New Boulder Park Coming To West Virginia
The New River Gorge area of West Virginia is already a beloved East Coast climbing mecca, and soon there will be even more routes to be accessed at the Oak Hill Needleseye Boulder Park. The new climbing park will be located on a 283-acre tract of land full of rock formations, located in the Minden section of Oak Hill. The park, named after a well-known narrow craggy gap between two cliffs, will feature a range of bouldering problems, many found on a rock wall that spans nearly two miles. While no opening date has been set, plans for the park also include a trail network for both hikers and mountain bikers.
Bad Weather = Bad Turnouts
0 — Number of attendees watching minor league hockey’s Charlotte Checkers beat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on January 17. Due to inclement weather, the Checkers were unable to host any fans for their game at Bojangles Coliseum. To avoid scheduling conflicts, though, the game took place anyway, in an empty arena.
No More Canoeing
“Instead of working hard, I committed misconduct as an athlete and, further, as a member of society.” – Japan’s Yasuhiro Suzuki, an Olympic hopeful, who admitted to spiking the drink of one of his main competitors, Seiji Komatsu, with an anabolic steroid during last year’s national championships. Suzuki is potentially facing a lifetime competition ban by the Japan Canoe Federation.
High Heels Marathon Speed Record Set In Chattanooga
Irene Sewell set a bizarre world record at the Seven Bridges Marathon in Chattanooga, Tenn., last fall by completing the 26.2-mile race wearing a pair of three-inch stiletto hills. Sewell, a native of Blacksburg, Va., credits her experience as a former professional ballroom dancer with helping get her painful feet across the finish line in 7:28.
DuPont Grows
DuPont State Recreation Area—a popular 11,000-acre forest near Brevard—will expand by 753 acres this year. In January, the late Charles Pickelsimer’s estate donated to the state property near Cascade Lake (though it will not include the actual lake, which is still owned privately).
