We raft the New River from 900 cfs (cubic feet per second) all the way up to 25,000 cfs. This past Saturday was an awesome 4,000 cfs and I was lucky enough to work two trips! We had a group raft at 8am on our Express trip (half day) who where staying at the Greenbrier Resort which is a fabulous dream spa/golf resort. The second trip was a 2pm Express trip. I had part of a group of ladies from DC who were all lawyers and they giggled and played all day. They entertained me more than I entertained them!

The second annual Disc Golf Tournament will be on August 11th at 6pm. There is no cost to enter. We will have food and great prizes. This is a very relaxed tournament so no hesitations for beginner golfers.

Did you know Songer Whitewater will be 30 years old this summer?! And if that isn’t enough reason for a party, I don’t know what is. I am sure this will be the party of the summer. We will have a pig roast–for everyone, a 30th anniversary t-shirt for everyone, free rafting for anyone that has rafted with Songer 10 times or more and the kicker for the evening will be Songer Olympics. We will have 3 events; obstacle coarse (be prepared to get wet), duckie race across the pond (with a Songer twist!?), and the third event will be kept confidential until that evening (Oooooo, the suspense). Teams of 3 with registrations beginning at 4pm.

Gauley River rafting is on my mind. Do I need any new gear? Who is coming back to work this season? Should I participate in the Gauley River Animal Race or be a safety boater? It’s as if the world stops and we are on our own planet of early morning Upper Gauley trips blowing boats in the fog at the dam, seeing the leaves change right before our eyes as we drift by day after day and the hummmm of energy radiating off of every raft guide, guest and even the bus drivers! It is truly a spectacular river everyone should see at least once.

I’ll see you at Box Canyon,

Melanie

The first annual Songer Olympics went off perfectly. Every person on the property came out to participate and/or spectate. The Olympics consisted of three events requiring teams of 3 people. The first event was a relay obstacle course that began with the first participant putting on a lifejacket, helmet and carrying a paddle. They had to run through the middle of a raft then crawl under 4 duckies, jump over one duckie, climb up and over two rafts facing bottom to bottom (slicked up a little with soap and water), then climbing up a right side up boat onto an upside down boat that was really slicked up with soap and water. They then ran to the start line, stripped out of their gear and gave it to the next team member. Hilarious!

The second event was a duckie race across the pond. So your thinking jump into a duckie, grab a paddle and your on your way—oh no! We have to through in a Songer twist. The twist being duckies were tied end to end the length of the pond and participants are asked to run across the top of the duckies, run around the pond and tag their team member to start them on the run. It was surprisingly difficult. One guy fell out of the same duckie three times! I do have to say that I had a good technique that won that event for my team.

The third event was a tug-o-war and for those of you who know our bus driver Paul, he was pulled to the ground and drug across the gravel. He said he found gravel in his pant pockets!

It was a great event that we will continue for many summers to come. The Updog team won gold, a two nights stay in the Cabins on Miller Ridge. Bronze prize was a Gauley River raft trip for 3 and Silver prize was a t’shirt, hat & photo for all 3 team members.

So there has been a Songer tradition for over 20 years of throwing a first year guide in the pond once they have worked their first trip. This year we had 4 guides to finish the training and check out as Songer guides. What makes this so funny is that the pond is only a foot deep and very muddy. Even those doing the throwing get covered in mud!

The Independence Day celebration at Songer this year was on July 7th with a spectacular fireworks show, scavenger hunt and door prizes. This day every year is my favorite day of the summer. Our DJ, Judd, brought his personal paraglider and flew over Songer for a good half hour taking photos from the air! This was the first year we had a dunking booth and Eddie, Jayann and even my mom, Susie, hopped up in the booth to be auctioned. Jayann went for an amazing $125!

Stay tuned to our newsletter to keep up with our event schedule. Lots more to come!

Melanie