ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 14, 1996 TAG: 9611140024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
A trip north on curvy U.S. 219 in Pocahontas County, W.Va., will transport you into a snowscape. Around Marlinton, where a couple of weeks ago the sun-lit sugar maples were aflame with the brilliant colors of autumn, the tree limbs are bare and there is a dusting of snow. The farther north you drive the deeper the snow gets.
The crown of lofty Cheat Mountain, home of Snowshoe Mountain Resort, has 14 inches of snow, according to Joe Stevens, a spokesman for the resort. Snow showers have been an hourly occurrence, and more significant amounts have swirled into this high country off the huge snow that crippled the Great Lakes region this week.
With the white stuff has come temperatures that dip to 10 degrees at night and seldom push above the freezing mark even during the sunniest part of the day. That makes ideal, around-the-clock snow-making conditions, said Ed Galford, Snowshoe's Director of Operations.
Galford and his gang of veteran snow makers have been assaulting the mountain with a bevy of snow guns that thunder out blizzards of 1,500 tons of snow every hour.
``That's the same as covering a football field with 12 inches of snow per hour,'' said Stevens.
Snowshoe is scheduled to open Friday, which by no means is its earliest opening, but this time it will have top-to-bottom skiing, and that's a bit unusual for mid-November, Stevens said. At least two runs, Spruce and Gandy, should be fully open when the turnstiles begin to whirl, he said.
Last year the popular resort opened Nov. 6 - nearly 10 days earlier - and continued to operate continuously 161 days. All skiing terrain was in operation by Dec.12, and the projected closing date of April 7 was extended to April 14 when the skiing weather just wouldn't quit.
That meant a record year: 285 inches of natural snow and more than 410,000 skiers.
Other resorts in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina enjoyed the kind of boom year that is projecting them into the 1996-97 season with vigor and enthusiasm, not to mention a good base of reservations. Projected opening dates range from this weekend until mid-December.
Snowshoe wasn't the first Southeastern resort to open this season. That honor goes to Sugar Mountain, located near Banner Elk, N.C. Sugar started entertaining skiers Sunday, the same date as last year. By Monday it was the only ski area on the East Coast in operation, thanks to rains that spoiled the fun at resorts in New England, said Andrew Corpening, a Sugar Mountain spokesman.
Sugar has plaster snow on several trails down its mountain to form a 1 1/2-mile run, said Corpening. More terrain should be available by the weekend.
HUNTERS' VOTE: Hunting and fishing wasn't big on Virginia's political agenda this season, but that wasn't the case elsewhere. In several states, issues that pitted hunters against protectionists were on the ballot, even though that is a poor way to manage wildlife.
In Michigan, a proposal to ban bear hunting with dogs and over bait failed by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. A proposition to eliminate spring bear hunting and bear hunting with dogs and over bait also failed in Idaho.
It was just the opposite in Washington and Massachusetts, where bear hunting was restricted by voters. Trapping was banned in Massachusetts and Colorado. A sportsman's effort to return bear and cougar management to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission failed in that state.
Iowa and West Virginia approved amendments that protect revenues generated from hunting and fishing license sales from being used for purposes other than they were intended. Arkansas created a 1/8th cent conservation sales tax to be used for game and fish, parks and beautification efforts.
BUFFALO BACK: After a slowdown in its programs, Buffalo Creek Outdoors, a sporting clays and game bird hunting area in Bedford County, is back to full operation, a spokesman said Wednesday.
The rebirth came with a fun shoot Nov. 3; however, a mailing announcing the event suffered its own slowdown, reaching some would-be participants 10 days late.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB