This winter should prove to be a little more fun in McHenry, MD, with the opening of a brand new tubing park scheduled for the start of the snow season. Bear Claw Tubing Park is the first phase of a new winter recreation center known as Deep Creek Mountain Resort. Currently located at the site is the Wisp, a ski resort originally built in 1955 and recently purchased by a group of local investors.
Snow tubing, which has gained popularity at ski areas since the mid-1990s, involves riding an inflated tube down multiple snow-covered tubing lanes. Bear Claw will be the first of its kind in Maryland. It will feature six lanes that are 15 ft. (45 m) wide and 800 ft. (244 m) long, and two surface tows will pull riders and tubes back up the hill.
Bill Quigley, CEO of Recreational Industries at Wisp, reported that the tubing park is just part of a two to 10-year vision for the resort. Plans for a 3,500-acre (1,416 ha) overall project include a new ski area, golf course, and Adventure Sports Complex with a whitewater course. Quigley noted that if Washington, D.C. wins the 2012 Olympics, the whitewater events could take place at Deep Creek.
The $400,000 contract for Bear Claw included excavation, land work, and installation of snow making systems. It was awarded to Frank Arnold Contracting of Oakland, MD, who began work in July 2001. A total of 60,000 cu. yds. (45,873 cu m) of dirt was moved, with 11.2 acres (4.5 ha) of disturbance.
Job Foreman Mark Arnold said, “We were lucky with this project because there were no big rocks. This mountain is notorious for rock.” The main equipment used for the job, all owned by the company, included a Cat D9H dozer, two Cat 631 scrapers, a Cat 815 compactor, a Cat D6H dozer, a Cat 225 excavator, a Cat E70 compactor hoe, and a D4H Cat dozer.
Besides the tubing lanes, another important aspect of the project involved the installation of new snowmaking equipment. According to Bob Yaste, vice president of mountain operation at Wisp, more than 4 mi. (6.4 km) of pipe was buried from one side of the mountain to the other, with sizes ranging from 8 in. (20.3 cm) to 24 in. (60.9 cm) in diameter. The pipes were of varying lengths that all had to be welded together. The welding was handled by Beitzel Corporation of Grantsville, who also assisted with the installation of both the pipe and pumping stations.
In addition to the pipe, more than 20 mi. (32 km) of wire and fiber-optic cable was necessary to operate the all-electric snowmaking system. According to Quigley, the resort has one of the most advanced snow-making systems in the country. “It’s a new generation snow machine than you can control from your desk. It measures temperature, dew point, and wind speed at the head of the gun, and you can move it so the snow falls in the right place,” said Quigley. A small valve flushes the system with water, a process that previously required a 50-gal. (189 L) oil drum.
The final phase of the project involved the installation of a 500,000-gal. (1.89 million L) water tank by the Garrett County Sanitary District to serve as a supplemental water supply to the McHenry area. Installation was accomplished by blasting a hole 25 ft. (7.6 m) deep and 90 ft. (27.4 m) in diameter.
“Since it was a seasonal project, the challenge was in the timing,” said Quigley. “We had to coordinate everything, such as permits with the Department of Natural Resources and construction permits to come together before winter. We had a short time frame, but we did it.”
The entire project was engineered by Highland Engineering. Major subcontractors included Pennsylvania’s Ke-ta-quay for the curbing; Keystone Lime of Springs, PA, for the paving, and George Beitzel for the timber logging.
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