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Appalachian Adventure

Transylvania Epic Recap

by Sonya Looney June 16, 2011

I had a fantastic time at the race and highly recommend it! I hope I can come back next year. It was a great tour of the trails around the area with some really amazing people. Thanks to all!

Transylvania Epic: Stage 3 – Pressure Cooker

by Sonya Looney June 6, 2011

Stage 3′s weather forecast boasted another smoking hot day. The high was 94F. The course today was touted as the “road” stage. There was only about 5 miles of singletrack, but just about every mile was fun. I even had a flashback to the Claro Brasil Ride stage race – there was about a .1 [...]

Transylvania Epic: Sweltering Stage 2

by Jack Murray May 31, 2011

I was a lot more excited to tackle a 43 mile day on the mountain bike for stage 1! The course preview boasted tons of rocky, FUN singletrack, a couple decent sized climbs, and gravel roads connecting it all. We have such a great group here at TSE. After a 30 minute warmup, I was [...]

The Franklin Challenge

by Eric Crews September 11, 2010

For most people, a short day hike to one of the many overlooks of the Linville Gorge for a view of the river below is all the challenge they need. But for a small group of avid hikers and backpackers, the Linville Gorge is the perfect place to challenge themselves to go farther, and faster, in one day, than most people prefer to hike in a weekend. They do so by racing from the far southern terminus of the Linville Gorge near Shortoff Mountain to Linville Falls in a 16.7 mile jaunt that has become known as the Franklin Challenge.

Pat Keller Makes First Descent of Linville Falls

by Eric Crews September 1, 2010

Pat Keller, 24, boldly made the first descent of Linville Falls last Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The triple-tiered waterfall has been eyed by many experienced kayakers over the years, but the intimidating upper drop had been, until now, thought to be un-runnable. During Keller’s descent the upper waterfall (partially obscured in photo) proved to be [...]

Down the Gorge: A Day on the New River in West Virginia

by Eric Crews August 31, 2010

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be asked to travel to West Virginia to paddle the New River Gorge and shoot some video for a short whitewater video for Blue Ridge Outdoors. I called up a couple of friends who are always up for an adventure, borrowed a raft from Grant [...]