I've worked here full time, year round since April 1, 1989, a day I'll never forget. I had a perfectly good job in Bristol, Tenn., when one of the original partners, Jack Tolliver, approached me about quitting my job and moving to West Virginia to work for ACE. I'd have to take a significant pay cut, but he clinched the deal by promising to build me a house at ACE.
The previous summer my husband, Jack Lund, had guided in West Virginia while I worked in Bristol. We'd "commuted" to see each other whenever we had a chance, but thought it was time to both work in the same place. My first day of official employment arrived, so I showed up for work, asked what I was supposed to do and nobody had a clue. I improvised, found myself a desk and started to analyze what I could do to be a productive employee.
I'm very fortunate to be allowed to live at ACE year round, and winter is one of my favorite times of the year. Crowds of hungry birds, flying squirrels and other critters replace the many guests. When the snow flies, it is unbelievably quiet here.
If we get too much snow, the ACE crew clears the roads on property so everyone can get in and out, and the highway department does a fantastic job of keeping the road into ACE cleared.
And I, too, have my own hot tub — sitting in your own, private hot tub while the wind and snow are blowing all around you is a magical experience.
Have you ever stopped to think about who prepares and packs the wonderful lunches we have on the river?
Our lunch crew has been with us for years, and deserves kudos for the number of meals they have prepared over the years. They order, prepare, package, place in coolers and consistently make sure you have a great riverside lunch or overnight meal.
How do you figure out how many loaves of bread to order, potato salad to make, and even how much peanut butter and jelly to pack for those who prefer a simpler lunch?
Over the past 20 some years I’ve worked at ACE, the store has certainly grown.
In 1989 we operated out of the Glen Jean base (I know some of you remember those days) and the store had a very limited selection of T Shirts—2 styles, 3 colors. Tan, yellow and light blue. The store was a room perhaps 12 x 30, small and cramped.
In 1990 we made the move to the present ACE Adventure Resort complex and used one of the new buildings they had built. What is now the reservation office was then the store/video viewing/changing rooms. It had a plank floor and some of the kids would scrounge around under the building for the change customers had dropped through the floor. It had no heat, and the restroom facility was a porta-john.
With so much more space we were able to carry a lot more t-shirts in a lot more colors. Before the advent of wetsuit bootie rentals, we sold lots of primitive wetsuit material socks—very uncomfortable but they worked! For video viewing, we showed one video at a time and everyone just stood and watched it, without the benefit of a bar close at hand.
Time marched on and soon we relocated the store to what is now the Lost Paddle Bar & Grill. I know, it gets confusing remembering what used to be what, but the fireplace in the bar was the centerpiece of the store back then and the side of the bar where the pool tables are didn’t exist. It was added on to give us more room, and as plans for the building’s use changed, it was time to relocate the store again—this time to the existing location next to the Big Top Tent.
The present location allows ACE to carry a larger variety of souvenir items as well as Columbia Sportswear, Decker’s (Teva’s), North Face and more. If you haven’t already, check out the Outfitter’s Store the next time you’re at ACE for a great selection of T-shirts, outdoor gear and WV products.
ACE Adventure Resort is open year round, and we average 40 year-round employees who keep the place going.
Even in the winter we have cabins to clean, buildings and vehicles to repair and new projects to undertake, like our newly expanded beach and remodeled women’s shower house.
But that’s a far cry from the 350-some employees we have “in season.”
We often have families with kids who may not be old enough to go rafting on the Lower New River . While there are lots to do at ACE, there's a great scenic drive that allows folks to drive down to where the raft trip ends and watch the trip run Fayette Station Rapid. If you ask the trip leader of the trip, he or she can give you an estimated time that they should be at Fayette Station.
And if you're lucky, you might even see a train or two rumbling through the gorge!
Wow — I want to fly through the air with the greatest of ease, too!
As a child living in Brooklyn, NY, we were fortunate to live close enough to Prospect Park that we could spend almost every afternoon there. My brother and cousin taught me to climb my first tree at the age of 6, and after that you couldn’t keep me out of them.
When our canopy tour was developed, ACE was in the heat of the season and I never got a chance to try it out. I had planned on taking my maiden voyage when things slowed down during October — didn’t happen!
I somehow managed to fall and break my left shoulder in three places, so that definitely ended that plan. Now it’s spring, the weather is getting nicer, my shoulder is healed, and I plan to get out there and soar through the trees instead of just climbing them.
Who’s with me? Who’s more afraid of heights than you are of white water rafting? Which one do you think is more fun?
