Blue Ridge Outdoors January 2019

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IRONMAN WORLD RECORD

6 0 I R O N - D I S TA N C E T R I AT H LO N S IN A SINGLE YEAR

Resolution Guide 25 Health Hacks and Fitness Secrets for 2019

RECLAIMING APPALACHIA ‘A N I S H ’ S E T S T R I P L E CROWN RECORD

Release yourself back into the wild.

The 2019 Subaru Outback. With standard Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive + 32 mpg*, it’s a trustworthy ®

traveling companion. In fact, Subaru is Kelley Blue Book’s Most Trusted Brand for four years running†.

Love. It’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru.

Outback. Well-equipped at $26,345.** Subaru and Outback are registered trademarks. *EPA-estimated highway fuel economy for 2019 Subaru Outback 2.5i models. Actual mileage may vary. †2015–2018 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards are based on the Brand Watch™ study from Kelley Blue Book Strategic Insights. Award calculated among non-luxury shoppers. For more information, visit www.kbb.com. Kelley Blue Book is a registered trademark of Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc. **MSRP excludes destination and delivery charges, tax, title, and registration fees. Retailer sets actual price. Certain equipment may be required in specific states, which can modify your MSRP. See your retailer for details. 2019 Subaru Outback 2.5i Touring shown has an MSRP of $36,795.

Image: Š The Nature Conservancy (Kent Mason)

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BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

JANUARY 2019

Thanks for naming us the Best of the Blue Ridge.

From one of the highest points in Virginia, we proudly offer camping, yurts, access to the Appalachian Trail and some of the finest scenery in the country. See for yourself why Blue Ridge Outdoors readers say Grayson Highlands State Park is the Best of the Blue Ridge.

PHOTO BY KENTON STERYOUS

F E AT U R E S 11 BEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE AWARDS 2019 Thousands of readers cast their votes for their favorite people, places, businesses, and events in the region. Here are the winners of over 100 award categories— including our Adventurer of the Year.

27 RESOLUTION GUIDE Athletes and experts offer 25 health hacks and fitness secrets to ensure your New Year’s Resolutions stick.

30 THIS IS THE NOLI Paddlers, filmmakers, and local citizens team up to nominate the

Nolichucky as a Wild & Scenic River.

37 THE BLACK LUNGS OF COAL COUNTRY An alarming leap in black lung disease has galvanized Appalachian communities to demand reparations for the scarred bodies and landscapes left behind by a century of mining.

D E PA R T M E N T S 8 QUICK HITS Triathlete completes 60 Ironmans in a single year • (L)earn-a-bike offers a path forward for Harrisonburg youth • Charlottesville runner sets Long Trail record • Black bear populations on the rise

35 THE GOODS Build a home gym: Athletes and trainers pick their essential equipment.

36 FLASHPOINT Are outdoor adventurers losing their conservaton ethic—or is it evolving?

42 TRAIL MIX Blue Ridge bands on the rise: Five new artists to watch in 2019.

ON THE COVER Samantha Mignone and furry friend, Aspen, taking in the views of Mount Pleasant, Va. Photo by Samantha Mignone samanthabrookephoto.com @samanthabrookephoto

800-933-PARK (7275) | www.virginiastateparks.gov JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

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B AC K TA L K WORST POSSIBLE SITE FOR A SPACEPORT PRESIDENT BLAKE DEMASO b l a ke @ b l u e r i d g e o u t d o o r s . c o m E D I TO R I N C H I E F W I L L H A R L A N will@blueridgeoutdoors.com P U B L I S H E R L E A H W O O DY leah@blueridgeoutdoors.com C R E AT I V E D I R E C TO R L AU R E N W O R T H lauren@blueridgeoutdoors.com

Thanks for the story on the proposed spaceport across from Cumberland Island. Between the rockets flying over the island and the proposed development by private landowners on the island, they are trying to kill this national seashore that we the people own. —J.P. Burns

NO PIPELINES IN PISGAH E D I TO R I A L & P R O D U C T I O N S E N I O R E D I TO R J E D D F E R R I S jedd@blueridgeoutdoors.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER AMELIA MCCONNELL amelia@blueridgeoutdoors.com T R AV E L E D I TO R E L L E N K A N Z I N G E R ellen@blueridgeoutdoors.com C O N T R I B U TO R S M A S O N A DA M S G R A H A M AV E R I L L A.K. CLEMMONS DA N I E L D E W I T T KIM DINAN

J E S S DA D D I O WA L LY S M I T H DAV E S TA L L A R D E L I Z A B E T H M C G O WA N M I R N A VA L E R I O

C O P Y E D I TO R S JULIA GREEN, ROBERT MCGEE ADVERTISING & BUSINESS S E N I O R AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E

M A R T H A E VA N S

martha@blueridgeoutdoors.com AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E K AT I E H A R T W E L L katie@blueridgeoutdoors.com AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E H A N N A H C O O P E R hcooper@blueridgeoutdoors.com AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E K A R L K N I G H T karl@blueridgeoutdoors.com AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E TAY LO R L E A L taylor@blueridgeoutdoors.com B U S I N E S S M A N AG E R M E L I S S A G E S S L E R melissa@blueridgeoutdoors.com C I R C U L AT I O N M A N AG E R K A I T Y VA N C E kvance@blueridgeoutdoors.com D I G I TA L M E D I A O N L I N E D I R E C TO R C R A I G S N O D G R A S S webdir@blueridgeoutdoors.com D I G I TA L C O N T E N T S P E C I A L I S T

S H A N N O N M C G OWA N

shannon@blueridgeoutdoors.com

The pipelines being built through Jefferson National Forest show what can go wrong: including mudslides and local farms being ruined. Why are we building more pipelines? Because saving money is more important than our environment? —Kayla Aliff No one likes pipelines running through their backyards. However, no other mode of transportation is safer for the equivalent volume they can move. —Tyler Dodson I hope folks in North Carolina don't have to learn the hard way like we are in Virginia: don't let pipelines rip through your forest. Learn from our mistakes and stop the pipelines before they plow through Pisgah.

—Taylor Kinney

WINTER SURVIVAL Loved the interview of backcountry search and rescue leader Andrew Herrington. From now, I will never head out on another hike without my 55-gallon trash bag. —Matt McGwire Andrew Herrington is right on: we need to get back to the basics of common sense, even for day hikes.

So glad he mentioned the importance of notifying someone where you're hiking. And while trash bags can definitely be a life saver, your number one survival tool is still your brain.

—Claire Bardolf Dunn

SUMMIT

PUBLISHING

116 WEST JEFFERSON STREET C H A R LOT T E S V I L L E , V I R G I N I A 2 2 9 0 2 5 6 C O L L E G E S T R E E T, S U I T E 3 0 3 ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA 28801

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

©2019 Summit Publishing, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

GOT A STORY IDEA OR COMMENT? submit@blueridgeoutdoors.com B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

HOW TO BE A BADASS Your title should have been: 'How to Be a Jackass: The Male Douches of the Outdoors.' And there's no need to call them 'Women Warriors.' By doing so, you perpetuate the idea that women's achievements are laudable because they are female. They're laudable because of skill, not gender.

We have to get away from this 'like a girl' mentality if we want to be seen as equals. —Bobbi Losee Vernon TA L K B AC K TO U S H E R E :

at E & KEEP IT FRESH, DRINK LOCAL

ffering lessons for ages 4 1/2 & older Wild Wolf Brewing Company is located in the heart of the Brew Ridge Trail on Route 151 and features a wide selection of hand-crafted beers as well as made from scratch food.

Visit our website for current spe specials and events. Vegetarian and gluten free options are always available.

Offering lessons for ages 4 1/2 and older.

SPEND $25 RECEIVE A FREE PINT GLASS!

Visit bryceresort.com for up to date rates and times.

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www.bryceresort.com | 540-856-2121

/bryceresort

@bryce_resort

wildwolleer.com | 2461 Rockfish Valley Hwy. Nellysford, VA

Athletes and spectators alike love these annual competitions in the Alleghany Highlands. Pristine lakes and rivers and courses with stunning mountain views make

Don’t let the peaceful mountain views fool you.

This summer, it’s Game On!

these scenic races Uniquely Alleghany.

May 18, 2019

Alleghany Highlands Triathlon

June 22, 2019

Jackson River Scenic Trail Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K

July 20, 2019

Alleghany Gran Fondo “Agony in the Alleghanies”

August 3, 2019

Lake Moomaw One Mile Open Water Swim

visitalleghanyhighlands.com/featured-events 540-962-2178 · 888-430-5786 · #UniquelyAlleghany

Like us on

RICHMOND EDITION |

JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

7

QUICK HITS

OUTDOOR NEWS

BY JEDD FERRIS + KIM DINAN

WOMAN COMPLETES TRIPLE CROWN OF HIKING IN A SINGLE YEAR When Heather “Anish” Anderson’s boots touched the ground in Grants, New Mexico this November, it marked the first time a woman had completed the triple crown of hiking in a year. In just over 8 months and nearly 8,000 miles, Anderson walked the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail in a single calendar year. No stranger to hiking, Anderson is a three-time triple crowner and holds the self-supported thru-hike speed record on the Pacific Crest Trail, completing the 2,650-mile hike in 60 days.

MARYLAND ATHLETE BECOMES FIRST AMERICAN TO WIN NYC WHEELCHAIR MARATHON

( R I G H T ) H E AT H E R ' A N I S H ' A N D E R S O N B E G I N S H E R P C T T H R U - H I K E F R O M I T S S O U T H E R N T E R M I N U S AT T H E M E X I C A N B O R D E R A S PA R T O F H E R 8 , 0 0 0 - M I L E TRIPLE CROWN RECORD HIKE.

Daniel Romanchuk won the New York City Marathon’s wheelchair race in early November, and in doing so became the first American to top the field in the event’s 18-year existence.

Just 20 years old, Romanchuk won with a time of 1 hour, 36 minutes, 21 seconds, besting second-place finisher and three-time New York winner Marcel Hug of Switzerland by 1.15 seconds. Romanchuk, who’s originally from Mt. Airy, Md., but now trains and goes to school in Illinois, was born with spina bifida and has been paralyzed from the waist down since he was 3. Impressively, the rising star also won the Chicago Marathon about a month earlier on October 7 and placed third at the London Marathon last April.

VIRGINIA TRIATHLETE SETS LONG TRAIL RECORD Alyssa Godesky, a professional triathlete from Charlottesville, Va., set a new record for the fastest known completion of Vermont’s Long Trail in late October. Godesky covered the entire 273-mile trail in 5 days, 2 hours, and 37 minutes, topping a record set in 2012 by ultrarunner Nikki Kimball by more than five hours. Although she’s completed more than 30 Ironman Triathlons and 50 marathons or ultras, Godesky trained even harder for the Long Trail’s steep, technical terrain.

"I put myself in a position I've never been in before, and it opened up new avenues," she told ESPN. With a dedicated support crew, Godesky had someone with her on the trail at all times, which particularly helped during a 72-mile push on the adventure’s final day. She only slept approximately 17 hours during the record-breaking hike of America’s oldest long-distance trail.

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BLACK BEAR POPULATIONS ARE ON THE RISE Last year there were steady reports of interactions between humans and black bears across the Appalachians, suggesting an increase in bear populations in the region. Now a cross-state effort is underway to tally the number of bears in the South. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is currently partnering with agencies in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina to conduct a study that provides an estimate of the region’s bear population. Virginia currently has around 18,000 bears, an increase of 2,000 since 2016.

900 Number of acres the West Virginia Land Trust is hoping to turn into Yellow Creek Preserve.

The potentially preserved tract in Tucker County is bordered by both the Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge and the Little Canaan Wildlife Management Area and holds Moon Rocks, a coveted mountain biking destination with a challenging stretch of technical singletrack.

Currently owned by the Vandalia Heritage Foundation, the land is facing possible development, so the land trust is attempting to raise $500,000 to keep it open to the public.

PITCH IN: BUYTHEMOONWV.ORG.

BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

EXERCISE = 30 YEARS YOUNGER A new study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that muscles of older exercisers had as many capillaries and enzymes as those of people 30 years younger. Though the active group of older people did have lower aerobic capacities than younger people, their capacities were still about 40 percent higher than their inactive peers.

COMING SOON TO THE ATLANTIC: UNDERWATER SEISMIC BLASTS The Trump Administration has approved oil and gas surveying in the Atlantic Ocean using seismic blasts. Sounds from these blasts can travel up to 2,000 miles through the water and they are often deadly for sea turtles, dolphins, and the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Many Southeastern governors, mayors, and leaders also oppose the offshore oil surveying and drilling plan due to its impacts on both commercial fishing and coastal tourism.

TROUBLED YOUTH

(L)EARN-A-BIKE IN HARRISONBURG, VA., BIKES ARE HELPING SENTENCED JUVENILES FIND A NEW PATH. WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JESS DADDIO

IN HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA, WHEN YOU’RE A

juvenile charged with a misdemanor, you end up in the courtroom of Judge David O’Donnell, a district court judge for the 26th Judicial District Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

Depending on the case, O'Donnell can dole out anything from a verbal reprimand to detention time, but more often than not, his sentencing falls somewhere in the middle.

“There’s a mixed bag of what causes this behavior,” he says. “Very often we find out [these juveniles] don’t have a lot of means, they don't have a lot of direction, things in the home are challenging, and there’s nothing that really gives them a sense of accomplishment. We gotta think of new and different ways rather than just punishment to address that behavior.”

Enter (L)earn-a-Bike (LAB), a 16hour community service program that offers court-involved youth the opportunity to not only learn how to fix a bicycle but to also earn one in the process. Founded in 2015 by Eastern Mennonite University alumni Ben Bailey (‘12), Tom Brenneman (‘92), and a host of other individuals and entities such as Harrisonburg Gift & Thrift (which donated the space LAB operates in) and the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, LAB

falls uniquely into a class of its own based on the very nature of a bicycle.

“It intentionally creates frustration,” says Matt Hassman, one of the LAB instructors who also has a background in wilderness therapy. “We’re using the bicycle as a metaphor for building self-efficacy. We allow them to make their own mistakes. There are kids who, if you tell them a stove is hot, they won’t touch it. Then there are kids that are going to need to touch the stove to understand what hot is. Some kids need to fail to learn something.”

“It’s really practical,” says Brenneman, who served as an early intervention officer for the Rockingham County court system when LAB was conceived. “This isn’t designed to be therapy. This isn’t designed to be punishment. It’s all about affirming the kid and listening.”

“THIS ISN’T DESIGNED T O B E T H E R A P Y. T H I S ISN’T DESIGNED TO BE P U N I S H M E N T. I T ’ S A L L ABOUT AFFIRMING THE K I D A N D L I S T E N I N G .”

TOM BRENNEMAN, (L)EARN-A-BIKE FOUNDER

Now going into its fourth year, LAB—which is state funded through the Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act (VJCCCA)—has served close to 100 juveniles with delinquency charges and status offenses ranging from larceny to truancy. Fittingly, the very first referral Judge O’Donnell sent to LAB was a juvenile charged

with stealing a bicycle. Every session is intimate and personalized; on average, four kids make up each cohort. The 16 hours are divided into four-hour sessions on four consecutive Saturdays, which culminates in the participant either receiving or gifting the bike they have been working on.

Because LAB shares a building with Bikes For Refugees, many of the program’s graduates donate their bicycles to refugees in need. This embodies the beauty of an alternative like LAB, Brenneman says. In a city that has one of the most diverse high schools in the state of Virginia—more than 50 languages are spoken and 70 countries represented in a student body of 1,700—it can be hard to establish connections. LAB allows youth an avenue for navigating that sense of belonging.

