Banff on the run: Advance tickets are on sale now for the Banff Mountain Film Festival, which arrives at Appalachian State University beginning March 24. The festival’s two-day whistle stop in Boone is just one of 250 dates planned this year around the world, and a heck of a lot closer than, say, the one […]

The perfect first date?: Help save a species without leaving the comfort of your own car. Sound too good to be true? Read on, my friend: The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is looking for volunteers to help out with the statewide Calling Amphibian Survey, a gig (pardon the expression) that involves driving along established […]

I was a teenage trail-hound: Buncombe County Parks & Recreation Services is hosting a “Teen Club for Hiking,” open to teens ages 11 to 15, with the goals of building outdoor skills and adding a pinch of environmental education to young lives. So far, three trips are planned: A March 31 hike to Graveyard Fields, […]

Climb every mountain: Charley, Jane and Norm – the nice folks at Jus’ Running in Asheville – are in the first stages of putting together a book of runs in and around the city. They hope to include runs of varying locations, terrains and distances, from the 1.3 mile loop around Carrier Park to full-commitment […]

DaFishy Code: Here’s a newsflash that’s bound to thrill: The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has updated its Trout Fishing Maps Book. Sure, the name is a little uninspired, but the book remains a deal at $12, including maps of WNC’s rivers and streams, all color-coded according to the fishing regulations in effect at each place […]

Still no shootin’ on the Sabbath: A recent study commissioned by the N.C. Wildlife Commission revealed that most North Carolinians are opposed to allowing hunting on Sunday. Hunters, who admittedly have more at stake, are split evenly on the issue. Sunday hunting has been forbidden in North Carolina since shortly after the Civil War, except […]

Oh, the places you’ll go: Few regional outdoor groups boast as robust a schedule as the Carolina Mountain Club. Pick a weekend, and members are somewhere burning – or at least treading – up the trails. This month, for instance, a Dec. 17 all-day hike led by Joanne Tulip will take in Green Knob by […]

Stand and deliver: So far this season, two North Carolina hunters have died in tree-stand related accidents. Last year, three died similarly. The grim fact is that all of the deaths could have been avoided with proper precaution, say representatives from the N.C. Wildlife Commission. Chris Huebner, a hunting-safety coordinator with the commission, entreats all […]

Go deep: Flittermouse Grotto of Western North Carolina, the local chapter of the National Speleological Society, meets at 7 p.m. the first Friday of each month at the Black Mountain Library (105 Dougherty St.). Visitors and guests are welcome to attend for caving fellowship, or simply to ask what the hell the group’s name means. […]

Fleet of feet: Warren Wilson College’s women’s and men’s cross-country teams took top-four finishes in the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships, held last month at Buena Vista, Va. The women’s team took third, marking the fourth year in a row the femme-Owls have finished among the top three women’s teams nationally. The Warren Wilson […]

Keep it in the family: Congratulations to brother and sister Shiloh Mielke and Meadow Tarves of Hendersonville for taking first place, respectively, in the male and female categories at the Shut-In Trail Run on Nov. 4. Mielke, 26, finished the 17.8-mile course in 2:28.20 and Tarves, 28, finished it in 2:47.54. This, of course, is […]