Events
Calendar of Events 2022-23
November Trail Work every Sat/Sun 9 am Wonderful tradition of opening up the season together tuning up every trail, glade, shelter, and bridge.
November 27 2022 1 pm Wreath Making Workshop We provide the greens, wire, rings, and techniques. You bring extra colorful add ons to garnish your creation. Donations will benefit the Mountain Laurel School in Thomas.
Dec 3 41st Annual Jack Frost Celebration Season opener sharing your gifts of food, canned donations to local food bank, fund raiser, music, and the burning around 9 pm. Please leave fido home for this one.
Dec 7 Full Moon Ski Tour 7:30 pm Silently gliding through the woods under the special glow of the moon on reflective snow.
Dec 26 Snowshoe Discovery Tour 10 am with Chip Chase Natural History Snowshoe Discovery Walk Streamside and vista filled walk with the entertaining White Grass owner. Little over a mile and about an hour.
Jan 6 2023 Full Moon Ski Tour 7:30 pm Silently gliding through the woods under the special glow of the moon on reflective snow.
Jan 8 Snowshoe Discovery Tour 10 am Amylynn: Animal Adaptations: We humans can don our coats and gloves (and snowshoes!) to stay warm in the winter, but what about wildlife? Some hibernate, some stay active, and some go into a suspended animation to survive harsh conditions. Join a refuge AmeriCorps member on Sunday, January 8th at 10am to learn about animal adaptations across mammalian, bird, and herpetofaunal species!
Jan 16 Snowshoe Discovery Tour 10 am with Chip Chase Natural History Snowshoe Discovery Walk Streamside and vista filled walk with the entertaining White Grass owner. Little over a mile and about an hour.
Jan 22 Snowshoe Discovery Tour 10 am with Zoe :Winter in Canaan Valley : What is it that makes Canaan Valley so special? Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge sits at 3,200′, giving it a cool, moist climate similar to Maine and Canada. Learn about what features contribute to Canaan Valley being a wonderful winter destination!
Jan 27 WV Special Olympics Winter Games Volunteer or come by to see one of the most inspirational days of skiing competition you’ll ever experience.
Jan 29 Snowshoe Discovery Tour 10 am with Rebecca: Trees of Canaan Valley: How well do you know the trees of the valley? Can you recognize them in the snow without their leaves? Join ACE biology technician, Rebecca, to learn about our forests and practice some winter tree identification!
Jan 29 Mtn State 25 Km Marathon XC Race 11 am Rolling skate or classic go fast race with a 2km kid’s course, a 10km mellow division or the full 25km series of loops. $25/$5 kids fee.
Jan 31 Learn to Skate Day 9am-3pm You don’t need lycra, you just need to want to learn how to skate on cross country skis. Randy French will help you quickly learn to move efficiently in this fun, fast technique. He will share his secrets to the differences between classical and skating so that you can take advantage of the beautiful trails at White Grass. Get an understanding of the differences in skate and classical equipment and how that impacts your movements. Randy French, a member of the Professional Ski Instructors Training squad, has been teaching people to skate ski since the early 1980’s so he can share his knowledge with you to help you enjoy the freedom of skate skiing. $40 for the day.
Feb 1 Ski Teaching Brush Up 9am -3pm Randy French is coming to town to help add new ideas, enthusiasm, and insights into how to teach cross country skiing. While the emphasis will be on teaching beginners in fun ways, you will have plenty of opportunity to brush up on your own classical, skate and downhill skills as well as looking at movement analysis and distilling down what is happening at an elite level of skiing to what is useful to recreational skiers.. Randy has been a member of the Professional Ski Instructor training staff for over 30 years and will share his love of skiing and teaching with the group. Join us for a fresh and lively day of improving your ski teaching. $40 for the day.
Feb 2 Groundhogs Day Ski 9 am All day adventure toward the Dolly Sods in search of clues to the rest of the winter.
Feb 5 Snowshoe Discovery Tour 10 am with Rick Landenberger Tucker County’s high elevation forests have a complex history dating back to the last Ice Age. In the past 150 years or so, they have experienced a number of stresses including additional timber harvesting, acid deposition, and introduction of invasive species. Yet, despite these impacts, they are recovering, due to their natural resilience and more recent restoration efforts by private landowners, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations. We’ll discuss the history of the forests in the Canaan Valley area, and speculate on how climate change is beginning to influence the forest.
Feb 5 Full Moon Ski Tour 7:30 pm Silently gliding through the woods under the special glow of the moon on reflective snow.
Feb 10 2023 Backcountry Film Fest 5 pm-9 pm Friends of the Blackwater annual fund raiser event with WG cafe foods and drinks. More info
Feb 12 Snowshoe Discovery Tour 10 am with Bela Petronka : Winter Signs: Come look for signs of wildlife on a snowshoe walk with a Refuge AmeriCorps member! Winter is the perfect time to see evidence of animal presence in the Valley. We’ll investigate animal tracks and scat we find along the way and learn how to identify who left these signs behind.
Feb 12 9th Annual Mtn Laurel Learning Coop Skiathon Fundraiser 2 pm Sponsor a student skier and support MLLC. Most committed FUN- raisers in Appalachia. MLLC participants ski laps for dollars cause that makes cents!
Feb 18, 19 & 20 Snowshoe Discovery Tour 10 am with Chip Chase Natural History Streamside and vista filled walk with the entertaining White Grass owner. Little over a mile and about an hour.
Mar 7 Full Moon Ski Tour 7:30 pm Silently gliding through the woods under the special glow of the moon on reflective snow.
Mar 12 Mtn State Fat Bike Champs 9 am This is a timed, XC style fat bike race held on XC ski trails with a staff of groomers making sure we have an amazing, groomed surface of that all important white stuff to ride on. The course will be on a mix of rolling lower trails this year, same as last season. It is a relatively flat race course with small descents and climbs in there as needed to try and regulate temperature a bit. The course will be groomed, as warranted by the conditions. Your day pass fee is included in the race entry. For more detailed event information, visit: trail-labs.com/mountain-state-fat-bike-champs/ *** Register at: bikereg.com/ridefat
TBD bb biathlon 1 pm snow shovels versus bb guns. Fast, sharpshooter, skis that fly.
Canaan Hash Harrier Hounds events as they are decided * updated as new events are scheduled

ImporTanT EvenT NoTes
EVENTS 22/23 Many other events including several interesting Discovery Snowshoe Tours, some clinics, and much more. Will post as we figure this challenging winter out. Plan on about every Sunday for our free snowshoe discovery walks.
Robbie’s Rad Adventures and Chippie’s Care Free Tours Usually Sunday afternoons along easy trails focused on exploration.
Hash Hound Harriers ski hash schedule announced as they are determined.
Full Moon Skiing Trips are around each month’s lunar glare. We usually head out around 7:30 pm. Good snow and surprising visibility.
Discovery Tours from the Past
Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge’s AmeriCorps member Kristen Lantz talking about how and why the native brook trout use cold water streams in the Valley.
AmeriCorps member Brandon Iddings sharing his knowledge about how and why the U.S. military used the valley during World War 2.
Ted Hodson discusses how water in all of its forms moves through the valley. Find out why the wetlands are so important to the water cycle, and how we can guarantee its survival. Ted will be talking about the history and importance of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Learn why the refuge system was created, what their mission is, and all of the fun activities that are allowed. Also an evening snowshoe and constellation walk. Learn about constellations and the night sky.
— Colin Hughes