“You can have a kid from Fallujah, Iraq, settled here under specific terms from the Department of Defense for asylum, who comes with all of these embodied trauma dynamics from a war-torn situation, become court involved for a variety of issues, somehow find his way to (L)earn-aBike, and in the course of it give a bike to a refugee. That comes full circle.

That’s community service.”

“We’re such a diverse community.

These kids come from all different types of backgrounds,” adds Judge O’Donnell. “It’s a real melting pot around here. [Through (L)earn-a-Bike], these kids get to identify with others and understand that maybe what they hear about certain types of people is not necessarily true.”

Community members interested in supporting LAB can sign up to become an instructor, which is a paid position funded through the VJCCCA grant. Bike parts and bicycles can be donated directly to the program. The public can also make a tax deductible donation to Harrisonburg Gift & Thrift, which itself has a longstanding history of offering community service options for both youth and adults in the court system. Despite the Gift & Thrift’s association with the Mennonite Central Committee, Brenneman says the 501(c) (3) non-profit is completely secular and supportive of everyone.

“It’s not about proselytizing or evangelism,” he says. “It’s about the evangelism of the bike.”

VISIT LEARNABIKE.ORG TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW YOU CAN HELP.

JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

9

QUICK HITS

IRONMAN WORLD RECORD

SMASHING WORLD RECORDS AT 60 WILL TURNER IS AIMING TO COMPLETE 60 IRONDISTANCE TRIATHLONS IN A SINGLE YEAR—AND SMASHING A WORLD RECORD ALONG THE WAY.

BY KIM DINAN

WHEN I CATCH UP WITH WILL TURNER, HE’S IN HIS car driving from his hometown in

Richmond, Va. down to New Orleans to compete in a quintuple ultra-triathlon— five Ironman distance triathlons (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run) back-to-back for five consecutive days. But he isn’t stopping there.

A few years ago, as Turner’s 60th birthday approached, he decided to set a big goal to celebrate the milestone: complete six Ironman distance triathlons in a single year.

Excited, he shared the idea with a friend, who informed him that another Richmond athlete had just completed the same feat.

“In goal setting, there is a premise called the 10 Factor,” says Turner.

“You take the original goal and you multiple it by 10. By setting a huge goal, it forces you to take another look at the original goal and how you 10

would accomplish it.” Turner began to wonder. Could he multiple his original goal times ten and complete 60 Ironman distance triathlons the year he turned 60?

When Turner was training for his first Ironman back when he was turning 50, he came across a quote that became his mantra: If your dream doesn’t scare you it’s not big enough.

“The idea of 60 fit my litmus test of scaring me,” he says. “I had to do some mental gymnastics to wrap my head around it.”

Turner isn’t a professional athlete. At his day job, he works for the company he co-founded, RefuseOrdinary, delivering sales, leadership, and productivity training and helping sales and management teams improve their performance. He’s also a USAT certified coach, helping athletes train and reach their potential.

In other words, he knows a thing or two about reaching for big goals.

Turner began competing more, pushing his body to see if it could withstand the abuse that 60 Ironmandistance triathlons would certainly inflict. His body held up, so Turner committed to completing 60 Ironmandistance triathlons in 2018, the year he turned 60.

That’s an average of 1 Ironmandistance race every 6 days. When I chat with Turner in mid-November, he’s completed 51 races out of 60. If all goes well in New Orleans, his goal will

BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

be just 4 races away and tantalizingly within reach. “I’m on track,” says Turner.

“It’s gone amazingly well.”

There aren’t 60 Ironman-length races in the world in a single year, so Turner participates in sanctioned races when he can and then completes onyour-own events while following the rules and regulations of official races.

His first race was on January 6, 2018 in Naples, Florida and his 60th, he hopes, will be in Richmond on December 31, 2018. “I’ll finish around 9 or 10pm, shower, and then have a big New Year’s Eve party to celebrate,” says Turner.

It must be noted: Turner isn’t just smashing his own goal; he’s shattering the Guinness World Record as well. The current world record is 44 Ironman-distance triathlons in a year, a number he surpassed back in October at an event at Lake Anna, Va. In between that first race in Naples and the last one in Richmond, Turner and his friend Chris Destefano, who supports Turner during his races, have traveled the country. Only once, in Telluride, Colorado, has Turner had to abandon an ultra-triathlon attempt. In that instance, Turner had completed his swim and 70 out of 112 miles on the bike when Chris broke the news that a wildfire had come over the pass and created air quality conditions too serious to continue.

Turner’s dogged attempt to reach his goal has taken him to some of the

WILL TURNER RIDES THE 112-MILE BIKE LEG OF O N E O F H I S 6 0 T R I AT H L O N S C O M P L E T E D I N 2 0 1 8 .

most spectacular places in the country.

He’s completed “triathlons along California’s Big Sur, in Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Glacier National Park. One of his favorite races was in the Grand Tetons.

“The whole day I was just soaking up the beauty of the Grand Tetons, the energy of the space, and the warmth of the people that I was surrounded by that day,” says Turner.

Turner hopes that his year of ultratriathlons can have a higher purpose.

“I want it to be more meaningful than me just doing 60 Ironmans,” he says.

Because he loves helping people set big goals and examine and identify their limiting beliefs, Turner has created Live Your Bold, a movement that helps people unlock their own potential and step out of their comfort zones via speaking engagements, workshops, and a starter kit that he gives away on his website liveyourbold.com.

As for Turner, when his big year is over, he’s looking forward to inching a little closer back to his comfort zone— even if just temporarily. “I’m looking forward to doing some things I really enjoy doing like speed and tempo work and strength conditioning,” he says. “I’d love to be able to go out for a run and not run 26.2 miles,” Turner adds with a laugh. “Doing an eight-mile run would be amazing.”

D E S T I N AT I O N S

Hiking Trail

TINKER CLIFFS (Troutville, VA) Once you make it up this leg of the Virginia Triple Crown, Tinker Cliffs offers a stunning view of the Roanoke Valley to the south. This moderately strenuous hike is around 7 miles round trip and climbs almost 2,000 feet in elevation.

FINALISTS Jackrabbit (Hayesville, N.C.) Long Point (Summersville, W. Va.)

A.T. Section

Best Blue Ridge E

B LU

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G

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2019

BES

T OF TH

ofthe

MCAFEE KNOB (Catawba, Va.) Visitors from around the world come to hike the famous McAfee Knob, one of the most photographed spots on the A.T. Sunrise, sunset, or middle of the day, leave plenty of time to soak up the scenery at the top.

FINALISTS Max Patch (Hot Springs, N.C.) Dragon’s Tooth (Catawba, Va.)

Spot Along the Blue Ridge Parkway

PEAKS OF OTTER (Va.) In the middle of the Jefferson National Forest, this spot on the Blue Ridge Parkway is a gateway to adventure. Fish in Abbott Lake, hike one of the six trails in the area, or camp at the base of Sharp Top Mountain.

FINALISTS Mount Mitchell (N.C.) Linville Cove Viaduct (N.C.)

Waterfall

BLACKWATER FALLS (Davis W. Va.) With multiple viewing platforms, this five-story waterfall is easily accessible in every season. The “black” water, tinted by tannic acid from fallen hemlock and red spruce needles, runs through an eight-mile gorge.

FINALISTS Cascades (Pembroke, Va.) Linville Falls (Linville, N.C.)

Swimming Hole

PAUL'S CREEK (Nellysford, Va.) Slide down the natural waterslide into Paul’s Creek, the perfect way to cool off after a hike through the woods.

FINALISTS Big Rock (Deep Creek, N.C.) Midnight Hole (Smokies, N.C.)

With more than 100 categories, the eighth annual Best of the Blue Ridge Awards are bigger and better than ever. Thousands of readers cast their votes for their favorite people, places, events, food + drink, and businesses in the region.

What's this year's weirdest event? Who is this year's Adventurer of the Year? Find some of your favorites on this list and be inspired for your next adventure.

BY ELLEN KANZINGER

G R AY S O N H I G H L A N D S S TAT E PA R K PHOTO BY JUSTIN COSTNER

Paddling River

NEW RIVER (W. Va.) One of the oldest rivers in the world, the New River flows north into West Virginia from North Carolina. This river has something for every paddler, from smooth flatwater to class V rapids in the spring.

FINALISTS Gauley River (Summersville, W. Va.) Green River (N.C.)

SUP Spot

SUMMERSVILLE LAKE (Summersville, W. Va.)

At 28,000 acres, with more than 60 miles of undeveloped shoreline, Summersville Lake is the perfect secluded spot to get your SUP on.

FINALISTS Pembroke Pond on New River (Pembroke, Va.) Finger Lake (Fontana Lake, N.C.)

Flat Water

SUMMERSVILLE LAKE (Summersville, W. Va.)

The towering sandstone cliffs create the perfect backdrop for the largest lake in West Virginia. It is also the site of the PsicoRoc deep-water solo competition, the only time this type of climbing is technically legal at the lake.

FINALISTS Carvins Cove (Roanoke, Va.) Fontana Lake (Bryson City, N.C.) JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

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Richmond, VA

5810 Grove Avenue

Norfolk, VA

131 Granby Street

Greenville, NC

805 Dickinson Avenue

Kill Devil Hills, NC

800 South Virginia Dare Trail

tm

AMERICA’S TOUGHEST ROAD MARATHON

april 13, 2019 10k - 13.1 - 26.2 - 52.4 - 1 Miler - relay Best of the blue ridge - 3 time winner

“After 400 Marathons (350+ under 3 hours) this was easily the most challenging course I have run.

America’s Toughest Road Marathon medal is definitely EARNED by anyone completing the course.

My medal is going to stay around my neck for awhile.

Well done!”

-Chuck Engle (World Record Holder)

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BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019 | RICHMOND EDITION

Fishing Spot

NEW RIVER (Fayetteville, W. Va.)

TH

T OF

2019

BES

FINALISTS South River (Waynesboro, Va.) Tuckasegee River (Bryson City, N.C.)

E

Head out to the New River in the spring or fall for the best opportunity to catch bass, walleye, muskellunge, E RID crappie, bluegill, carp, and catfish.

B LU G E

Climbing Crag

SENECA ROCKS (W. Va.)

With more than 350 mapped climbing routes, climbers of all abilities are welcome to test their multipitch climbing and trad skills at Seneca Rocks. It’s impossible to miss the towering crags as you drive in to the Monongahela National Forest.

FINALISTS New River Gorge (W. Va.) Rumbling Bald (N.C.)

Running Trail

GREENBRIER RIVER TRAIL (W. Va.)

Cross over 35 bridges, under two tunnels, and through several West Virginian towns on this 78-mile former railroad trail. Disconnect from the world on this secluded trail, including a section within a National Radio Quiet Zone where cell phones do not work.

FINALISTS Mountains to Sea Trail (N.C.) Jackrabbit Trail (N.C.)

Biking Trail

MILL CREEK (Narrows, Va.)

At 145 acres, Mill Creek Nature Park offers a variety of mountain bike trails for all skill levels. Trails extend into the Jefferson National Forest for further riding.

FINALISTS Great Allegheny Passage (Penn. to Md.) Tsali (Bryson City, N.C.)

Urban Park/Greenway

ROANOKE RIVER GREENWAY (Roanoke, Va.)

This paved pathway weaves through the heart of Roanoke, passing through busy shopping districts and residential areas. The trail will be 25 miles long when finished, connecting the towns of Roanoke and Salem.

FINALISTS James River Park (Richmond, Va.) Falls Park (Greenville, S.C.)

Ski Run

CUPP RUN (Snowshoe Mountain Resort, W. Va.)

Designed by the prolific skier Jean-Claude Killy, Cupp Run features one of the longest vertical drops in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Take a stab at the annual Cupp Run Challenge in February, a tradition at Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

FINALISTS Shay's Revenge (Snowshoe Mountain Resort, W.Va.) Oz (Beech Mountain Resort, N.C.)

Terrain Park

WINTERGREEN (Va.)

Visit again and again as Wintergreen frequently changes the layout of the more than 40 features in its terrain park, from tabletops and fun boxes to rainbow rails and battleships.

FINALISTS Snowshoe (W. Va.) Beech Mountain (N.C.)

Campsite

DAVIDSON RIVER (Pisgah National Forest, N.C.)

Spend the night at one of the 144 campsites near the river for easy access to fishing, hiking, and swimming,

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with easy access to Brevard and Asheville.

FINALISTS Kairos (Glen Lyn, Va.) Rocky Gap State Park (Flintstone, Md.)

Wilderness Area

DOLLY SODS WILDERNESS (W. Va.)

At one point, these 17,371 acres in the Monongahela National Forest were almost completely clear-cut, leading to soil erosion and frequent wildfires. As this unique ecosystem has rebounded thanks to its protected status, it now boasts life forms usually found in southern Canada and awe-inspiring views.

FINALISTS Jefferson National (Va.) Pisgah National Forest (N.C.)

Luxury Destination/Resort/Bed and Breakfast PILOT COVE (Brevard, N.C.) With 10 cabins that blend into the scenery, Pilot Cove is the perfect mix of luxury lodging with easy access to outdoor adventure on the border of Pisgah National Forest.

FINALISTS Mountain Lake Lodge (Pembroke, Va.) Primland (Meadows of Dan, Va.)

FINALISTS Priest Wilderness (Va.) Shining Rock Wilderness (N.C.)

Kid-Friendly Adventure

National Park

This four-season resort has something for the whole family, from skiing and tubing in the winter to ziplining and archery in the warmer months.

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY (N.C./Va.)

From the Great Smoky Mountains to Shenandoah National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway offers hundreds of miles of winding roads and mountain vistas.

FINALISTS Shenandoah National Park (Va.) Great Smoky Mountains National Park (N.C./Tenn.)

State Park

GRAYSON HIGHLANDS (Va.)

Grayson Highlands State Park is home to Virginia’s highest peak and more than 100 wild ponies. The Appalachian Trail and Virginia Highlands Horse Trail are easily accessible from the moss-covered forests and mountain meadows.

FINALISTS Blackwater Falls (W. Va.) Natural Bridge State Resort Park (Ky.)

National Forest

MONONGAHELA NATIONAL FOREST (W. Va.)

Established in 1920, this National Forest protects almost a million acres of mountainous landscape in eastern West Virginia, including Seneca Rocks, Spruce Knob, and the falls of Hills Creek.

WINTERGREEN (Va.)

FINALISTS Ace Resort (W. Va.) Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education (N.C.)

Pet-Friendly Adventure

RIVANNA TRAIL (Charlottesville, Va.)

Walk or run with your furry loved one on this wilderness trail around the city of Charlottesville. The easy to moderate terrain is a great place to escape from the noise and enjoy the sounds of nature.

FINALISTS Gatlinburg Trail (Gatlinburg, Tenn.)

Mill Creek Nature Park (Narrows, Va.)

Place to Play Hooky From Work SNOWSHOE (Snowshoe, W. Va.)

Make the most out of a day “off” at this four season resort. Spend all day and into the night on the ski slopes or relax in the spa and reserve a backcountry adventure dining experience.

FINALISTS Bent Creek (Asheville, N.C.) Virginia's Mountain Playground (Giles County, Va.)

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Place to Engage in Illicit and Nefarious Activities

you’re on the A.T., Blue Ridge Parkway, or one of the many ski runs.

NOT TELLING

FINALISTS North Carolina West Virginia

FINALISTS Blue Ridge Parkway overlook after sunset Any music festival in the Southeast

EVENTS

As one of the go-to adventure towns on the East Coast, Asheville has exploded with places to eat, things to do, and resources for adventure. You’re bound to run into someone who shares similar interests in this town.

FINALISTS Roanoke, Va. Bryson City, N.C.

Place to Raise an Outdoor Family ROANOKE, VA.

FINALISTS Bryson City, N.C. Johnson City, Tenn.

