get a closer look at the bear's den.
      Yearlings would have likely shown themselves by the time the climbing gear was set up, so he attempted to peer down into the den and look for cubs.

Chris Ryan takes and records the sow's measurements, including weight, length, ribcage girth, neck girth and paw size. This sow was the longest in the study area this year, measuring at 2424 millimeters, or just under eight feet from nose to rump.
Photo by Drew Tanner

      Ryan eventually was able to get a look inside the partially hollowed trunk with the help of Knight's digital camera. But while Ryan had thought he heard a cub squeal as he climbed the tree, the den turned out to contain nothing but snow and bear droppings.
      According to McCurdy, this sort of day was par for the week they were having.
      Afterwards, Ryan explained that the yearlings, with the den barely being large enough for their 110-pound mother, may have denned in other parts of the forest. Another scenario was that she may have lost her cubs late in the year and did not have the chance to breed again before hibernating.
      Conditions on Cheat Mountain are among the harshest in the Northern Bear Study Area, which covers Randolph and Tucker, as well as part of Barbour, Grant and Webster counties. Due to the conditions atop the mountain, litter sizes and even the size of the bears tend to be smaller than those at lower elevations, while mortality rates are among the highest in the study area.

Ryan reads the weight of the cub to Cully McCurdy to record on the data sheet. Just months old, this male cub weighed five pounds, six ounces.
Photo by Drew Tanner

      The following morning, we ventured out once again, hoping for better fortune than we had on Cheat Mountain.
      This time the destination was Laurel Run, near Norton. A coon hunter had recently reported that he stumbled upon a den less than a mile from a den the team had visited earlier this season.
      McCurdy and Ryan were the only DNR personnel going to this particular den, as it was near a road and the mother was known to have cubs, not yearlings, which would be less likely to run off on their own and require the whole team to track and recover them.

A male cub uses his sharp claws to grab hold of Ryan's glove as he prepares to weigh him.
Photo by Drew Tanner

      The weather and ease of getting to the den provided a sharp contrast to the day before. It was still cold, but the sky was clear and the sun shone brilliantly; there was none of the mist and sleet we encountered on Cheat. Moreover, McCurdy and Ryan were able to practically drive right up to the den with their trucks.
      This particular bear and her cubs had made their den under a pile of tree tops near a recent clear-cut. Due to the thick brush, it took the better part of an hour for Ryan to quietly crawl toward the entrance of the den, evaluate the situation and land two darts on the sow. Once the telazol took effect, Ryan and McCurdy went to work quickly.
      With the help of a few volunteers, the sow and her three cubs two females and a male were pulled from the den.
      In just over an hour, the sow received a pair of ear tags, a lip tattoo and had a tooth pulled so DNR could determine her age. Ryan also took measurements of the bear's girth, length, paws and weight.
      At 200 pounds and just under eight feet in length, bear number 1440 was one of the largest the team had found in the study area this season.

Cully McCurdy, a volunteer and Chris Ryan carry mama bear back to her den
Photo by Drew Tanner

      On average, McCurdy said, the sows can lose 50 or 60 pounds in the course of the winter. The 110-pound bear we found on Cheat would have gone into her den weighing up to 170 pounds, while the bear on Laurel Run was likely a 250-pounder.
      The cubs who were not very happy we woke them up were likewise measured and weighed, coming in between four-and-a-half and five-and-a-half pounds each.
      While their mother likely bred between last spring and fall, Ryan said her cubs may not have been born until mid-January.
      "Bears have delayed implantation," he explained. "This means that they may breed anywhere from May through September, but the fertilized egg doesn't implant until the second week of December."
      With a gestation period of only six weeks, the midpoint of the birthing period is January 20, Ryan said. The tiny cubs weigh between six-to-eight ounces when they are born. When the cubs finally emerge from their den in the latter part of April, they will have grown to weigh six-to-10 pounds.

