Tag: Pipestem Resort State Park

State Park Aerial Tram Replacement Nearing Completion

Scheduled for replacement after more than 50 years in service, a new state of the art aerial tram at Pipestem State Park is ready to re-open this fall.

Replacing the aerial trams at one of two West Virginia State parks moved a little closer to the finish line with an announcement on Monday.   

Scheduled for replacement after more than 50 years in service, a new state of the art aerial tram at Pipestem State Park is ready to re-open this fall. The $12.4 million tram replacement will transport Pipestem guests down the same, iconic 3,400-foot path into the Bluestone Gorge.  

At a Pipestem press conference, Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby said the tram’s new pulse gondola system will allow for more efficiency and greater capacity within each cabin.

“It is going to be able to haul more people,”’” Ruby said. “There’s going to be equipment cars so you can take your fishing gear, your kayaks, your bicycles, everything down.”

The new tram cabins are also fully handicapped accessible. 

The original Pipestem aerial tram opened in April 1971, nearly a year after Pipestem State Park’s official opening on Memorial Day of 1970. The old tram served the park and many visitors for over a half century.

The old tram operated 12 cabins with a capacity of four persons per cabin. The previous system would not operate if winds rose above 24 mph. The new tram, with several safety applications built into the system, permits safe operation through winds reaching up to 54 mph.

Ruby said next on the replacement list is a new tram at Hawksnest State Park.

Four Pools, Golf Course to Close Due to Budget Shortfall

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources says it will close four pools and a golf course to address an expected budget shortfall of nearly $1 million in the coming fiscal year.

The agency said in a statement that it also plans to consolidate some management positions and some seasonal maintenance employees will be eliminated.

The pools to be permanently closed include those at Kanawha and Cabwaylingo state forests and those at Babcock and Twin Falls Resort state parks.

Officials say those pools are among the most heavily subsidized and have seen a decrease in use and a loss in revenue.

The 9-hole golf course at Pipestem Resort State Park will close after Labor Day, though the park’s 18-hole golf course will remain open.

Eagle Survey This Weekend at Pipestem

The ninth annual eagle survey of the Pipestem area of southern West Virginia is taking place on Saturday.

Professional birders will work with beginners during the four-hour survey.

Pipestem Resort State Park Naturalist Julie McQuade, former Naturalist Jim Phillips and others will organize survey teams and leaders with volunteers.

The 2015 spring survey confirmed 24 bald eagles, and the 2016 winter survey in January confirmed 33 bald eagles and four golden eagles.

Past surveys are maintained for public record athttp://www.pipestemresort.com/Surveys.html .

Volunteers Sought for Annual Eagle Survey

Wildlife officials are looking for volunteer spotters for the annual winter eagle survey in the Bluestone/Pipestem area.

The four-hour survey is set for Saturday. It pairs professional birders with novice or beginning bird watchers and assigns them to survey observation sites to look for golden and bald eagles.

Jim Phillips is a former naturalist at Pipestem Resort State Park who says he’s been involved with eagle and migratory bird surveys for more than 40 years. He says he’s been observing and receiving reports about eagles sighted in December. He says 10 golden eagles were seen at Hanging Rocks on one day last month.

Program Encourages a W.Va. Hike to Start 2015

Four West Virginia state parks have scheduled New Year’s Day hikes to encourage people to get outdoors.

Participating in 2015 are Kanawha State Forest, Blackwater Falls State Park, Cacapon Resort State Park and Pipestem Resort State Park.

The national First Day Hikes program works to start Americans down on a healthy path in 2015. Last year, more than 27,000 people hiked around 66,000 miles on 885 hikes in state parks across the country.

Massachusetts began offering First Day Hikes in its parks more than 20 years ago, and the National Association of State Park Directors has issued a challenge to other states. Officials say 50 state parks across the country are set to participate.

Concord Soccer Teams Set to Test FootGolf Course

There is American football, there is golf, and there is the original football, which Americans call soccer. Now there is FootGolf – a combination of soccer and golf. Pipestem Resort State Park is the only place to play it in West Virginia

Soccer teams from Concord University plan to use the course on Thursday, but according to a release, they won’t be playing soccer.

FootGolf is played with a regulation #5 soccer ball at a golf course facility on shortened holes with 21-inch diameter cups. The rules are basically the same as golf except that players use their feet instead of clubs.

Concord Senior Soccer Player Cole Cloonan expects the FootGolf to help with his soccer game.

”It’s good to work on some of the finer aspects of your game such as placing the ball where you want to which is obviously very important in the game,” Cloonan said. “It’s nice to have it very convenient and close by and I just think it could help in some aspects that you might not get in soccer practice.”

Pipestem Resort State Park is in Summers County, about a 10 minute drive from Concord University. Over the last year, the park added several activity options for visitors such as GaGa Ball, Slack Lining, Remote Controlled Car tracks, Murbles and now, FootGolf.

Pipestem’s Par 3 golf course is used for the FootGolf course site. FootGolf may be played after 4 p.m. Saturdays and after 2 p.m. the other days of the week when traditional golf play typically is light. The cost is $6 for adults and $3 for youth 18 and younger or with college identification. Ball rental is $2 but requires a $5 deposit, or players may bring their own #5 soccer ball. The attire is standard golf apparel which includes a collared shirt.

The Par 3 course is typically a par 27 for 9-hole play for the game of golf. FootGolf is a par 35 for nine holes. FootGolf players share the course with traditional golf play.

Players may wear tennis shoes or indoor turf shoes, but metal or soccer cleats are not allowed on the course. There is a scorecard, and yes, cart rental for FootGolf is possible, “but it tends to defeat the purpose because the game is about the feet,” Biroscak said.

FootGolf is a game played throughout the world in many different forms, but as a sport, it is regulated by the Federation for International FootGolf (FIFG). The American FootGolf League (AFGL) is the exclusive member of the FIFG and governing body for the sport of FootGolf in the United States. The AFGL is organizing tournaments throughout the country, working with golf courses to bring FootGolf to their clubs as another avenue for revenue and to develop the game further.

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