State in the Southeast/Mid-Atlantic for Outdoor Activities VIRGINIA

From the shores of the Chesapeake Bay to the peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains, step into Virginia’s backyard for hiking, biking, paddling, climbing, and more. Take advantage of all four seasons, whether

“It’s like Comic Con,” said Leslie Grotenhuis, one of the organizers of the event. “Even if it’s just as simple as a superhero t-shirt or socks, I would say almost everybody is wearing something superherothemed. In the last five years that we’ve been doing this, superheroes have only gotten bigger.”

Since Grotenhuis and Greg Duff took over as managers of the Asheville Superhero 5K, the race has grown into an entire weekend of events. The Asheville Running Experience is a partnership between Grotenhuis' and Duff’s separate companies, Kick It Event Management and Glory Hound Events.

The weekend now includes a kick-off event at the Salvage Station, a trail race, and a team scavenger hunt. Younger kids can show off their skills at the Super Sidekick Training Camp obstacle course.

“The goal for us is to keep getting more and more people involved and getting more active,” said Duff. "If they can dress up and have a lot of fun with it at the same time, I think it’s a double win.”

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Introduce your kids to the outdoors on one of Roanoke’s many greenways and river accesses before moving them up to more challenging adventures on the Appalachian Trail.

ASHEVILLE SUPERHERO 5K/ SUPER VILLAIN 10K (Asheville, N.C.)

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Finding your own secret spot is always more fun than co-opting someone else’s.

FINALISTS Zombie Run (Wytheville, Va.) Surf-n-Santa (Virginia Beach, Va.)

Toughest Race

BLUE RIDGE MARATHON (Roanoke, Va.)

Start and end this grueling 26.2-mile race in downtown Roanoke. Prepare for more than 7,430 feet of elevation change as runners climb and descend Mill Mountain and Roanoke Mountain.

FINALISTS Get Outside Mountain Relay (Glade Valley, N.C.) Smoky Mountain Relay (Western N.C.)

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Rowdiest Festival FLOYDFEST (Floyd, Va.)

Five days of endless music, dancing, and craft beer is sure to make for a wild and rockin’ crowd.

Organizers have already announced a monster lineup for this year’s festival, including Phil Lesh, Brandi Carlile, and String Cheese Incident.

FINALISTS Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (Manchester, Tenn.)

Gauley Fest (Summersville, W. Va.)

Weirdest Festival

ROADKILL COOK-OFF (Marlinton, W. Va.)

It’s a cook-off like no other. Started in the early 90s to celebrate the roots of wild game in Appalachian food culture, the West Virginia RoadKill Cook-off features dishes like bear chili, alligator gumbo, and spicy deer meat with apple chutney. At least 25 percent of the dish must contain meat that is commonly found dead along the road, such as groundhog, squirrel, snake, and wild board. A panel of judges chooses the winners based on taste, originality, showmanship, and presentation.

The last two years, Pendleton Community Bank has won the people’s choice award with their Bambi’s Revenge and Fender Fried Fawn Smothered in Vulture Vomit, both made with deer meat. Kendall Beverage, head cook for the PCB Buck Busters, said the bank closed this year so that more employees could participate.

“You cook a small portion at home and then when you have to multiply that in order to serve 2,000 people, that can be a little nerve wracking,” Beverage said. “We always try to run three or four test runs, tweaking it where we can, having blind tastings with family and friends to get ideas.”

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FINALISTS FloydFest (Floyd, Va.) Tri-State Wing Off (Cumberland, Md.)

Music Festival

FLOYDFEST (Floyd, Va.)

Set against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, FloydFest features an eclectic mix of musicians, from up and coming hard rockers to bluegrass artists who know how to draw a crowd.

FINALISTS LOCKN' Festival (Arrington, Va.) DelFest (Cumberland, Md.)

Family-Friendly Festival FRONT PORCH FEST (Stuart, Va.)

Kids of all ages are welcome at the Front Porch Fest, a weekend of music, art and fun started by a group of family and friends. Proceeds are donated to community organizations such as the Caring Hearts Free Clinic and the One Family Productions Education Fund.

FINALISTS FloydFest (Floyd, Va.) DelFest (Cumberland, Md.)

Mud Run/Adventure Race

GET OUTSIDE MOUNTAIN RELAY (Glade Valley, N.C.)

Grab a group of friends and head out for this 208mile relay. Shuttles take runners to and from hubs, meaning you don’t have to rent your own van.

FINALISTS Marine Mud Run (Salem, Va.) The Grizzly (Big Stone Gap, Va.)

Triathlon

(Richmond, Va.) This twist on the traditional triathlon calls for KING OF THE JAMES

experienced trail runners, mountain bikers, and whitewater kayakers to compete in downtown Richmond.

FINALISTS Captain Thurmond's Challenge (Fayetteville, W. Va.) Ironman Chattanooga (Chattanooga, Tenn.)

Running Event Under 13.1 Miles

GRAYSON HIGHLANDS HALF MARATHON (Grayson Highlands State Park, Va.)

Be prepared for rocky terrain and steep elevation change during this trail run through Virginia’s highest state park.

FINALISTS Oskar Blues 4 Miler (Brevard, N.C.) Hot Chocolate 10K (Asheville, N.C.)

Running Event Over 13.1 Miles

BLUE RIDGE MARATHON (Roanoke, Va.)

Take in the views of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Roanoke Valley as you run through the mountains.

Register early as spots for this marathon fill up quickly.

FINALISTS The Great Allegheny Relay (Cumberland, Md. to Pittsburgh, Penn.)

Get Outside Mountain Relay (Glade Valley, N.C.)

Climbing Event

CRAGGIN’ CLASSIC (The New, W. Va.)

Climbers from around the world gather for three days of climbing and skill clinics. This festival travels around the country to other climbing destinations, like Shelf Road, Colo. and Moab, Utah.

FINALISTS Hound Ears (Boone, N.C.) The Rumble (Raleigh, N.C.)

Paddling Event

KANAWHA FALLS FESTIVAL (Fayetteville, Va.)

The organizers of Kanawha Falls Fest found the perfect location for a paddling event, with world-class rapids, a waterfall for freestyle moves, and easy access for spectators. In 2017, 56 paddlers competed in the inaugural event. Although it was cancelled in 2018 due to high water, organizers are excited to continue growing the festival as an event leading up to Gauley Fest.

Corey Lilly, the man behind the idea, said he hopes the event will inspire more people to get out and try kayaking. One such individual stumbled upon the competition by accident.

“He was there fishing and, unknowingly, fishing on the same day as Kanawha Falls Festival,” Lilly said. “So all of these people show up and are having such a good time. He showed up at the kayak shop in Fayetteville a few weeks later and ended up purchasing an entire paddling setup and now he’s a kayaker.”

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Fly Fishing Event

Fly anglers of all ages and abilities are welcome at this two-day festival, focusing on sport fly fishing and conservation issues in Virginia.

FINALISTS Rumble in the Rhododendron (Cherokee, N.C.) Casting for Hope (Asheville, N.C.)

Bike Race

SHENANDOAH MOUNTAIN 100 (Stokesville, Va.)

As the name implies, riders climb thousands of feet through the George Washington National Forest in this 100-mile ultra-endurance mountain bike race.

FINALISTS Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race (Pisgah, N.C.) Mountains of Misery (Southwest Va.)

Retreat

YOGAJAM (Floyd, Va.)

Try various types of yoga, from meditation-based yoga to acro yoga. Go beyond the physical practice with classes on live painting, creating space for social change, and yoga slackline.

FINALISTS Summersville Lake Retreat and Lighthouse (Mount Nebo, W. Va.) Mountain Retreat and Learning Center (Highlands, N.C.)

FOOD & DRINK

Brewery/Brewhouse

BLUE MOUNTAIN BREWERY (Afton, Va.)

All of Blue Mountain Brewery’s lagers and ales are brewed and prepared for distribution in Nelson County, Va. Enjoy classics like Full Nelson or try Native Species, a seasonal beer available January through March.

FINALISTS Devils Backbone (Roseland, Va.) 1812 Brewery (Cumberland, Md.)

Vineyard/Winery

TOASTED GOAT WINERY (Frostburg, Md.)

The Toasted Goat is still fairly new to the winery scene, having just celebrated their two-year anniversary, but has already built up a collection of boutique wines, including their Petite Sirah and Chocolate Covered Raspberries.

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FINALISTS Battle of the Broad (Skyland, N.C.) Green River Race (Saluda, N.C.)

FINALISTS King Family (Crozet, Va.) Afton Mountain (Afton, Va.)

Distillery

SILVERBACK DISTILLERY (Afton, Va.)

Christine and Lauren Riggleman, the motherdaughter team of distillers at Silverback, come from a long line of strong women who get stuff done. They create their spirits through a geothermal process to reduce energy costs and dependence on fossil fuels.

FINALISTS Charis Winery & Distillery (Cumberland, Md.) Smooth Ambler (Lewisburg, W. Va.)

Cider

BOLD ROCK (Afton, Va.)

All of the apples used in Bold Rock Hard Cider are picked within 35 miles of their two cideries, maximizing the freshness of the product. All of the ciders are naturally gluten free.

FINALISTS Blue Toad (Roseland, Va.) Urban orchard (Asheville, N.C.)

Beer/ Wine/ Spirits Trail BREW RIDGE TRAIL (Va.)

Make your way through Nelson and Albemarle County, stopping for beer, food, and views of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the way. The six craft breweries are all within an hour of each other.

FINALISTS Asheville Ale Trail (Asheville, N.C.) The Bourbon Trail (Ky.)

rely on plastic bottles to sell its products. Customers purchase a reusable bottle to fill up with kombucha on draft, bringing it back again and again.

FINALISTS Snowing in Space (Charlottesville, Va.) Elvis Shake Chinquapin's Ice Cream & Soda Bar (Hayesville, N.C.)

Post-Adventure Hangout

DEVILS BACKBONE (Roseland, Va.)

Kick back and drink a cold one at Devil’s Backbone after a long day of hiking, biking, paddling, or skiing in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Visit again for live music, s’mores, and trivia.

FINALISTS Blue Mountain Brewery (Afton, Va.) Salvage Station (Asheville, N.C.)

Farmers’ Market

NELSON COUNTY FARMERS MARKET (Nellysford, Va.)

Since the mid-90s, the Nelson County Farmers Market has been a gathering place for people, produce, and fine crafts. On Saturdays from May to October, you can find dozens of vendors selling everything from fresh cheese to jewelry.

FINALISTS Charlottesville Farmers Market (Charlottesville, Va.) North Asheville (Asheville, N.C.)

Restaurant

BLUE MOUNTAIN BREWERY (Afton, Va.)

From their loaded nachos and stacked burgers to mouth-watering desserts, fill up at Blue Mountain.

Start your Sunday off with a brunch that changes week to week.

Blue Ridge Booze

FINALISTS Copper Door (Hayesville, N.C.) Hank's Grille and Bar (McGaheysville, Va.)

Mix this 90 proof moonshine with sweet tea or drink it straight. Tim Smith, the man behind the operation, was featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Moonshiners.”

Farm-to-table Restaurant

CLIMAX MOONSHINE (Culpeper, Va.)

FINALISTS Five Mile Mountain (Floyd, Va.) Ole Smoky Moonshine (Gatlinburg, Tenn.)

Local Non-Alcoholic Beverage BLUE RIDGE BUCHA (Waynesboro, Va.)

Owners Ethan and Kate Zuckerman are committed to the idea of a sustainable business, one that does not

WILD WOLF BREWING COMPANY (Nellysford, Va.)

This restaurant works hard to source its produce and meat from sustainable farms within a 50-mile radius, helping to cut down on fuel needed for transportation.

FINALISTS The Station (Fayetteville, W. Va.) Zynandoah (Staunton, Va.) JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

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@CATHY ANDERSON

POWER OF THE LAW

Coffee Shop

FARMHAUS COFFEE CO. (Waynesboro, Va.)

Whether you drink your coffee black or prefer tea instead, Farmhaus’ cozy atmosphere invites everyone to come inside and enjoy this specialty coffee shop.

FINALISTS Shenandoah Joe (Charlottesville, Va.) Trager Brothers (Afton, Va.)

Breakfast

BEER RUN (Charlottesville, Va.)

You wouldn’t expect it based on the name, but breakfast from Beer Run is a great way to start the day. Try one of their loaded breakfast tacos on Saturday morning or a full breakfast platter at Sunday morning brunch.

B L U E R I D G E M O U N TA I N GUIDES WERE VOTED BEST GUIDES IN 2019. / PHOTO B Y T R AV I S X A N D E R

FINALISTS Over Easy (Asheville, N.C.) Cathedral Cafe (Fayetteville, Va.)

Lunch

SECRET SANDWICH SOCIETY (Fayetteville, W. Va.)

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The secret is out; it’s all about the sandwiches at this Fayetteville lunch spot. Operations at the Society are 100% wind powered, so you can feel good about the delicious food you’re eating.

SOUTH STREET BREWERY (Charlottesville, Va.)

Whether you’re looking for another drink or something to soak up the alcohol, South Street has you covered till midnight on the weekends.

FINALISTS C&O (Charlottesville, Va.) Texas Tavern (Roanoke, Va.)

Burrito/Tacos

HELLBENDER BURRITOS (Davis, W. Va.)

Don’t expect a traditional burrito at this West Virginia “Burreatery.” They take classics, like cheesesteaks and barbecue, and turn them into uniquely stuffed burritos.

FINALISTS Brazos (Charlottesville, Va.) Alex’s Taco Truck (Waynesboro, Va.)

Burger

JACK BROWN’S (Multiple Locations)

The idea behind Jack Brown’s winning formula is simple: burgers and beer. And don’t forget about the fried Oreos.

FINALISTS Farm Burger (Asheville, N.C.) TIE Black Dog Tavern (Hayesville, N.C.) and Citizen Burger (Charlottesville Va.)

Restaurant with Vegetarian Options

every week, pick up a flavor card to keep track of when your favorites will be in stock.

The menu may change depending on the season and what is available, but the quality of food is always top notch at Local Roots. Try their heirloom pea hummus with fried lavash or vegetable sandwich with sweet potatoes and apples.

FINALISTS The Frostburg Freeze (Frostburg, Md.) Blue Cow (Roanoke, Va.)

LOCAL ROOTS (Roanoke, Va.)

FINALISTS Mountain City Coffeehouse (Frostburg, Md.) Laughing Seed (Asheville, N.C.)

Food Truck

HANK'S FLY'N PIG (McGaheysville, Va.)

The owners of Hank’s Grille and Bar decided to expand two years ago, adding a food truck to their arsenal. Now you can find their food at breweries, festivals, and weddings. You won’t believe the barbecue you’re eating came out of a truck.

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Fly Fishing Outfitter

FLY FISHING THE SMOKIES (Whittier, N.C.)

From experienced anglers to young beginners, this group of experienced guides can take you to the best rivers and streams in the Great Smoky Mountains and beyond. The outfitter recently opened a private trout stream, Brook Haven, and is in the process of adding lodging to the property for a unique fly-fishing experience.

Barbecue

FINALISTS Blue Mountain (Afton, Va.) Los Tacotes (Asheville, N.C.)

FINALISTS Mossy Creek (Harrisonburg, Va.) Hunter Banks (Asheville, N.C.)

No one does the classics better than this unassuming stop on Rockfish Valley Highway, especially their renowned potato salad.

Festival Food

Climbing Guide Company

The quintessential festival food should help keep you rocking all night long. From LOCKN’ and Festy to Cville Pride Day and Cider Fest, the folks at Blue Ridge Pizza have you covered.

Whether you want to learn how to trad lead or try ice climbing for the first time, Blue Ridge Mountains Guides have a course for you. Attempt your first ascent in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, or New Hampshire.