The three cubs get a little time back with their mother before being placed back in their den.
Photo by Drew Tanner

      Before placing the bears on Laurel Run back into their den, Ryan and McCurdy applied some vapo-rub to the cubs and their mother's nose to mask any scent we may have left behind. "By the time she wakes up the cubs have crawled all over her and everything will be okay," Ryan explained.
      According to Ryan, the information collected from this and the other dens in the study area not only helps DNR officials get a picture of the overall health of the bear population in southeastern West Virginia, it helps them set the regulations for bear hunting in the state.
      "The primary data that we are collecting in terms of the monitoring aspect of the bear project are the demographic parameters of the population," Ryan explained. "These survival and reproductive rate data are very useful at setting hunting seasons."
      "We maintain a minimum of 30 radio collared females in each study area," Ryan continued. The total before hunting season is 60-70 combined for both study areas." This summer, Ryan said the team will tag additional bears to monitor direct harvest rates and increase the study's sample size. The larger the sample, the more consistent the data will be, Ryan said.
      "These data help us to monitor female survival, which is one of the primary forces controlling bear populations," Ryan added. As the northern and southern bear studies have progressed, Ryan said the data the team has gathered have yielded some surprises.
      "The bears in southern West Virginia have some of the highest reproductive rates of any bear population in the world," Ryan said. "We didn't know this before the study began."

A little more than an hour after it all began, the cubs are back in their den with their mother, where they will likely remain until warmer weather comes.
Photo by Drew Tanner

      While this is only the second winter the team has handled bears in the northern study area, Ryan said the survival rates in both areas have been very high.
      "We have a great population that is estimated at 10,000-12,000," Ryan said.
      Bear harvests in the state have seen a sharp increase over the past 35 years, from fewer than 100 harvested in 1971 to 1,624 in 2005. Pocahontas, Pendleton, Randolph and Tucker counties had some of the highest gun and archery harvest rates last season.
      Ryan has been studying black bears since he was a graduate student at Virginia Tech. As part of the dissertation for the PhD he is currently pursuing from West Virginia University, Ryan plans to analyze all of the DNRs past black bear data as well as the data currently being collected.
      The five-year Northern Bear Study and 10-year Southern Bear Study are slated to run through June 30, 2009.

Strings and Swing Light up the Opera House This Month

Barbara Elliott
Contributing Writer
      A spectrum of strings and some jumpin' swing are featured in two more sensational concerts at the Pocahontas County Opera House this month.
The Montclair String Quartet

Luigi Peracchia, Violin; Amelia Chan, Violin; Andrea Di Gregorio, Cello ; and Sandra Armstrong Groce, Viola
Photo courtesy of Montclair String Quartet

      West Virginia's own Montclair String Quartet will perform at the Opera House on Sunday, April 23, at 3 p.m.
      The Quartet (Amelia Chan, Violin; Luigi Peracchia, Violin; Sandra Armstrong Groce, Viola; and Andrea Di Gregorio, Cello) is celebrating its 14th season in residence with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. In addition to performing its own four-concert series in Charleston and recitals around the state, each of the Quartet members serves as principal in the Symphony's string sections.
      A large part of the quartet's mission is to bring classical music to children throughout West Virginia. The Quartet plays 40-60 school programs per year, and they will perform for Pocahontas County students on Monday, April 24.
      Their Opera House program is titled "Love and Death," and will include Leos Janacek's String Quartet No. 1 ("Kreutzer Sonata") and the String Quartet in D Minor, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden") by Schubert.
The Boilermaker Jazz Band
      Gear up for the Great Greenbrier River Race with a pre-race evening of authentic hot jazz, ragtime and swing with The Boilermaker Jazz Band. This ecstatically fun group will steam into the Opera House on Friday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m.
      The band has a wide repertoire that can make an audience swing to a classic jazz standard, get sentimental over an old-time ballad, boogie to a hot jump tune, or get low-down with gritty blues.

Paul Cosentino on clarinet and vocals and fabulous female singer Jennie Luvv
Photo courtesy of Montclair String Quartet

      Leading the Boilermaker Jazz Band on clarinet and vocals is Paul Cosentino, a full time bandleader/ performer who founded the band in 1988 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Paul plays an antique Albert system clarinet giving him a wonderfully distinctive sound.
      The band also features fabulous female singer Jennie Luvv who will thrill you with her smooth and sultry vocal stylings. From bar room ballads and not-so-standard standards to hot and bubblin' swing, Jennie's performances add a touch of sophistication to the Boilermaker ensemble.
      Tickets to all performances are $5 for adults and are sold only at the door. Children 12 and under are admitted free. The Pocahontas County Opera House is located at 818 Third Avenue in Marlinton. For further information, call the Opera House at (304) 799-6645. In the event of snowy or icy weather, please call to confirm that the performance is still scheduled. For information on other upcoming Opera House events, visit www.pocahontasoperahouse.org.

