White Water Rafting in West Virginia

Just to name a few;

Hardest Worker; Vicki who helps in the store, campground and probably handed you a wetsuit this fall.

Best Check-In Receptionist; Rebecca who did an exceptional job her first year working for Songer!

Biggest Brown Noser; Eddie (if you have met him you would know that this applies more to his southern hospitality).

Artful Dodger-one who skillfully gets out of doing work; Kevin!! Ha ha

Favorite Migrant Wave Farmer-one who travels from river to river to make his/her living; Albert who has received this award as long as I can remember.

Highest Motivated Employee; Dave Bassage, our new GM.

Best Trip Leader; Mark Johnson

Greenie of the Year; Jeff aka Mudflap

Most Improved; Amanda for continuing to learn more about the river and people.

Biggest Drama Queen (male or female); Mullens!!

And a new award voted on this season, Songer’s Favorite Customer! The nominees are;
Darrin Wetzel, Adam Casper “Party Animals”, Igor Bass, Cliff Aldrich-boy scouts, Steve Ruff, Justin Wilkins-Kettering University, Greg Corio-WVU, Mary Baldwin college-”First Spring Ladies”, Mike Bunero-”The Jersey Boys”, Ben Degner-”Wayne State Medial School”, Jim Dillon-”Wild Boys”, United Freedom Years, Anthony Montalbono-”the WAKKA”, Jud Logan-Ashland University, Diana Gustofson, and my personal favorite, Bruce Lucas.

And the winner of the 2007 Songer’s Favorite Customer goes to. . . . . . . . John Thomas!

Ahhhh, what a great season! We now go into manager’s meetings and evaluating our performance for the year. Please, please pass on any opinions you have that could help us improve on what we already have. There are many perspectives to view Songer from and you may have one we can’t see from the inside.

Again, I would love to have some feedback and/or a hello this winter,

Melanie Seiler

Saturday, October 20th, let your adventure begin with a raft trip on the New River where you will find yourself hanging on every word your raft guide says, laughing just to be laughing with friends in your boat and taking on the challenge of whitewater.

As you turn the last bend in the river, a magnificent structure spanning the 1,000 ft gorge will come into sight. You will be tempted to get your camera out then, but if you are patient and drift down the river a minute more, you will have the full bridge in view with colorful little dots dropping down to the river!?

Your raft trip will pull over to the side of the river just upstream of the BASE jumpers trying to steer the parachutes for that “dancing with the stars” landing. It is a great combination of your own dare-deviling and spectating the super dare devils!

This is my personal favorite trip of the season and would love to introduce you to the New River Gorge on Bridge Day! Check out www.officialbridgeday.com for photos.

Raft Guide,

Melanie

The fifth weekend (October 5-8) is coming up, and for foliage lovers everywhere, it usually represents the start of the leaves turning colors, which just adds to the beauty of the Gauley River. With the multi-colored hue of its lichen covered rocks, fall foliage enhances the Gauley River’s natural beauty. And as always, the fifth weekend is a standard 4-day, Friday through Monday, release weekend. With October the driest month of record in West Virginia, we usually have crisp mornings followed by sunny days to look forward to all month. So far, we have had some great weather this season. Most days reaching up into the 70’s, with a few running up into the 80’s on the first, third, and fourth weekends. Saturday, October 6th is also our annual chili cook-off, so if it is a bit crisp outside, when you get back from your trip we’re pretty sure we can reheat you with some samples of West Virginia cooking (no, possum chili isn’t part of our offerings). If chili runs in your veins, enter the contest at no cost, and possibly take home a cash prize. Bring a crock-pot of your finest, and we’ll plug it in while you raft the river!

As always, the sixth weekend of Gauley season (October 13-14) is an abbreviated Saturday/Sunday affair. By now the foliage is close to its peak, the weather is still wonderful, and we have our Gauley Blowout Special! Buy one get one half price on all one day raft trips. The crowds of the first few weekends have thinned out, and the water has actually warmed up as the Summersville Lake level draws down and we release the warmer top waters. For many of our regulars, this is the weekend they book each year. Maybe they know something? Only one way to find out.

And as happens every few cycles of the calendar, this year the New River Gorge Bridge Day Festival falls outside of Gauley Season, which results in an additional day of rafting on the Upper and Lower Gauley River. October 20st is Bridge Day here in Southern West Virginia’s New River Gorge. Once each fall, we close down the Nation’s 2nd tallest bridge for a day of celebration. A carnival like atmosphere exists, as BASE jumpers fling themselves into the New River Gorge Abyss. BASE (Building, Antenna, Span, Earth) jumping is parachuting off a structure and falling to earth, and Bridge Day is the world’s largest gathering of these daredevils. Fair-like festivities take place all along the bridge and into the host town of Fayetteville. Songer celebrates the day by running a trip down the New River Gorge aimed at eating lunch below the bridge so we can take in the jumpers from the best possible vantage point. It’s a great way to beat the crowds and still enjoy the show. Combine this with a Gauley trip on Sunday and receive a special discount. Or enjoy the festivities on your own by land and then join us for the close of Gauley Season 2007 on October 21st!

Hey, it’s not too late to See You on the River

Video Dan