BLUE RIDGE PIG (Nellysford, Va.)

FINALISTS Zeb's Barbeque (Ridgeley, W. Va.) 12 Bones (Asheville, N.C.)

Pizza

PIES AND PINTS (Fayetteville, W. Va.)

You can’t go wrong with a pizza at this pie shop.

Adventure outside of the traditional pepperoni for a slice, or two, of chicken gouda or sriracha shrimp.

FINALISTS Blue Mountain Brewery (Afton, Va.) Ciro’s (Va.)

BLUE RIDGE PIZZA (Charlottesville, Va.)

FINALISTS Goatocado (Richmond, Va.) Sunshine Sammies (Asheville, N.C.)

ICE CREAM Kline's (Waynesboro, Va.)

Since 1943, Kline’s has been serving up the best in frozen dairy treats. With a new flavor to try almost

BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN GUIDES (Nellysford, Va.)

FINALISTS Climbmax Mountain Guides (Asheville, N.C.) Wild Guyde (Harrisonburg, Va.)

Climbing Gym

PEAK EXPERIENCE (Richmond, Va.)

With over 20,000 square feet of climbing terrain and JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

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bouldering options, there is plenty of room to get your climb on at this new, state of the art facility. Take advantage of instruction classes, youth programs, and fitness classes.

FINALISTS Smoky Mountain Adventure Center (Asheville, N.C.) River Rock (Roanoke, Va.)

Running Shop

RAGGED MOUNTAIN RUNNING SHOP (Charlottesville, Va.)

Road, mountain, gravel, BMX, cruiser. Whatever your style, Blue Ridge Cyclery has a bike to fit your speed.

They’ll even come to you if your bike breaks down while on the road.

FINALISTS The Hub and Pisgah Tavern (Brevard, N.C.) Tsali Cycles (Bryson City, N.C.)

In three years, what started as a blog and Instagram account has grown into a fully stocked outdoor retail store and recognizable brand. The Browns and the Scotts, a group of friends who decided to take on this endeavor together, donate one percent of sales each

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month to a local non-profit.

FINALISTS Walkabout Outfitter (Va.) Diamond Brand Outdoors (Asheville, N.C.)

Take on dozens of mountain adventures with these guides, from climbing and backcountry skiing to avalanche education and self-rescue courses.

FINALISTS Mountain River Guides (Erwin, Tenn.)

Roanoke Mountain Adventures (Roanoke, Va.)

Yoga Studio

NAMASTE IN NATURE (Asheville, N.C.)

This is not a traditional yoga studio. Teachers lead students on a 2-3 mile hike and set up mats at the top of a mountain or base of a waterfall for a meditative experience in nature.

FINALISTS Now Yoga (Charlottesville, Va.) In Balance Yoga (Blacksburg, Va.)

Outdoor Start-Up

UOU OUTDOORS (Richmond, Va.)

At UOU Outdoors, the goal is to provide the

3RD ANNUAL GET OUTSIDE MOUNTAIN RELAY (GOMR) MAY 31-JUNE 1, 2019

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WANDER NORTH GEORGIA (Clayton, Ga.)

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Thank you to all the voters out there that made GOMR the best!

use code brogomr19 and receive 10% discount register online at getoutsidemountainrelay.com 20

Camp set up and check in May 30 • 208 Miles of Pure Hill! • Over 45,000 feet of elevation change • The most innovative road relay• Hub and Spoke format • No van rentals - we're shuttling you • Awesome volunteers • 17 acres of GOMR Village to camp, rest, relax, play, and live as GOMR Nation

BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

resources, skills, and services needed to enjoy the outdoors safely. From their resource map of the best places to buy gear and beer around the country to guided adventures and courses, the people at UOU know where to direct you for any information you may need for your next adventure. In conjunction with SOLO Wilderness Medicine School, they are launching a wilderness first responder course in module format, helping people work around their busy schedules to get certified.

FINALISTS Namaste in Nature (Asheville, N.C.) Adventure Kids WNC (Asheville, N.C.)

FINALISTS Asheville Running Collective (Asheville, N.C.) American Whitewater (Asheville, N.C.)

Environmental Organization

Outdoor Club

CHAMPION RUN CLUB (Charlottesville, Va.)

or four major events a year and put on a 10K in May. Additionally, the collective leads a group run from Wedge Brewing Company every Thursday that is free and open to anyone who shows up. Frankie Adkins, one of the founders and current president of the club, said the run goes on no matter what the weather is like, “whether it’s snowing, raining, or whatever.”

These running clubs offer a great way to work out with other people at a fraction of a gym membership.

Separated by a single vote, the top two winners in the club category are both running clubs. These group runs welcome runners of all ages and abilities, and partnerships with local breweries add to the community atmosphere.

With the Champion Run Club, runners can participate in the weekly Wednesday run and get discounted beer at the Champion Brewing Co. afterward for a one-time fee of five dollars. James Walsh, the organizer and mileage tracker, said they have up to 120 runners a week if the weather is right.

“It has completely transformed Wednesday night at the brewery,” Walsh said. “The brewery is as busy as it is on the busiest weekend night. It is bananas how many people are there and how energized the place is.”

In second place, the Asheville Running Collective started out as a team for the Blue Ridge Relay. Now the collective boasts around two dozen members and is registered as a non-profit. They compete in three

SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER (Charlottesville, Va.)

The more than 80 lawyers at the SELC are fighting to preserve the waterways and mountains we play on, the air we breathe, and the wildlife we share this planet with to ensure they are there for future generations to enjoy.

FINALISTS MountainTrue (Asheville, N.C.) James River Association (Richmond, Va.)

App for the Outdoors MOUNTAIN HUB

The Mountain Hub app combines all of the tools you might need when planning your next adventure.

Download maps for offline use, track your route, check weather conditions, and share your adventures with the rest of the Mountain Hub community for free.

The elevation profiles will help you visualize your journey ahead of time.

FINALISTS Strava Guthook Appalachian Trail

Outdoor Job PARK RANGER

Rangers play many different roles in our parks, from law enforcement and search and rescue to providing tours and educational programs. They study the science, geology, and cultural history of the parks and help ensure the safety of visitors.

Autumn Bennett works as an Interpretive and Environmental Educator Ranger at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, the longest known cave system in the world. She leads tours of the park for visitors and school groups, teaching the ecology, geology, and history of the cave. In the 15 years she has been working at the national park, she said she still discovers something new every day.

“People from all over the world, all walks of life, come here and I get to share a place that I love with them,” Bennett said. “There’s just so many stories inside Mammoth Cave and we don’t know the vast majority of them because we haven’t found the end of it yet.”

FINALISTS Raft Guide Climbing Guide

Outdoor Company to Work For

BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN GUIDES (Nellysford, Va.)

Who wouldn’t want to travel around the Mid-Atlantic, showing clients some of the best climbing on the East Coast? Dakota Robarge, who started leading rock climbing trips for Blue Ridge Mountain Guides in April, said he didn’t get into rock climbing until college and wants to help others find the sport.

“I’ve been told to do something you love or try to pursue a passion,” Robarge said. “Ultimately, the reason why I’m pursuing guiding professionally is

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because I really enjoy sharing that experience with people who are just now breaking into doing things in the outdoors, recreating on our public lands.”

FINALISTS Navitat (Multiple Locations) River Rock Outfitter (Fredericksburg, Va.)

Locally Made Gear ENO (Asheville, N.C.)

You probably know ENO for their lightweight and easy to use hammocks, but they also make hiking packs, camp lights, and shelter systems that will help you prepare for any adventure outdoors.

FINALISTS Astral (Asheville, N.C.) King Technical (North Garden, Va.)

Adventure Vehicle SUBARU OUTBACK

The Outback is built to take you off road, to even the most remote locations. The new 2019 model comes with X-MODE to help maximize performance on uneven surfaces and steep inclines. The roof rails were designed to carry bikes, kayaks, or camping equipment so you can make the most out of your adventure.

FINALISTS Jeep Toyota 4Runner

Educational Outdoor Rec Program MUDDY SNEAKERS (Brevard, N.C.)

Muddy Sneakers works with over 2,700 fifth graders in 38 public schools across the Carolinas on experience-based science education. Students participate in multiple expeditions throughout the school year, exploring the natural world around them.

FINALISTS Blue Sky Fund (Richmond, Va.) Emory and Henry Outdoor Program (Emory, Va.)

Summer Camp/Program

CAMP MUDDY SNEAKERS (Brevard, N.C.)

This summer camp will introduce your elementary and middle school kids to the wonders of nature and science through hands-on learning in the many ecosystems of Western North Carolina.

elevation. From the treetop platforms, you’ll be able to see for miles around.

A.T. Thru Hiker

FINALISTS Navitat (Multiple Locations) Tree Tops Adventures Mountain Lake Lodge (Pembroke, Va.)

After two years of nursing school, twin brothers Landen and Garrett Napier, 21, decided to take a break from college and hike the Appalachian Trail.

They prepared for the journey by watching YouTube videos and reading blogs of those who went before them. Each brother considers the other his best friend, and both agreed there is no one else they would rather do this with. They shared a tent on the trail to help cut down on weight.

“Everybody was like how have you not killed each other yet?” said Landen Napier. “Our answer was always the same. We spent nine months in a womb together, our tent has much more room for activities.”

The twins dealt with what seemed like constant snow and rain in the spring to a sweltering heat wave when they reached New York.

“It was just like one extreme to another, like extreme snow, extreme rain, and then all of a sudden it was like 100 degrees," Landen said. "We were literally crawling up the trail.”

While the brothers prepare and train to hike the Pacific Crest Trail next year, they are working on an ambulance together as EMTs and enjoying being back at home for a little bit.

“On the trail, we had to lead a little more of a minimalist lifestyle. We were only carrying the essentials on our backs,” said Garrett Napier. “Once we got off the A.T., it was nice to be able to go to the refrigerator and get a glass of water or having fresh fruit and not just eating ramen noodles. It just made us appreciate the little things at our house so much more. Like being able to shower or sleep in a real bed.”

Raft Guide Company

FRENCH BROAD ADVENTURES (Asheville, N.C.)

Barrel down class II-IV rapids with the largest outfitter on the French Broad River as these guides take you on a journey through Western North Carolina.

FINALISTS ACE (Oak Hill, W. Va.) Blue Heron Whitewater (Marshall, N.C.)

Ski Resort

SNOWSHOE (Snowshoe, W. Va.)

Spend all day exploring the 60 slopes, five terrain parks, and four glade areas at this winter resort with the most skiable terrain, highest vertical drop, and most natural snow in the Mid-Atlantic.

FINALISTS Wintergreen (Wintergreen, Va.) Cataloochee (Maggie Valley, N.C.)

PEOPLE

Outdoor Legend

SUE HAYWOOD (Canaan Valley, W. Va.)

Professional mountain biker Sue Haywood has been tearing up the trails with a fearless attitude and expert skill since she got her start in the mountains of West Virginia. Although she is retired from the World Cup circuit, Haywood still competes in some of the toughest East Coast races and against herself. Now, she’s passing on her knowledge to young bikers through clinics and private lessons, building confidence and community among the next generation of riders.

FINALISTS John Grace (Asheville, N.C.) Jimmy Holcomb (Nantahala Outdoor Center, N.C.)

Regional Athlete

BEN KING (Charlottesville, Va.)

Zip Line

Since he turned pro in 2008, cyclist Ben King has racked up major wins at the Shenandoah 100, Tour of California, and U.S. National Road Race Championships. For the last two years, he has raced for the South African team Dimension Data and won his first two Grand Tour stages in the 2018 Vuelta a España.

Sail over the Green River Gorge on zip lines, skybridges, and free-fall rappels, dropping 1,100 feet in

FINALISTS Aaron Saft (Asheville, N.C.) Pat Keller (Chattanooga, Tenn.)

FINALISTS Blue Sky Fund (Richmond, Va.) Greenstone Adventures (Charlottesville, Va.)

THE GORGE ZIP LINE (Saluda, N.C.)

LANDEN “FRICK” AND GARRETT “ F R A C K ” N A P I E R AT T H E T O P O F M O U N T WA S H I N G T O N I N N E W HAMPSHIRE.THEY WERE READERS' F AV O R I T E A . T. T H R U - H I K E R S .

LANDEN “FRICK” & GARRETT “FRACK” NAPIER (W. Va.)

FINALISTS Daniel White (N.C.) Allegra Torres (N.C.)

Fly Fishing Guide

EUGENE SHULER (Fly Fishing the Smokies, N.C.)

From the time he was nine years old, Eugene Shuler knew he wanted to be a fly fishing guide like his father and grandfather before him. In 1999, he set off to establish his own outfitter in what is now the second largest fly fishing market. “Some folks may say I wasted 43 years of a life out there in the middle of a trout stream, but I sure had a lot of fun doing it,” Shuler said.

FINALISTS Jessica Callihan (Project Healing Waters, Tenn.)

Brian Trow (Mossy Creek Fly Fishing, Va.)

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Raft Guide

of climate-polluting more oil and gas production.

As a college student at Appalachian State, Patrick Mannion started working as a raft guide in the summers. “Nineteen years later, I somehow figured out a semi-nomadic seasonal existence,” he said.

While many aspects of his job haven’t changed, Mannion still gets excited about what wild cards each day will bring, from the guests to the wildlife on each trip.

No one knows the forests of Southern Appalachia better than Josh Kelly, a native of Western North Carolina, world-class botanist, and public lands biologist for MountainTrue. Kelly surveyed nearly all of the old-growth forests of Western North Carolina and has trekked to the wildest and most remote spots in Southern Appalachia, noting rare and endangered species along the way. At MountainTrue, Kelly has spearheaded efforts to protect the most beautiful and biologically diverse places in the 1.1-million-acre Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest.

PATRICK "PATTY CAKES" MANNION (Wahoo's Adventures, N.C.)

FINALISTS Stacey Carroll (Cantrell Ultimate Rafting, W. Va.) Nugget Parsons (Rivermen, W. Va.)

Environmentalist (TIE)

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Growing up in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, Lauren Bowman Clontz says her childhood roaming the mountains led her to pursue a degree in E RID B LU G E wildlife science. She turned her interest into 2019 action, occupying a tree platform for two months to protest the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the extractive nature of fossil fuel production.

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KELLY MARTIN (Sierra Club, N.C.)

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For years, Kelly Martin was a leader in Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign that has helped shutter more than 280 coal-fired power plants nationwide, including the Duke Energy coal plant in Asheville.

Her successes led her to a new position as director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels Initiative, which is working to push back against the construction of fracked gas pipelines and a dirty fossil fuel infrastructure that will lock the country into decades

FINALISTS

Josh Kelly (MountainTrue, N.C.)

Ben Prater (Defenders of Wildlife (N.C.)

For over two decades, Ben Prater has been a leading voice of the wild. As the Southeast Program Director for Defenders of Wildlife, Prater has fought to protect the endangered red wolves of North Carolina—the last red wolves in the wild. He is also working to protect Florida panthers, manatees, freshwater mussels, whales, and hellbenders—the giant salamanders of Southern Appalachia.

Environmental Educator

EMILY SATTERWHITE (Virginia Tech, Va.)

Dr. Emily Satterwhite, an associate professor of Appalachian studies at Virginia Tech, said she would not have described herself as an environmental educator.

“But, as an educator, I have been motivated by a commitment to fairness by a belief that all of us deserve security and dignity,” she said. “More and more right now, the biggest threats to security and

FINALISTS Robert Dye (Brevard College, N.C.) Patti Evans (Isaac Dickson Elementary, N.C.)

Physical Therapist

WESLEY MILLER (Asheville, N.C.)

At Anti-Fragile Physical Therapy, Wesley Miller works to diagnose the “why” behind each patient’s hurt, working to strengthen the body’s response to stress factors rather than just fixing the superficial injury.