Great Greenbrier River Race Celebrates 20 Years

The three-stage Great Greenbrier River Race features running, biking and canoe/ kayaking segments.
Photo courtesy Pocahontas County CVB

      The first race which would become known as the "Great Greenbrier River Race" had its premiere day in the spring of 1986. It was started by John Walkup, Leslee McCarty and Gil and Mary Willis after the 1985 flood created major problems for the fledgling Greenbrier River Trail. The hope was to bring people to see that there was still a lot of recreation on the river and trail!
      The first race started at Clover Lick and ended in Marlinton. Subsequent races were held at Anthony and Beard, and last year in Greenbrier County at Ronceverte, but the Marlinton race has been the most popular due to easier access and good start and finish locations. The Great Greenbrier River Race this year will be Saturday, April 29, at the Municipal Park, at the bridge on Rt 39 in Marlinton.

Runners leave the start. The 3-mile road race has turned in some impressive times in past years.
Photo courtesy Dennis Blevins

      Greenbrier River Trail Association President Leslee McCarty says "The Race grows each year. Besides being a good cause, it's a great day of fun and competition for the whole family."
      Through the years the Race became more popular and last year there were more than 160 participants. Now there are dozens of businesses and individuals who are sponsors and donate great food and prizes. This year's race chairperson, Robin Demarchi, of Charleston, has been a race participant in this and other races for years, and will bring a fresh face to the familiar ones.
      Proceeds from the sponsorships go to the Greenbrier River Trail Association which has been responsible for many improvements on the Trail over the years, such as water, restrooms, trailhead parking and landscaping and our new interpretive signs at popular trailheads. Information about the race is online at greenbrierrivertrail.com and participants may register at active.com.

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In celebration of Mountain Times 4rd year online,
we thought you'd like to review the earlier postings.
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Jan. 2006 | Feb. 2006 | Mar. 2006
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Burton ~ Salomon ~ Nitro ~ New and Used Demos Come talk to the resort's most
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Store Sale 20 - 50% OFF
Ski and Snowboard Rentals and Sales
1 mile south of WV 66 ~ 304 572-4173

Open Daily 7:30 am - 11 pm, Later on Friday

Largest Ski and Snowboard Rental Co. in the Southeast 304 572-1234
Located at the corner of Rt. 219 and Rt. 66
LOWER RATES ~ FRIENDLY SERVICE
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ON SALE!!!
Entire 2nd Floor DISCOUNTED

SNOWBOARD & SKI RENTALS
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Daily 7:30 am - 11 pm
Friday 7:30 am - 2 am    304 572-1200

Restaurant
at the Inn at SnowShoe ~ EVERY WEEKEND ~
SHOW COOKERY & BUFFET STATION
Room service available 6:30 am- 1 am
Lounge hours
Mon. - Fri. 4:30 pm - 1 am
Sat. amd Sun. 1 pm to 1 am
Menu Items available daily 'til 1 am
~ 304 572-1000 ~

Open 7 AM until 9 PM
Home of the $4 breakfast!
Located on the corner of
Rt. 219 and Rt. 66

An intimate off-mountain dining experience
Featuring an International Buffet with
live local music each Thursday nite.
5 miles south of WV 66 on US 219
Open Thursday thru Monday evenings
For reservations call:     304 572-3771
Privately owned and operated Since 1982

Douglas S. Keith, Broker
Christine Butler, Assoc. Broker
Beverly Figg, GRI ~ Matt Matthews
Raymond Godwin     304 572-5687
P.O. Box 364 Snowshoe, WV 26209
Visit our Office in Shaver's Centre, Snowshoe Mountain

Presenting the Height of Luxury
Allegheny Springs at Snowshoe Mountain
Yours to own 1-800-489-1943

Mountain Country Properties
304 572-4663      mcpinfo@sunlitsurf.com
David Curtis, Broker
Sales Associates: Jeanette Canada, Bet Curtis P.O. Box 7
Slaty Fork, WV 26291
on Rt. 219, about 1 mile south
of Rt. 66 intersection.

Glades Hardware

Marlinton WV
304 799-4912

Calhoun & Kipp
Unique Items from around the world.
Mon. thru Sat. 10 am 'til 9 pm
Sunday 9 am 'til 8 pm
304 572-5250

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Eight Rivers Web Designs Last update April 7, 2006
by Michael Condon omb00875@mail.wvnet.edu

	Douglas S. Keith, Broker Christine Butler, Assoc. Broker Beverly Figg, GRI ~ Matt Matthews Raymond Godwin 304 572-5687 P.O. Box 364 Snowshoe, WV 26209
Visit our Office in Shaver's Centre, Snowshoe Mountain