Remastered version of West Virginia Explorer to launch by new year

Editor David Sibray atop Eagle Rock on Great North Mountain, WV

Are you ready to explore West Virginia in a whole new way?

The contributing team at West Virginia Explorer will relaunch its flagship guide to West Virginia by the first of January, just as many explorers are succumbing to spring fever.

Unlike the current version of the site at WVExplorer.com, the remastered site will be wholly integrated with social media, allowing explorers to share their love of the Mountain State in real time through commentary, photography, and video and audio.

West Virginia Explorer was first published in 2000 and swiftly became one of the principal online guides to West Virginia. Now in its thirteenth year, editor David Sibray says he expects 2013 to be very, very lucky for contributors and readers alike.

Sibray LLC moving to Charleston, W.Va.

W.Va. Capitol at Charleston

Sibray Limited Liability Company, the publisher of West Virginia Explorer and the parent of Sibray Public Relations Co, will move its offices to Charleston, W.Va., in September. David Sibray said the move will better accommodate the contributors that the company contracts across the state.

Traditionally one of top three online directories for West Virginia travel information, The West Virginia Explorer over the last year underwent a top-to-bottom overhaul, during which its rankings at search engines such as Bing.com and Google.com were re-ordered. Now that the process is complete, Sibray said the publishing house will need to provide writers, photographers, and other contributors better access to a centralized office environment.

Satellite image of West Virginia at night

New NASA satellite imagery of the Earth at night is making rounds on the Internet, and I was determined to discover what might be seen of West Virginia, my home state. It turns out, quite a lot. The Charleston - Huntington metro corridor, and the Teays Valley, in between, are obvious features. They run nearly east to west. I've added a "C" to the image just northeast of Charleston. Beckley (B) and Oak Hill, to its north, cast a glow  near the center of the southern state.

Extending northeastward from a cluster of lights at Parkersburg (P), a thin but distinct ribbon follows the Ohio River and widens at Wheeling and Weirton. Morgantown (M) is the largest of clusters that follows the west flank of the Chestnut Ridge southwest to northeast from Clarksburg, to the south, far into Pennsylvania near Latrobe. One of the most surprising features, in my mind, is the scattered dim light in the coalfields south of Charleston (C) and west of Beckley (B). I expect this comes from the many small coal camps and surface-mining operations.

Other distinct features that might be discerned in this image include Columbus, (the bright, concentrated node of light northwest of Parkersburg), Pittsburgh, the large cluster of lights north of Morgantown, the D.C.-metro area along the eastern edge of the image, and the thin ribbon of development that follows Interstate 81 across the image from northwest to southeast.

I've included a reference map here to help orient readers who'd like to further explore this image.

Read about dark skies in West Virginia

Burgess photography to help define W.Va.

Photographer Rick Burgess has agreed to provide West Virginia Explorer with imagery needed to help define West Virginia. His landscapes will be featured as editorial content when the remastered version of the guide is unveiled in late October, according to David Sibray, editor and publisher of the online guide to West Virginia.

"Rick has been able to help illustrate a version of West Virginia of which I think many West Virginians were unaware, to say nothing of tourists," Sibray said. "When his work began to appear on Facebook, I though to myself, 'Here's a guy who's seeing the state as no one else is seeing it.'"

Sibray said West Virginia Explorer, which was first launched in 1999, will be opening its pages to photographers who wish to share their vision of the Mountain State. Potential contributors are welcome to call Sibray at (304) 575-7390 or contact him at dsibray@gmail.com.

Burning Rock underwrites ATV content

Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park has agreed to underwrite the expansion of ATV touring information at West Virginia Explorer. Perhaps best known as a destination for ATV touring, the park's partnership with the online guide will provide vacationers detailed information on off-road adventures throughout the Mountain State. Please visit the website for Burning Rock to find out more about the cabins, camping, and off-road adventure packages the parks offers as well as its 2,500 foot zip-line. Thanks, Burning Rock!

ACE helps sponsor reboot of WVExplorer

ACE Adventure Resort has been named among the chief sponsors of the reboot of the West Virginia Explorer, the Web-based guide to West Virginia first launched in 1999. Long one of the chief advertisers associated with the guide, the resort has provided the funding necessary to write and edit thousands of pages of information.

After September 1, explorers of West Virginia will find forums, galleries, and thousands of interactive articles authored by professional writers where the long-standing flagship site for West Virginia Explorer had existed. The site will also solicit visitors to enlist for free memberships, which will qualify them for travel packages and prompt them to sign up for specialty newsletters. Thank, ACE, for helping us build West Virginia!

UPDATE: ACE's investment paid off in February 2014 when the reboot of West Virginia Explorer was unveiled. LinkedIn Version: ACE reboot: a big win! - West Virginia Explorer

Allegheny Restoration sponsors new historic landmarks content

If you're a fan of West Virginia architecture, you may already know their work. Woodburn Hall at West Virginia University, the West Virginia Capitol at Charleston, the B&O Roundhouse at Martinsburg -- each of these buildings, and many more throughout the Mid-Atlantic, have been expertly restored with the help of Allegheny Restoration & Builders Inc. Their work in restoration and new construction is renowned.

What better sponsor for our forthcoming guide to historic landmarks could we find? When we unveil our new online compendium of West Virginia in September, you'll be able to peruse more than 200 pages of historic site and district information sponsored by Allegheny Restoration. Their builders, designers, and carpenters share our enthusiasm for maintaining the best of West Virginia, and we couldn't be more happy to partner with them. Please be sure to consider a consultation with Allegheny Restoration before you embark on a renovation of a historical structure.