Miller goes running with patients, visits their office to look at their desk chair, and fits their bikes to help prevent future injuries and “improve their experience as a human, not just the pain in their knee.”

FINALISTS Mike Piercy (Asheville, N.C.) Lauren Tiger (Hiawasee, Ga.)

Sports Doctor

MARK MILLER (Charlottesville, Va.)

Dr. Mark Miller can relate to many of his patients, having suffered a knee injury of his own in college.

Miller, an orthopedic surgeon and head of sports medicine at the University of Virginia, primarily focuses on knee and shoulder injuries in athletes.

FINALISTS Aaron Vaughn (Asheville, N.C.) Jay Jansen (Asheville, N.C.)

Bike Mechanic

BEN WYSE (Wyse Cycles, Va.)

Pulling his mobile shop behind him, mechanic Ben Wyse can meet you where you are.

“If someone rode their bike to work every day, they show up at their workplace and while they’re at work I fix their bike,” he said. “When they come out, it’s ready for them to ride home.”

Heading into his tenth year of owning his own business, Wyse makes house calls, sets up on Eastern Mennonite University’s campus every Wednesday, and takes appointments in his shop.

Within the last year, he has started spending a portion

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COACH ANDREA DVORAK LEADS THE MILLER SCHOOL ALBEMARLE'S CYCLING TEAM ON A TRAINING RIDE ON THE B L U E R I D G E PA R K WAY.

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dignity are the threats to land, water, biodiversity, and climate threats to functioning ecosystems.”

Knowing the history of fossil fuels in Appalachia, Satterwhite knew she had to do something when she learned the Mountain Valley Pipeline would be coming through her county. When opponents were unsuccessful fighting the decision through the legal and regulatory process, she started by supporting the tree sitters that went up to block construction.

“I felt like I needed to be a teacher in the sense of modeling for others… I think what it means to be a teacher is more urgent these days,” she said.

In June 2018, Satterwhite locked herself to an excavator at a pipeline construction site with handcuffs and pipe. For 14 hours, she sat chained to the equipment 20 feet in the air before police cut her free and brought her back down to the ground.

Satterwhite said that while being a mother was certainly a part of her protest, she was fighting for the people who could not.

“My daughter has resources to cope with the climate devastation we’re experiencing,” she said.

“I’m up here for the people who are vulnerable and suffering all over the world.”

Satterwhite was inspired by and learned a lot from the indigenous people at Standing Rock.

“A lot of what we’re fighting for right now seems very abstract and distant,” she said. “Climbing up on the excavator and stopping work that day was a way to take a concrete step in my own backyard. And I think we can feel overwhelmed if we keep waiting for someone else to save us.”

of his Monday doing volunteer bike mechanic work in a community space for people who might otherwise not be able to afford his services.

“One of the things that is so beautiful about the bicycle is that it’s a really fun tool for reaction and it’s a really useful tool for transportation,” Wyse said. “And it’s a useful tool to respond to the environmental crisis that we’re facing as a community.” F I N A L I S T S Randy Collete (The Hub, N.C.) Adam Ritter (Bluestone Bike and Run, Va.)

Coach

ANDREA DVORAK (Albemarle, Va.)

Since retiring from the professional cycling circuit, Andrea Dvorak has learned that coaching is about more than the training.

“Yes, the training is very important, but especially with these younger athletes, teenagers, it’s important to keep a good balance…making sure they’re still being high school kids, going to prom, things like that,” she said.

Dvorak works as a coach for the Miller School of Albemarle’s internationally recognized cycling team and the director for the Virginia Interscholastic Cycling League. She also coaches private riders, including Eddie Anderson, a UVA student racing with the U23 national team in Europe this summer.

“I feel their anxiety, I feel their nerves because I was there,” Dvorak said. “I was literally at that race, very nervous, just as they are now. I knew what helped me, and I do my best to do that for them. I’m just so happy I can help a younger generation.”

FINALISTS Bill Baldwin (Pisgah, N.C.) Collin Izzard (Brevard, N.C.)

Brewmaster/Distiller/Winemaker

GRAHAM NORRIS (Lazy Hiker Brewing Company, N.C.)

While in the seminary, Graham Norris started brewing beer at home as a way to take his mind off of his studies. When he heard about plans to open the first brewery in his hometown of Franklin, he took samples of his brews to the people in charge. Within a year of opening, Norris was promoted to head

brewer of Lazy Hiker, an establishment with an outdoor focus and passion for beer.

FINALISTS Christine Riggleman (Silverback Distillery, Va.) Cory McCagh (1812 Brewery, Md.)

Food Personality

NEIL RAVENNA (Everett Hotel Bistro, N.C.)

When the owners of the Everett Hotel gave Neil Ravenna a blank slate to redesign the restaurant, he added a Southern component to the menu. “As long as I’ve been in the South, food is a thread that is woven through every portion of life, whether it’s a birth, death, celebration, food gets thrown in there somewhere,” he said. The menu changes frequently, depending on the season and the chef’s mood.

FINALISTS Bill Whipple (Buncombe Fruit and Nut Club, N.C.) Ali Casparian (Bounty & Soul, N.C.)

Photographer/Videographer MOLLY WOLFF (Scarbro, W. Va.)

Photographer Molly Wolff does a little bit of everything, from weddings and family portraits to breathtaking scenes of West Virginia’s beauty, focusing on active and authentic adventure lifestyle.

Her Instagram, @mollywolffphotography, is a fun mix of landscapes, surfers on the Gauley, and adventures with her family.

FINALISTS Steve Yocom (Western N.C.) Madison Hye (Cherokee, N.C.)

Best Regional Instagram Account @BLUERIDGEMTNGUIDES

From rad photos of climbers scaling rocks and ice to information on gear and techniques, Blue Ridge Mountain Guide’s Instagram account showcases some of the best outdoor adventure this region has to offer.

FINALISTS @appalachiantrail @flyfishingthesmokies

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In 2018, Pete Ripmaster won the Iditarod Trail Invitational on foot. Pulling a 40-pound sled behind him, Ripmaster covered 1,000 miles in 26 days, 13 hours, and 44 minutes. This was his third attempt to finish one of the toughest ultra-marathons on the planet.

“Winning the Iditarod will always be one of the coolest things that’s ever happened in my life, but I say with resolve that finishing was the most important thing to me after all these years and years of going back and getting close,” Ripmaster said. “I will never be able to explain the emotions. It wasn’t just all these great feelings, it was all those failures and all those times that I’ve made mistakes and all those times I had to clap for other people.”

Growing up, Ripmaster immersed himself in adventure books about mushers, dreaming of running his own team of dogs in the Iditarod one day.

In 2001, a year after his mother died from cancer, Ripmaster moved to Alaska to train as a musher. It wasn’t long before he started to question his decision.

“I just found it overwhelming taking care of that many dogs and that many moving parts,” he said. “I’m just one of those people who can barely take care of themselves. So for me to have 16 beating hearts that were all needing my attention, it was too much for the way I’m wired.”

Knowing he wasn’t cut out for that kind of work, he left Alaska. “I moved back to the lower 48 and kind of decided that probably wasn’t going to be in the cards for me to do in my life, although I thought it was a huge dream of mine,” Ripmaster said. “I kind of gave up on that dream for a while.”

Fast forward a few years, Ripmaster started running marathons to raise money in memory of his mother. Over four and a half years, he completed a marathon in all 50 states and raised $62,000.

By the time he finished the fiftieth race, he found the marathons weren’t challenging enough. So he moved on to ultra marathons. It was then he learned about the Iditarod Trail Invitational.

From Anchorage to Nome, the race follows the famous dog sled trail over the difficult Alaskan terrain.

Racers set off a week before the dogs, choosing between distances of 150 miles, 350 miles, and the full 1,000 miles.

Only a handful of participants are invited to compete each year on bikes, skis, and foot. Even fewer actually make it to the finish line. Since 2000, only 17 people have completed the full 1,000-mile race on foot.

The race directors make sure the participants know what they are getting themselves into before issuing invitations.

To gain the attention of the selection committee, Ripmaster said he wrote “the cheesiest and impassioned letter… it is so bad. It’s so romantic about how I was born to come up and do this race."

However cheesy it was, it worked. In 2014, he had his invitation to compete in the 350-mile race.

“I was in over my head when they invited me up,” Ripmaster said. He bought a fancy GPS to help him navigate but didn’t actually know how to use it. By the first night of the race, he was already 13 miles off course and had no idea how to get back to the trail.

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ADVENTURER OF THE YEAR PETER RIPMASTER. / PHOTO BY JENNIFER COLE RODRIGUEZ

“I was at a place that year where I was like should I just really be trying to find my way back to the start to fly my ass back to North Carolina?” Ripmaster said.

After he made it back onto the trail, things didn’t get much better.

“I blistered my feet from toe to heel, both feet, the second day,” Ripmaster said. “My snowshoes were so tight that it pushed all the spike pins through my insoles and into the bottom of my feet. I was walking on my heels for 300 miles because that was the only relief I had to not put pressure on my feet.”

He came in last that year, a full two days behind the previous finisher. “I brought 92 pounds of stuff in my sled,” Ripmaster said. “The guy that won that year, his sled weighed 16 pounds. They say you bring all of your insecurities with you your first year on the trail. It was an education for me.”

He took what he learned and applied it to his training. Ripmaster improved exponentially the next

year, taking third place in the 350-mile foot category.

He decided to take the next step and go for the full 1,000 miles in 2016.

Once again, things did not go exactly how Ripmaster planned. He came across the Tatina River about 197 miles into the race, considered by many to be one of the most dangerous stretches of the entire trail. Halfway across the river, the ice disappeared from under him.

“Next thing I knew, I was underwater. I had fallen in fully,” Ripmaster said. “I had gotten one last breath of air before I went under. And then I surfaced and there was all kinds of adrenaline going on. I started trying to swim out but every time I’d try to get out, I would fracture that ice and be back right where I was.”

Hypothermic, he finally pulled himself out of the water and made it another 300 miles before calling it quits.

“It was a close call and a near-death experience,” he said. “It made me question everything, especially since I am a husband and a father.”

But there was something about the trail that kept pulling at him.

In 2017, temperatures dipped to below -60 degrees on the trail. No one, including Ripmaster, made it more than 350 miles on foot that year.

“You’re staying warm while you’re running. It’s the second you stop that you find how cold it is,” he said.

“There’s been a handful of times I’ve been on the trail when I’ve known that if I stop and try to sleep in the weather that I’m in, there’s a darn good chance I don’t wake up.”

Once again, Ripmaster returned home to North Carolina without accomplishing his goal.

But in his third attempt at 1,000-miles, 2018 would prove to be his year. Six competitors started the race on foot, only two would finish.

As he neared the end of the race on his way to winning, Ripmaster thought back to those stories that first set him on this long and humbling journey.

“My favorite part about all these Iditarod stories was when all these mushers get to this place about 990 miles into the race where they see the lights of Nome for the first time,” Ripmaster said. “They talk about how they feel about this. Some have said they wanted to turn back toward the trail because they had gotten to such a beautiful place in their mind. They’ve been really efficient with their gear and they’re confident with what they’re doing. And now, here it is, that this is going to end.”

Ripmaster pictured the emotional response he thought he would have finally making it across that finish line on his third attempt. But it was nothing like what he thought it would be.

“Honestly, I had nothing in me,” he said. “I had no emotion, I was so dead on my feet. If I cried, tears wouldn’t come out. It was this epic feeling of just like I couldn’t have given anything more to the race this year.”

He dropped 50 pounds during the three and a half weeks it took him to finish. But after years of dreaming and training and learning from his mistakes, Ripmaster left it all out on the trail.

FINALISTS Jo-Beth Stamm (Fayetteville, W. Va.) Rick Dejarnette (Richmond, Va.)

HEALTH HACKS AND FITNESS SECRETS FROM TOP COACHES, ATHLETES, AND EXPERTS TO MAKE YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS STICK.

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new year is here and everyone is busy making plans to make 2019 better than ever. Whether you want to spend more time outdoors, focus on your mental health, or hike the entire A.T., these athletes, coaches, and instructors have tips for keeping the momentum going throughout the year.

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BY ELLEN KANZINGER

PHOTO BY JACOB POSTUMA

Figure out your motivation “What are your goals?” Aaron T. Ostwald said. “Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to get stronger? Do you want to get faster? Know that going into it, let’s focus on that.”

Since 2011, Ostwald has taught thousands of exercise classes at the YMCA and OrangeTheory in Asheville, N.C. Whether it’s cycling, TRX, or high intensity interval training, he focuses on keeping people engaged with the activity at hand.

Once you figure out the why behind your resolution, the next step is to figure out how you are going to accomplish those goals.

“How do you find motivation at home if you’re surrounded by your television, your cell phone?”

Ostwald said. “We’ve got to remove all those external factors that are going to pull our attention away. How self-motivated are you to dedicate 20 to 30 minutes of your time every day to working on something?”

That starts with recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses.

“Knowing, hey I’m a morning person, let’s keep this motivation going. Get me in there, get my workout in, and I don’t have to worry about it for the rest of the day,” Ostwald said. “Whereas maybe you’re a night person.

With your work schedule, how does that come into play?”

If you’re someone who struggles with self-motivation and finding time in a busy day, look for “somebody to help you along and hold you accountable.” It might be a friend, a loved one, or an instructor that challenges you to make the time.

“It’s not about speed, it’s not about how many reps you can bang out here in the fastest amount of time,” Ostwald said.

Instead, focus on good form and technique, practicing safely and having fun. Ostwald also suggested mixing things up, trying new ways of exercising and being active.

“Don’t get hung up on one specific thing because that’s how we get in a rut and we get bored and then we just quit altogether,” he said.

Start slowly In completing the A.T. three times, hiking on six continents, and setting a number of fastest known times while on the trails, Jennifer Pharr Davis has learned a lot about preparation through her own success and JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

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missteps. She is also the author of The Pursuit of Endurance, a book about incredible human feats of physical and mental strength, and founder of Blue Ridge Hiking Company.

“A big mistake is biting off something that is too big around the start of the year,” she said. “It’s a lot more important to create an exercise routine that’s going to be sustainable and meet you where you’re at in your life as opposed to signing up for this really big challenge and getting hurt or burnt out within the first two months of the year. Being realistic, sustainable, starting small, and building your way up is really important, even if you want to do something really long and extreme and intense.”

Starting off slowly not only helps build a routine, it is also better for your body.

“Injuries are more common when you start off trying to do too much too quickly and you don’t build up to it,” Pharr Davis said. “We encourage them to start with any kind of cardio, anything they can fit in their day. Going for walks, getting on a bike, running around their neighborhood, anything to get their heart rate up.”

When preparing for longer hiking trips, she focuses on adding weight to her pack and elevation training to build up climbing muscles in the leg. Through it all, she said, listen to what your body is telling you.

“Have a relationship with your body and try to give it what it needs,” Pharr Davis said. “Some days it’s going to need days off and rest. Then some days you’re going to be able to push it beyond where it wants to go. Be a willing participant in a relationship as opposed to always trying to force your will on your body.”

The small things add up Anna Levesque, author of Yoga for Paddling, has more than 25 years of paddling and yoga experience. She also produced Girls at Play, the first whitewater kayak instructional DVD for women.

In addition to teaching SUP yoga and whitewater kayaking, the woman behind Mind Body Paddle consults with individuals on their specific health concerns.

“The small things we do every day, like drinking warm lemon water to help the detoxification process and help strengthen the kidneys, is going to contribute to your health more than doing an hour and a half of yoga class once a month or once every two weeks,” Levesque said. “Walking or running on a consistent basis, getting outside on a consistent basis, is going to do more for you than sitting 28

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at your desk all week and then spending all day outside on Saturday.”

The “what” you do every day is not as important as making sure you do something every day.

“The idea is to not give up,” Levesque said. “If you can only do 10 minutes, do the 10 minutes… There’s this myth that if I don’t do the whole workout, I shouldn’t do it at all.”

Levesque follows the same routine every morning: 1.“I get up and I scrape READ my tongue. It helps clear MORE the bacteria that causes bad TIPS FROM breath out of the mouth and it JENNIFER PHARR just feels good. The first time D AV I S A N D you do it, you’ll never go back ANNA L E V E S Q U E . to not doing it. You’ll see what comes off your tongue.”

2.“Then I swish oil, sesame or coconut, in my mouth for ten minutes, brush my teeth, and then I drink warm lemon water.

3.“I do a yoga practice every morning. Sometimes it’s 10 minutes; sometimes it’s an hour. I meditate every morning, 15 to 20 minutes.

Then I start my day.

A bedtime routine is just as important.

“Turning off screens an hour before bed is a big one,” Levesque said. “Drink herbal teas, baths, take a gentle night walk, and make sure your room is really dark."

She recommends going to bed by 10 p.m. and sleeping eight hours every night to get all of the benefits from that restorative time.

Practice mindful breathing Brandon Copeland’s personal yoga practice grew into Khepera Wellness when he started teaching his style of trap yoga around the D.C. area. This practice combines the traditional Ashtanga yoga poses with the intense beat of trap music.

“Ultimately, the yoga practice is free,” Copeland said. “It serves as an opportunity for me to teach something to people that they can take with them and consistently better their lives.”

Almost every day, through yoga and meditation, Copeland takes time to connect with his breath, controlling and valuing the in and out movement.

“Your mind clears if you’re breathing correctly and then that gives you space to either delve into things that you feel emotionally and let them go or sit there and observe them and kind of be at peace with them,” he said.

Mindfully breathing helps you connect further with the rest of your body.

“You can feel all these things that you normally perceive through the body on purpose,” Copeland said. “That should physically take all of the stress out of you, mentally give you space to relax, and emotionally give you balance so that you

“THE LACK OF EMBRACING THE FEAR AS IT COMES UP FIRST IS THE CATALYST OF WHAT BRINGS ON THE MISTAKES. WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH SELF FIRST BEFORE WE CAN DEAL WITH EQUIPMENT, BEFORE WE CAN DEAL WITH THE NEXT MOVE THAT’S WAY UP THERE."

_Emily Taylor aren’t necessarily feeling sadness or happiness or anything on a really high level. Once that is achieved, then you are able to just be still and observe the connection you have to this moment.”

As with any kind of mental or physical exercise, the important thing is to figure out what your practice looks like.

“I think it’s dangerous when people try to tell you how,” Copeland said. “Everybody is different. Go to a class and if it doesn’t feel right, now you know you don’t like going to classes. So do it at home. Maybe you try a private teacher or maybe you need to find another group… Some people will do that one arm handstand really well and they love that. Some people want to lie down for an hour and that’s just as valid.”

Embrace the fear After more than 20 years of climbing and coaching climbers, Emily Taylor is now coaching the coaches to help gyms build up their youth programs. In addition to her own climbing accolades, the founder of Taylored Fit Solutions and Brown Girls Climbing has worked with climbers such as Kai Lightner to create individual training regimens.

She works with clients, especially climbers of color, to address points of anxiety and panic instead of ignoring and pushing them to the side.

“The lack of embracing the fear as it comes up first is the catalyst of what brings on the mistakes,” Taylor said. “We have to deal with self first before we can deal with equipment, before we can deal with the next move that’s way up there… My theory is we acknowledge it and we go oh, here it is again.

Let’s embrace this as long as we need to embrace this, right here, right now. To do the other can become dangerous.”

One way Taylor applies this in her own life is by keeping track of what she did and how she is feeling throughout the week.

“Journaling is a huge part of practice,” she said.

“Everybody has their own methodology. I enjoy actually physically writing with a pen or pencil in my hand… I have my very first tick list and climbing journal from 20 years ago, how and what I thought.

I got started when I was 21. Some of it is still the same, some of it has changed.”

Carrying them with her whenever she moves, Taylor still uses those journals in training other climbers. Reflecting back on them, she can see what worked and the progress she has made.

Taylor said another important piece of working on her mental fitness is maintaining personal relationships offline.

“The other part I find really important is disconnecting from media and connecting with social connections, things like making sure I check in with someone and making sure they’re okay at least once a day,” she said.

P H O T O B Y E M I L Y VA R I S C O

Everyone’s process is different “It’s so individual,” Dr. Mark Cucuzzella said. “What are the drivers to someone becoming unhealthy?

Is it stress, sleep deprivation, diet, all of the above?

Each person has to identify the things in their life that is driving them to poor health. If you can get

that stuff sorted out, then you can maintain your health.”

Cucuzzella, a professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine, helps adults work on their metabolic health, obesity, and diabetes reversal. He said each person should work with his or her personal physician to address specific health concerns.

“Some things are out of your control, but most things are actually in your control,” he said. “You don’t just randomly get high blood pressure one day.

It’s a process.”

Although health is individualized, Cucuzzella said there are a few things that apply to everyone.

“The three things that together, are a disaster, are added sugar, processed carbohydrates, and refined vegetable oils,” he said. “Those three things really drive metabolic diseases. Trying to avoid those foods will go a long way to making your body work better.”

Cucuzzella is also the owner of Two Rivers Treads, the country’s first minimalist shoe store, and works with runners to correct their gait. He says walking and running are the best forms of exercise because you can step out your front door and be outside.

“If you don’t look forward to doing something, you’re not going to be able to keep doing it,” Cucuzzella said. “So whatever you decide to do, it needs to be fun, sustainable, and easily available to you. If it takes a half hour to drive somewhere and change, that’s probably not going to work. So it has to fit into your life.”

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thisNoli Is the

PADDLERS, FILMMAKERS, AND LOCAL CITIZENS TEAM UP TO NOMINATE THE NOLICHUCKY AS A WILD & SCENIC RIVER.

BY DAN DEWITT

T

hat the Nolichucky River is both wild and scenic seemed obvious enough on a brilliantly clear day last fall when I walked into its namesake gorge east of Poplar, N.C. The water level, which fluctuates widely in this dam-free stretch of the Nolichucky, was ideal for paddling, the water surging powerfully but remaining a clear, beer-bottle green in the channels between boulders. And though the landing at Poplar is little more than an hour’s drive from downtown Asheville, and this was the kind of sun-drenched afternoon that beckons paddlers, I counted precisely one small party of kayakers.

“The Nolichucky Gorge is as remote a place as some people will ever get to in their lives,” said Matt Moses, owner of Mountain River Guides & USA Rafts near Erwin, Tenn. “We see a remarkable amount of wildlife. One trip not too long ago witnessed an osprey pulling a fish out of the river, a mama bear and two cubs on the bank and a deer swimming, probably to get away from the bears. And right at the end, as if that wasn’t enough, we had an eagle fly right over.”

Along with checking essential boxes for federal designation as a Wild and Scenic River -- beauty, pristine surroundings and unhindered flow -- the upper Nolichucky claims other qualities that justify its listing. It generates more than $12 million in tourism revenue for the local economy, a figure that with a few tweaks to accommodate visitors could easily climb to nearly $17 million, a consultant recently found. Among the many cultural resources along its banks is the site of a classic moonshinemaking, government-averse mountain settlement, the now-abandoned Lost Cove.

In fact, the U.S. Forest Service confirmed the Nolichucky’s worthiness for listing more than two decades ago, in 1994, when it named the stretch through the gorge as eligible for Wild and Scenic status, said Kevin Colburn, American Whitewater’s

B O AT E R S PA D D L E T H E F R E E - F L O W I N G NOLICHUCKY NEAR THE NORTH CAROLINA-TENNESSEE BORDER.

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national stewardship director.

The only remaining gap, one that paddlers and local businesses have recently been working hard to fill, is political action.

“Eligibility is based on the river’s physical attributes, while designation is based on public and political will to see the river protected,” Colburn said.

“It’s really all about public enthusiasm.”

That has been growing for about two years, starting with conversations among guides and spreading to local business and political leaders. A petition on Change.org has been signed by more than 20,000 supporters, and a Facebook page links to a short film, This Is the Nolichucky, that highlights the river’s distinctive qualities. Entrepreneurs in Erwin, Tenn., a former railroad hub near the lower end of the gorge, have jumped on board, seeing listing as a crucial step in their effort to refashion their town as a center of outdoor tourism. The mayor of Erwin and leaders of surrounding Unicoi County have sent letters backing Wild and Scenic designation to federal lawmakers who must introduce a bill to make it happen.

“This all sprung organically,” Colburn said. “It was just a good idea that started resonating.”

That those federal lawmakers remain noncommittal is the main obstacle to securing Wild and Scenic status. But the job of convincing them has been made easier by the disappearance of traditional opposition from mining, agricultural and railroad industries, said Tyler Engle, executive director of the Joint Economic and Community Development Board of Unicoi County, home to the western portion of the gorge.

“We have presented this idea for the last couple of years,” he said, “and, really, we have not heard of any opposition.”

L

obbying for the Nolichucky is also easy because the river is so distinctive, so stunning.

Its tributaries, including the North Toe and Cane rivers, drain the slopes of two of the highest points in the East, Mount Mitchell and Roan Mountain.

Near Huntdale, N.C., these tributaries join to form the Nolichucky, which flows west into the gorge— a 32

BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

deep gash in the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the North Carolina-Tennessee border that could only have been created in an area with unique geology, said Philip Prince, a geologist with the state of Virginia and an avid paddler.

“That is a steepness and a magnitude of relief that’s only going to occur with a very quartz-rich bedrock, and it’s not a topography that you’re going to find anywhere else in Appalachia,” Prince said.

This hard rock also creates the erosion-resistant ledges and chutes that provide some of the most challenging rafting and kayaking in the East. The river descends an average of 31 feet per mile through the gorge, cascading down runs such as On the Rocks and Quarter Mile.

Unlike some of the Southeast’s most famously harrowing rivers—the dam-controlled Gauley, for example—the Nolichucky claims no Class V rapids.

But its roughest passages can seem at least that treacherous in high water.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been plenty scared on the Gauley,” said Chris Lennon, a USA Raft paddling and fishing guide who has extensive experience leading trips on both rivers. “But when the (Nolichucky) is erupting and it’s chaotic and there is all this debris and root balls floating by, I’ve definitely been more puckered up here.”

“That’s the beauty of a free-flowing river like the Nolichucky, it’s always changing. That and there’s no houses on the ridge tops. There’s no horns honking.

There’s no cell service.”

T

he unspoiled condition is a result not only of a topography that prohibits road building and limits trail construction—even the nearby Appalachian Trail skirts the gorge—but also, ironically, its most visible mark of civilization: the railroad that runs next to the river for the length of the gorge.

This stretch was part of the original 242-mile Clinchfield Railroad, a marvel of mountain-traversing engineering that connected Spartanburg, S.C. with Dante, Va. in 1909. The route was chosen because the gorge presented builders with a natural gap through the Blue Ridge and, said railroad historian

Martha Erwin, because steam engines of the era needed a reliable water source for the frequent refilling of their tanks.

The Tennessee Valley Authority once identified the towns of Erwin and Poplar as prime sites for hydroelectric dams, according to Forest Service documents. These dams were never built, Lennon said, because by the time of the TVA’s formation in 1933 the rail line was well established as an economic powerhouse.

“The railroad took precedence over the TVA,” Lennon said. “It saved this gorge.”

And as the years passed and traffic on the line steadily decreased, paddlers and Forest Service employees came to see the tracks less as a manmade blight and more as a landmark.

In 1980, a federal study declined to recommend the Nolichucky for Wild and Scenic status partly because, the report stated, the railroad “significantly diminished” the river’s “scenic values.” In 1994, the Forest Service reversed this finding, determining that “the railroad is well-screened from the river by vegetation,” and that the railroad trestle crossing the river near Poplar “does not appreciably detract from the river’s outstandingly remarkable values.”

The tracks tucked into the base of the gorge’s southern wall, the rumble of occasional freights, the whistle blasts sounded by friendly engineers—all these sights and sounds have become highlights of rafting trips through the gorge, Moses said.

“The only sign of human intrusion is the railroad tracks, and who doesn’t love trains?”

The railroad—or at least its near demise—is also the reason business leaders who once seemed indifferent to the idea of Wild and Scenic listing are now all for it.

For decades, the city of 6,000 was home to one of the region’s largest rail terminals, said Jamie Rice, the city’s communications specialist: “Erwin really hung its hat on being a railroad town until three years ago.”

That was when CSX, the railroad giant that had absorbed the historic railroad in 1983, abruptly closed the terminal due to decreased demand for its primary cargo, coal.

The company immediately laid off 400 workers, most of them highly skilled and well-paid union members, Rice said. Another 200 CSX employees moved to take other jobs with the company.

“I thought, well, here we are, a railroad town without a railroad,” Erwin said.

To respond to the crisis, Rice, 36, who had recently moved from Asheville to her hometown of Erwin and invested in downtown property, teamed up with other like-minded business people to form an economic development group, RISE Erwin.

Casting about for a new economic identity, “we looked out our windows and realized, my goodness, we are so blessed with all these natural assets that really, up to now, nobody has supported,” said Rice, who was later hired by the city of Erwin to promote the town.

The group started hosting events such a spring festival timed to accommodate thru-hikers on the nearby Appalachian Trail, offering beer, music, food trucks, podiatrists and massage therapists.

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attracting Pyranha Kayaks, which recently relocated from Weaverville, N.C. to a site west of Erwin.

By the time CSX closed its terminal, Colburn had already begun quietly pursuing Wild and Scenic designation—an idea that had also been percolating in the mind of Curtis England, the manager of a Nantahala Outdoor Center outpost formerly based on the Nolichucky. He had learned of the Nolichucky’s eligibility status while studying for a degree in outdoor recreation. He had guided scientists on the river researching the endangered elktoe mussel, which can only live in clean, freeflowing rivers.

“It was a cumulative thing … a lot of different events that got me thinking that (permanent designation) is really a no-brainer,” he said.

England launched the Change.org petition in early 2017 and enlisted the support of other guides, including Lennon. One of Lennon’s first steps was to reach out to his well-connected boss, Moses, who took the idea to RISE. Moses’s pitch to RISE—that Wild and Scenic status for the Nolichucky could cement the region’s identity as a destination for paddlers and anglers— was persuasive partly because Congressional listing is such a rare distinction, Colburn said. Only four streams have been designated in western North Carolina, which, on the other hand, is home to 390 dams. Membership in the exclusive club of listed, free-flowing rivers, he said, “can definitely raise awareness as a point of pride for the area.”

But he and Moses added they don’t necessarily want to attract hordes of paddlers to the Nolichucky.

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BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

A better outcome might be a sustainable flow, Colburn said, more like “drip irrigation,” less like “turning open a firehose of dollars.”

M

any advocates of Wild and Scenic designation for the Nolichucky don’t even mention economic development. They just want to see the river preserved, and the bad news here is that listing can only do so much.

It won’t stop riverside subdivisions from sprouting on the private land upstream from the gorge, Colburn said. It won’t doom factories or intensive agricultural operations, he said. “It does not restrict industry or development. It is not a watershed-wide limiting piece of legislation.”

It would, however, require the Forest Service to manage its land to preserve the river’s outstanding qualities and prohibit the construction of dams on this property.

Though the river’s eligibility status already offers some protection, Colburn said, Congressional action would make this firmer. And permanent.

“Otherwise, in 10 years, this (eligibility) could just go away.”

One other benefit of designation, he said: it encourages the kind of cooperative conservation efforts that have already greatly improved water quality.

Jeff Stanley, a guide who owns Wahoo’s Adventures, which is based in Boone, N.C., and operates an outpost in Poplar, remembers the Nolichucky as a different river when he started leading trips on it in the 1970s.

“It was like the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon—chocolate milky, real silty,” he said. “After you swam in it you’d have to hose down because you’d have these little bits of mica on you. You’d kind of shine.”

This poor water quality was another reason the river was not recommended for listing in 1980. In 1994, however, the Service reported that the river had become much cleaner due to the decrease in a once-dominant upstream industry, mica mining, and the work of local, state and federal agencies to reclaim old mines. In 2002, North Carolina upgraded its rating of the Nolichucky.

So far, none of this has spurred action from U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, a Republican whose district includes Unicoi County and whose position on designation mirrors that of other federal lawmakers from the region.

“I will be interested to hear from local stakeholders about how to best ensure future generations can continue to enjoy this river,” he said in a statement from his legislative office.

Colburn is not surprised. One of his major challenges, he said, is to remind energized activists that building the required support for designations often takes years.

But he and others are sure it will happen. Once Moses leads people down the clear river and past the glistening white cliffs, “we’re hard pressed to find anyone who would say it doesn’t deserve to be designated,” he said. “One trip is enough to convince most people that this is a very special place that needs to stay that way.”

THE GOODS

HOME FITNESS

BUILD A HOME GYM EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON THEIR FAVORITE HOME TRAINING EQUIPMENT B Y G R A H A M AV E R I L L

BEST CASE SCENARIO IS YOU GET YOUR WORKOUT

while you hit the trail, slopes, or rock.

But life isn’t always about the best case scenario. Sometimes, you can’t make it to the trail. Sometimes, you can’t even make it to the gym. So, we talked to a handful of athletes and trainers in the Southeast about their favorite pieces of training equipment to use at-home and on the road. Follow their advice here, and you can build a killer home gym.

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This small sled is a really good tool.

You load it with weight and then pull it to build lower body strength and endurance. It’s relatively cheap, and it actually travels well too. You can use it on carpet, hardwoods, concrete or grass. $109; SPUD-INC-STRAPS.COM —DONIVAN CIOLSI, owner of Summit Crossfit in Asheville

You can use them to build strength, or work on your core, and you can get them for under $30. You can do so much with them. The Bodylastics Stackable Tubes can be “stacked” to increase weight. From $30;

You can use it for foot-based movements like squats, but you can also do all sorts of pushups and planks, or combine it with the TRX. Or you can just stand on it while you're on a phone call that has gone on too long. $159; INDOBOARD.COM —COLLIN IZZARD, premier coach for Carmichael Training Systems, Brevard, N.C.

$1,199; ZWIFT.COM

—HUNTER ALLEN, cycling coach and founder of Peaks Coaching Group

—KEN PELUSO, owner of the Endurance Factory, Savage, Md.

KETTLEBELLS If you locked me in a room and I needed to get a workout in, I’d choose a heavy kettlebell and a light one. They’re so versatile, and the kettlebell swing is one of the best full body workouts you can get. Get a heavy kettlebell that’s a third of your bodyweight, and work on getting 300 swings in under 5 minutes. Then get a light kettlebell (20 pounds for men, 14 for women) and practice the Turkish getup.

—KEN PELUSO, owner of the Endurance Factory in Savage, Maryland

ZWIFT SMART TRAINER These new smart trainers are absolutely revolutionizing cycling.

Basically, you hook up your rear wheel and put it on a direct drive trainer that wirelessly connects to your laptop, and you can ride your bike inside the virtual Zwift world. You can ride up Alp Duez virtually. You can change the load, do training plans, workouts…and there are races every 15 minutes with other cyclists from around the world.

The Wahoo Kickr starts at

BODYLASTICS.COM

METOLIUS ROCK RINGS These give you the same kind of workout as a hangboard, but they’re more mobile. You can hang them over a tree limb and get a good upper body workout when you’re on the road. $30;

ROGUE MK D-BALLS These are medicine balls filled with sand that you can pick up and throw into the air, throw against a wall, or slam it into the ground. It’s a great full-body calorie blaster that also builds strength. Combine this with the balance boards and you have a great set of tools. $72;

METOLIUSCLIMBING.COM

—STUART COWLES, climbing guide and owner of Climbmax and Smoky Mountain Adventure Center in Asheville

ROGUEFITNESS.COM

—COLIN IZZARD

TRX HOME2 JUMP ROPE It’s simple, but effective for burning calories without having to run or ride anywhere. All the old equipment is useful again. Rogue SR-1 Speed Rope, $20; ROGUEFITNESS.COM

—DONIVAN CIOLSI

METOLIUS PROJECT HANGBOARD You can mount this in a doorway and use it to work on contact strength and finger exercises, which are key if you’re a climber. You can also grab hold of the jugs and knock out sets of pullups which is an incredible upper body exercise. $55; METOLIUSCLIMBING.COM —STUART COWLES

The TRX is like a gym in a bag. Hang these suspension straps from a door, a tree limb, a playground swing and you can knock out hundreds of different exercises. It’s super flexible and varied on the movements you can do, and it’s portable for when you go on a six-week van life trip. $140; TRXTRAINING.COM —COLIN IZZARD

JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

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Growing Pains

ARE OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS LOSING THEIR CONSERVATION ETHIC? W O R D S A N D P H O T O S B Y WA L L Y S M I T H USER CONFLICTS ARE A GROWING PROBLEM IN

the Blue Ridge, ranging from vandalism and trash-laden trails to the closure of trail systems due to overuse. We often borrow the euphemism "loved to death" to describe these problems, but are we really loving a place if our activities are causing so much harm?

Maybe we should be asking a deeper question: are outdoor enthusiasts losing their conservation ethic?

As education director of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, Ben Lawhon grapples with user conflicts daily. Lawhon focuses on a handful of outdoor destinations named "hotspots" for their higher-than-normal amount of challenges. The Blue Ridge has featured prominently on that list, with Linville Gorge, the Appalachian Trail's southern terminus, and the Red River Gorge all making the cut.

Lawhon says many sustainability issues share a common thread.

“There is an education gap, and it is critical,” he says, since users “may not have the skills or the knowledge to recreate in a way that protects the environment.” And the ease of sharing new destinations and behaviors via social media can throw fuel on that fire. “Managers are reporting not only spikes in visitation but increased impact as a result of social media postings,” Lawhon says.

There are hard data to back up that prospect. A few years ago, my college students and I surveyed more than 300 social media users who were also outdoor enthusiasts across Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee. Of those 300 people, over 90 percent reported placing a high conservation value on the outdoors. Sounds great, right? It does only until you dig deeper. Despite that interest, just 40 percent of those same people reported knowing how to find reliable conservation information.

HIKERS CROWD A TRAIL DURING A G R O U P H I K E I N E A S T E R N K E N T U C K Y.

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BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

Fewer still personally knew a natural resource professional.

Other studies by social scientists show a clear link between engagement in outdoor activities and support for the environment. We need a strong tie to a place to have an interest in conserving it, even if the sources of those ties differ. A minimalist backpacker might develop the same love for protecting a national forest as a deer hunter or car-campers chugging PBR around a bonfire.

A 2009 study by researchers at Pennsylvania’s Red Rock Institute showed that passion can even translate into financial support, finding that each hiker or backpacker translates into $200-300 in donations pumped into conservation nonprofits annually. If you want to protect the environment, that's a strong argument for getting more people into it.

Ultimately, this sets up a frustrating paradox. If advancing conservation means getting more people outdoors, how can we do it without damaging the very places we're trying to protect?

Increasing recreation opportunities and securing more public lands is one approach, since it could relieve pressure from overuse while also protecting habitats and wildlife. This strategy is already underway in the Blue Ridge as state governments, private land trusts, and communities develop new parks and connect existing ones. But there's still a lot of work to do, and campaigns to privatize public lands or slash management budgets can offset those efforts.

Addressing how users interact with the landscape is also critical. One of the lessons the Leave No Trace Center has learned is that engagement matters more than finger-wagging when it comes to educating users.

“We’re not the social media police. We know that sort of tactic doesn’t really change behavior,” Lawhon explains.

“What we try to do is lead by example.”

They don’t shame people or rattle off lists of rules governing outdoor activities; they engage outdoor enthusiasts and influencers directly, having more of a conversation about how individuals can cumulatively minimize their impacts.

I got to see how productive this approach can be when I joined a sustainable climbing summit at Breaks Interstate Park hosted by The Access Fund, a climbing advocacy group. I arrived expecting to see the usual rifts between resource managers and recreation enthusiasts, or at least the

S I G N A G E A L O N G T H E A P PA L A C H I A N T R A I L I N V I R G I N I A WA R N S H I K E R S O F ONGOING HUMAN-BEAR CONFLICTS.

crowd breaking into those cliques once the event started.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

Zachary Lesch-Huie, one of the event's organizers, circled us up and opened not with a list of problems that needed solving but a simple question: "Why are you here?" Together, we spent the better part of an hour laying out our motivations for getting outdoors. For some of us, that meant climbing. For others, it was conserving wildlife or managing natural resources.

As we introduced ourselves, it became apparent that we were each taking different routes to the same destination, even if we came from different backgrounds. We didn't reach any resolutions, but that wasn't the point. The idea was creating a community that could better find those solutions when we needed them.

That kind of inclusive community might be what’s missing from the social media equation that Lawhon mentions, even as online platforms connect more people to the outdoors. Our greatest problem might be not that we’re losing our conservation ethics but that an influx of new users is discovering the outdoors without making the connections needed to gain those ethics in the first place.

Lawhon is hopeful that problem can be addressed by the kind of community-building I experienced at the Breaks. “The people on the ground are making a huge difference,” he says.

“Despite increased impacts, I don’t think all is lost.”

Starting a conversation won't stop every case of trail abuse, of course, but perhaps it can create the dialogue needed to better prevent those problems from happening—and finding collaborative solutions to them when they do.

FLASHPOINT

BLACK LUNG

RECLAIMING COAL COUNTRY

A $1 BILLION FUND COULD HELP HEAL SCARRED LANDSCAPES LEFT BEHIND

BY A CENTURY OF MINING— AND HELP THOUSANDS OF MINERS BREATHE EASIER. SO FAR, THOUGH, THE COUNTRY’S MOST POWERFUL SENATOR— KENTUCKY’S OWN MITCH MCCONNELL—HAS NOT MOVED IT FORWARD. B Y E L I Z A B E T H M C G O WA N

CLINTON SANDERS CAN NEVER GULP QUITE ENOUGH AIR. AT NIGHT, HE IS TETHERED TO AN OXYGEN

machine. And his constant daytime companion is a small, blue zippered

case packed with an array of inhalers and other medicines doctors have prescribed to open passageways to his darkened, shriveled lungs.

The soft-spoken 79-year-old, who spent 27 years mining coal near his hometown of Ashcamp, was diagnosed with black lung disease in 2010. And like the thousands of other miners, young and old, slowly suffocating from an incurable disease that has reached epidemic proportions in the region, the great-grandfather of five never knows if his next breath might be his last.

He survived a bout with pneumonia last April and a quintuple bypass heart surgery more than a decade ago.

“I’m an outdoor person, and I used to do a lot of hunting and fishing, but I haven’t been able to do that anymore,” he says, leaning on his cane. “I cannot walk very far at all because I get too winded.”

A recent alarming leap in black lung—attributed to blasting through thicker rock in search of thinning coal seams—has galvanized a scrappy coalition in Kentucky and other Appalachian states intent on forcing

Congress to lend more than lip service to the scarred bodies and landscapes left behind by more than a century of mining.

Ironically, the man with the wherewithal to make the coalitionbacked $1 billion RECLAIM Act a priority in Washington, D.C. is Republican Mitch McConnell—a fellow Kentuckian and the powerful agendasetting Senate majority leader. But Sanders and others don’t think he’s listening.

WON’T COST TAXPAYERS A DIME

RECLAIM is short for this mouthful: the Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More Act. Versions of it are now on hold in both chambers of a mostly paralyzed Congress.

To the scores of miners and their families, RECLAIM is an antidote for people left behind by a coal economy that has collapsed as the country transitions to cleaner and cheaper energy from solar, wind and natural gas. Part of the legislation’s appeal is

that the money is readily available.

Since 1977, Congress has required coal companies to pay into the federal Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Fund for each ton they mined. The fund was designed to address pre-1977 abandoned minelands that were ignored or inadequately restored.

The $1 billion would be distributed over five years among coal states to spur community growth by transforming abandoned mines into agriculture, renewable energy, industrial, and tourism enterprises.

Fixing broken land is just one of the coalition’s goals. In tandem, participants also want to ensure that miners crippled with black lung aren’t dismissed as collateral damage.

They want coal operators to continue paying a higher excise tax per ton mined into the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, a separate 1977 federal mandate. The safety net, designed to provide financial aid and healthcare to miners orphaned by bankrupt coal companies, is in danger of becoming insolvent.

Last year, Congress sliced taxes in half on underground and surface-

JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

37

Looking through the center of SoLace Studios Fine Handcrafts in Elkton, Virginia.

SoLace Studios began as a work space for marbling fiber artist Barb Polin. This creative endeavor evolved into a gallery representing the fine Explore Art Across handcrafts of over 250 regional and national craftsmen in a completely the Blue Ridge restored 1920’s building originally The Two craft galleries, one on Kite Drug Co. each side of the Blue Ridge Curated by potter Holly Horan and sculptor John Pluta, Mountains of Shenandoah Noon Whistle Pottery is a fine art National Park, are joining to and craft gallery representing over strengthen shared ties of art 200 American artists housed in a and community.

1930’s Chevy dealership building.

Thanks to a grant from the Holly believes Bridge the Gap Virginia Tourism Corporation, for Art is a way to support small SoLace Studios Fine businesses and increase awareness Handcrafts, Elkton, Virginia for the disappearing skills of creating and Noon Whistle Pottery, handcrafted art.

Stanardsville, Virginia are Premiering Saturday, April 6, 2019 and Sunday, April 7, 2019 from hosting Bridge the Gap for 10-5pm, both galleries will feature light Art featuring local artists, edibles by local farm-to-table venues, musicians, wineries and vacation cottages bridging the wineries and musicians from their respective counties. gap between Rockingham and Following the launch party weekend, Greene counties.

Bridge the Gap for Art continues through May 31 with a map for a selfguided tour visitors can enjoy with participating partners.

Participating wineries: Brix and Columns Vineyards of McGaheysville, Virginia and Kilaurwen Winery of Stanardsville, Virginia. Lodging hosts: The Cottages at Chesley Creek Farm in Dyke, Virginia and Cair Paravel A selection of handcrafted art from Noon Farm and Lodging of Stanardsville, Whistle Pottery, Stanardsville, Virginia.

Virginia. Thanks to Greene County Tourism, Rockingham County Tourism and Virginia Tourism Corporation. www.bridgethegapforart.com 540-298-5222 or 434-985-6500

38

BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

| RICHMOND EDITION

FLASHPOINT

BLACK LUNG

mined coal. Those cuts would jeopardize payments to ill miners and cause the fund’s debt to rise from its current $4 billion to $15.4 billion by 2050, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

At least 4,000 Kentucky families are among the roughly 25,000 families nationwide that count on the fund’s benefits, according to the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center.

“What’s unfolding across Appalachia right now is a national disgrace,” says Wes Addington, an attorney with the nonprofit’s Whitesburg office. “Pairing legislation that protects the trust fund with the RECLAIM Act is a clear solution for struggling coal miners and their communities.”

WHERE IS MCCONNELL?

The RECLAIM Act bill has lingered since 2016 without advancing under Republican leadership. What frustrates miners, to some degree, is why Kentucky’s own Mitch McConnell—the Senate Majority Leader—has allowed the RECLAIM bill to sit idle.

They are fully aware that the fossil fuel companies who have McConnell’s ear and fund his campaigns oppose the legislation, claiming it will only add to their financial duress.

Retired miner Jimmy Moore—one of Sanders’ neighbors in Pike County— is just one of dozens in the coalition who carpools regularly to the nation’s capital to ask his lawmakers to pass the RECLAIM package.

“I THANK GOD I AM ABLE TO GO TO WASHINGTON AND SPEAK FOR MY FELLOW MINERS BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE TOO S I C K T O G O .”

RETIRED MINER JIMMY MOORE

“It felt like we blowed a bunch of hot air out and it just vanished like a vapor,” Moore, 73, says about a fall meeting with McConnell’s staff in his Washington, D.C. office. “They probably laughed at us when we left.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Nobody can say one thing he has done for eastern Kentucky.”

Moore, a miner for 20 years, has advanced from treasurer to president

H O P I N G T O B R E AT H E E A S I E R : R E T I R E D C O A L M I N E R CLINTON SANDERS SPENT 27 YEARS WORKING F O R C O A L C O M PA N I E S . H E WA S D I A G N O S E D W I T H BLACK LUNG DISEASE IN 2010. HE IS OWED OVER $ 7 0 , 0 0 0 I N F E D E R A L C O M P E N S AT I O N .

of the tiny but nimble Letcher County chapter of the Black Lung Association, which advocates for miners in coal country. Black lung killed the elder Moore’s father and stepfather.

Coal companies should be preventing black lung, Moore says, and at the very least protecting sickened miners by caring for them properly.

And that effort should dovetail with reinventing job opportunities for upcoming generations of a labor force that was counted on for decades to perform back-breaking work required to harvest an energy source that powered the country’s industry, military, and electrification projects for decades.

“I thank God I am able to go to Washington and speak for my fellow miners because most of them are too sick to go,” Moore says. “I’m happy to represent them.”

Lately, Moore and his colleagues have felt like political pawns. Promised help is rarely delivered.

Retired miner Donnie Bryant, 66, emphasizes that he and his co-workers took pride in their jobs. His father died of black lung at age 62 and Bryant was diagnosed in 2011 after two dozen years in the mines. Poor breathing has caused hypertension and weakened his heart’s pumping mechanisms.

“You still live but you’re punished,” he says. “Even on oxygen, I am starved to death for air.”

Bryant’s circulation is so poor that he fears both of his legs will have to JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

39

FLASHPOINT

BLACK LUNG

be amputated.

“Most younger people have to leave this area to get jobs,” he says.

“We’re asking for jobs. Think about how many jobs that RECLAIM can make for us.”

Patty Amburgey is secretary of the Black Lung Association chapter in Letcher County, now entering its fourth year. She turned to advocacy after her husband, Crawford, died of black lung in 2007, distraught that officials seemed unfazed about leaving desperate people and communities behind.

“It’s not only about the present, but also the future,” she explains. “That’s the reason I fool with this.”

Some of Appalachian minelands, and laid-off miners, are already part of smaller-scale, restoration pilot projects initiated by the Obama administration.

That model resembles what a robust RECLAIM could be, but money for the pilots comes from a separate pot in the Treasury Department, not coal companies.

But those pilot projects don’t have nearly the heft of RECLAIM and its $1 billion.

“The McConnell piece remains crucial. If he makes this a priority, it passes,” says Eric Dixon, coordinator of policy and community engagement at the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center. “ T H AT R E C L A I M M O N E Y I S OUR COAL MONEY AND WE WANT IT BACK. PAT T Y A M B U R G E Y, B L A C K L U N G A S S O C I AT I O N

As of press deadline in midDecember, McConnell and the Senate Republicans had taken a Band-Aid approach by including a one-year extension to the black lung excise tax in the initial draft of an end-of-year tax extender bill. Some GOP Tea Party members had threatened to vote against the bill if the black lung tax was included. The House GOP budget bill does not include the extension.

Willie Dodson, a field coordinator with the advocacy group Appalachian Voices, has harsh words about the apparent disconnect between McConnell and Appalachia.

“Supporting either of these measures would be admitting that the coal industry is culpable for dire environmental and public health 40

problems, and ought to be held financially responsible for addressing them,” says Dodson, adding that McConnell’s allegiance is to the National Mining Association.

“Coal-state politicians talk a lot about how much they support coal, but that has never meant they support the miners or the folks who live where coal is mined.”

VOICES FOR THE FUTURE

The law center and other nonprofits, such as Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, have been instrumental in helping community members go beyond kitchen table griping sessions, Amburgey says. They have learned to set an example for the next generation by voicing their needs to those in power.

“That RECLAIM money shouldn’t lay there,” she says. “It is our coal money and we want it back. We have acres and acres of stripped land that can be straightened up and reused.”

When she needs motivation to push and prod local government leaders into backing the coalition, she reflects on heartbreaking moments with her dying husband.

When he begged her for air, she would place her hand on the oxygen tank dial—one that couldn’t be forced any higher because it was already at maximum flow.

“Not being able to breathe took away his freedom and dignity,” she says. “Each time I brought him to the hospital, a different part of him was left behind. It embarrassed him to depend on other people.”

Sanders is also frustrated by his limitations. And he resents being owed at least $70,000 in federal black lung compensation and benefits because of a seven-year dispute involving coal and insurance companies.

As a 17-year-old, a strapping Sanders left coal country behind, eager to forge his future in Illinois.

“I stayed gone 14 years,” he says about marrying in Chicago, having three children and working at a defense plant. Upon returning home, he found jobs at a series of mines.

During his spare time each autumn, he would forage and sell enough ginseng to buy school clothes for his son and two daughters. ““Being away, I never could get satisfied. It’s the mountains. They never let go of you.”

BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

A 12,000-ACRE WILDLIFE REFUGE IS PLANNED FOR A FORMER M O U N TA I N T O P R E M O VA L S I T E . .

WASTELAND TO WONDERLAND policies that invest more in mine cleanup and link it with economic development,” says Eric Dixon of the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center.

The Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Pilot Program, funded by the U.S. Treasury, is a start. Kentucky has received $80 million of that federal pie since its launch in 2016 to retrain workers, clean up mines and boost the economy.

Annual investments in such projects are an exciting boost, Dixon says, but “transitioning the regional economy will require hundreds of millions of dollars.”

That’s one of the reasons they're pushing for Congress to free up $1 billion for similar projects by passing the RECLAIM Act. That money already exists in a separate pot funded by coal operators.

“East Kentucky’s greatest asset is our people,” Dixon says about locals willing to innovate. They “could benefit from financial support of just and sustainable, bottom-up development enterprises.”

Here are three of those endeavors, two in Kentucky and one in adjacent Virginia.

a grief period as you come to understand this is the new normal,” says city manager Fred Ramey. “Then we had to pick ourselves up, dust off, and move forward.”

Those shifts prompted the city of Norton to pursue funding for Project Intersection, an ambitious initiative to transform a 200-acre old mining site within city limits into a manufacturing hub.

The entire site earned a top ranking from the state by being adjacent to two four-lane highways and having access to utility infrastructure.

“We can’t just say, ‘We need jobs,’” says Ramey, a Norton native. “We had to have places ready to show to potential businesses. Now we do.”

Norton is diversifying in other ways, too. The city has turned its historic downtown hotel into a call center. Its hiking and mountain biking trails and access to adjacent Jefferson National Forest are a magnet for the outdoorsy set. Norton was selected by readers as Blue Ridge Outdoors’ Top Adventure Town in 2017.

Other draws are Flag Rock Overlook and a winsome statue of the area’s very own Woodbooger (think Bigfoot).

“This is part of what government is supposed to do to help its citizens,” Ramey says.

PROJECT INTERSECTION: FROM MINE TO INDUSTRIAL PARK

ELK NOW ROAM ON MOUNTAINTOP LEVELED IN PURSUIT OF COAL

“COMMUNITIES HAVE BEEN CALLING FOR

Norton, Va., absorbed a double whammy over the last decade when coal jobs nosedived and the natural gas industry fled for riper options in the Marcellus Shale.

“It’s almost as if you go through

David Ledford dares to think big.

Enormously big: he is planning a 12,000-acre refuge on a mountain that had its top blown off in the quest for coal. He envisions thousands of visitors arriving by car, bus and

recreational vehicle and paying an admission fee to be immersed in what he’s calling the Appalachian Wildlife Center.

“There’s nothing like this within 300 miles in any direction,” he says, steering his pickup truck to the site where he plans to break ground on an 80,000 square foot, $18-million center that will house a restaurant, gift shop, museum, artwork, classrooms, and a theater.

Ledford and his business partner, Frank Allen, received $12.5 million of Kentucky’s AML Pilot Program money in 2016 to transform a mine site between Harlan and Pineville into an economic engine. Allen, the fundraising part of the team, is seeking millions more from other sources.

“There’s a severe lack of capital in coal country,” says Ledford, who grew up in Eastern Tennessee. “This part of the world gets next to nothing.”

They purchased 500 acres and signed a long-term lease on 11,000 adjacent acres. The center has hired local police officers to serve as guards, who spend significant time on the remote property shooing away ATV operators and cleaning up needles and other paraphernalia drug users leave behind.

If the center opens in 2020, as planned, Ledford expects to employ 166 on-site scientists and other specialists within five years. An ambitious business plan predicts its proximity to Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park will help annual attendance grow to at least 868,000 and add more than 2,800 area jobs by 2025. The endeavor could inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the regional economy, research shows.

Ledford’s goal of a giant grassland, he says, is in keeping with the research he conducts on the landscapes that existed centuries ago when Daniel Boone and others were traversing the Cumberland Gap. Ledford has deployed prescribed burns and herbicides to knock back non-native plants and allow native grasses, shrubs, and trees to prosper.

That mix is a perfect habitat for the elk transported from elsewhere in Kentucky. The state started reintroducing the long-gone species in the late 1990s. The refuge also will be a magnet for imperiled and migratory birds large and small, and

for bears, bobcats and deer.

“We’re bringing this stuff back,” Ledford says. “That’s the story we’re going to tell here. That even in coal country in Appalachia, this happened.”

EARNING POWER: LAIDOFF MINERS GO FROM COAL TO UTILITY WORK IN THEIR OWN BACKYARD

In spring 2015, James Sloane’s world was falling apart. His father was dying. And he was on the verge of losing the family homestead after being laid off for the first time after 23 years in the coal industry.

Sloane, embarrassed about not having an income, listened to a co-worker’s advice about a retraining program for miners at the local community college. Today, the 46-year-old earns very good wages as a mechanic for the utility contractor, Five Star Electric.

“This was a lifesaver for me,” says Sloane.

Since 2013, Hazard Community and Technical College has helped 269 laid-off coal workers find similar utility jobs using funding from the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program. A sister technical college in adjacent Leslie County will be expanding that retraining as a project funded by a $1.15 million grant from the AML Pilot Program. That college is in the midst of designing and building an electrical substation on abandoned mine lands that will be the centerpiece of the new program.

“We asked laid-off workers, ‘What are you looking for?’” says Keila Miller, who coordinates training at Hazard Community College.

“The number-one request was a comparable wage and not to have to move away.”

That resonates with Sloane, a Knott County native who came home to the mines after he got out of the Army. Finding a new job meant the father of two could keep his home.

“When your parents and grandparents worked their hind end off for that land and then gave it to you,” says Sloane, pausing to catch his breath.

“To lose it and have some total stranger living there. Even thinking about that, that’s painful.”

JANUARY 2019 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

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TRAIL MIX

NEW ACTS FROM THE BLUE RIDGE

SARAH SHOOK & THE DISARMERS

TELLICO

MARTHA SPENCER

THE STEEL WOODS

SOUTH HILL BANKS

BLUE RIDGE BANDS ON THE RISE: 5 NEW ARTISTS TO CATCH IN 2019

touching on rockabilly (“Hard Headed Woman”) and old-time strings (“Let the Wild Stay Free”).

Top Tune: The album-opening “Blue Ridge Mountain Lullaby” is a sweetvoiced front-porch meditation with Spencer looking back at her family’s musical roots.

Catch a Show: Performing at the Floyd Country Store in Floyd, Va., on February 23.

SEEKING NEW TUNES IN THE NEW YEAR? CHECK OUT THE SOUNDS OF THESE FIVE EMERGING REGIONAL ACTS.

SOUTH HILL BANKS The Sound: This quick-picking quintet from Richmond, Va., blends reverence for bluegrass tradition and Americana songcraft with urges to take acoustic music to the outer limits; a great new act for fans of the Infamous Stringdusters and Greensky Bluegrass.

Top Tune: “Movin’ on My Mind,” from the band’s fall released album No Time for a Breakdown, is a reflective, windows-down anthem with a patient progression and nimble string solos.

Catch a Show: Performing at the Purple Fiddle in Thomas, W.Va., on January 11 and World Café Live in Philadelphia on February 28.

BY JEDD FERRIS

MARTHA SPENCER The Sound: Hailing from the mountains of southwest Virginia, Martha Spencer grew up in a musical household, surrounded by traditional Appalachian songs. With her family leading the acclaimed Whitetop Mountain Band, Spencer has been picking and dancing on stage since she was a teenager, but last fall she emerged with her own solo debut album. The self-titled effort offers throwbacks to classic country, built around Spencer’s honeyed vocals and heartfelt story songs, while also 42

TELLICO The Sound: Tellico, a four-piece string band from Asheville, N.C., plays Appalachian-hued folk brimming with the influences of old-time mountain

BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS | JANUARY 2019

songs and the roots of country music.

Tasteful acoustic arrangements cradle the lyrics of main singer Anya Hinkle, who has a voice with affecting depth, similar to that of Gillian Welch. Irish folk legend John Doyle produced the band’s latest album, Woven Waters, which was released in the fall.

Top Tune: Steeped in optimism, “Courage for the Morning” is a sunny country hopper about combating discord with kindness and looking forward to brighter days on the horizon.

Catch a Show: Performing a hometown album release show at the Grey Eagle in Asheville, N.C., on January 18, with additional dates at the Reeves Theatre in Elkin, N.C., on January 19, and the Shady Grove Coffeehouse in Glen Allen, Va., on March 9.

THE STEEL WOODS The Sound: The partnership of lead singer Wes Bayliss and guitarist Jason Cope (a former member of Jamey Johnson’s band), the Nashville-based Steel Woods play riff-heavy Southern rock with outlaw country edge, offering a sound that’s ready to please fans of Chris Stapleton and ZZ Top. Top Tune: “Rock That Says My Name,” a deep-drawled distorted reflection on mortality, is a standout from the band’s

sophomore album, Old News, which comes out on January 18.

Catch a Show: Performing at Songbirds North in Chattanooga, Tenn., on January 31 and February 1, the Grey Eagle in Asheville, N.C., on February 9, and the Shed in Maryville, Tenn., on July 27.

SAR AH SHOOK & THE DISARMERS The Sound: With an authentic warble that delivers earnest hard-living lines, Shook leads this gritty alt-country outfit from Chapel Hill, N.C., that blows off steam with both a twangy heart and punk angst. Last year Shook and her crew released their second album, Years, on the venerable independent Bloodshot Records.

Top Tune: “News Ways to Fail” is a defiant, boot-stomping honkytonk break-up tune about refusing to change for an overly judgmental partner.

Catch a Show: Performing at Jig and Reel in Knoxville, Tenn., on January 16, the Grey Eagle in Asheville, N.C., on March 7, and Aisle 5 in Atlanta, Ga., on March 9.

FOR MORE GREAT TUNES, VISIT BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM FOR OUR MONTHLY DOWNLOADABLE TRAIL MIX PLAYLIST.

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