42 Years of Service at Holiday Valley
We all know her name, we all recognize her as a very familiar face to Holiday Valley, the one and only Jane Eshbaugh. When the seasons start to change and the news wants the scoop on the snow report, Jane is the first to give all the details! After 42 years of service to our local resort here in Ellicottville, Jane is stepping into retirement. Her hard work and dedication over the years has only brought Holiday Valley one step closer to what it is today!
Jane started at Holiday Valley is the season of 1980-1981 and was hired in the ski school and as a part of group sales. “The resort has just installed the first Yodeler quad and the year before; Route 219 was extended to Springville. Those were two big impacts on Holiday Valley’s business, but overall, it was a great family resort (and that is still true today!) Busy on weekends. Weekdays were very quiet. There were some challenging years with snow because our snowmaking was not what it is today!”
As a local of this community, I can go on about various accomplishments and growth that the resort endured, but I asked Jane to elaborate even more on her involvement in making this happen. “When I started, I went to the ski shows (Toronto, Buffalo and Cleveland were the big ones) and sold the school programs. We didn’t really have a marketing department at that time. We had an ad agency that created a few print ads for us. Then after a couple of years, because I was artistic, I ended up creating some ads, designing the brochures, and news magazine. Eventually that ended up being the marketing department– all very casual.
Accomplishments of HV… “always reinvesting in the resort every year. This gave us a great reputation for working hard to provide the best product possible for our customers. My job was always to communicate to the public about what was going on at Holiday Valley…I didn’t influence planning until later. Some of the major accomplishments – each new chairlift installed improved the skiers’ experience. Since I started, we have installed 16 new lifts! (of course, some were replacements, and some opened up new terrain.) Each base lodge was replaced – The Warming Hut became Tannenbaum Lodge, the Middle Chalet became Yodeler Lodge and the Main Chalet became The Lodge at Holiday Valley. Holiday Valley entered the lodging business when we purchased the Holiday Valley Motel in 1985 and then replaced it with the Inn at Holiday Valley. When SnowPine Village opened in 1984, we created Holiday Valley Rental Management and Realty Company. Then in 2008, we built the fractional ownership condo-hotel, The Tamarack Club. These properties allowed us to encourage people to stay more than just the day.
The second nine of the golf course opened in 1987 and renovated in 2005 and 2006. This was the start of encouraging people to visit year ‘round. Sky High opened in 2011, which really ramped up summer visitors. The Tubing Company opened in 2003 and provides fun for skiers and non-skiers alike. The Tubing Company really took off during COVID! The transition of Ellicottville from a logging town to a tourist attraction was influenced by the growth of Holiday Valley. More skiers coming to the slopes meant more skiers coming to town and vice versa. It was/is a very symbiotic relationship.
Something we are very proud of is our SKI Magazine rankings – although our vertical drop is smaller than other resorts on the lists, the readers rank Holiday Valley high because of our variety of terrain, great lift system, food, lodging, family appeal, super friendly vibe, and the Village of Ellicottville. This last ski season we were ranked #2 in the East!”
Jane has always been and will always be a huge part of Holiday Valley and her heart and dedication to this resort and the sport of skiing will never go unrecognized. I was even able to touch base with both her daughters and how proud they are of their mom!
“Just like mom, I also chose a career in ski area marketing, at a mid-sized independent ski area. I think that says a lot about the way my mom has led her career. She worked long hours, still had plenty of fun, and never lost the passion for skiing. Watching her work hard and succeed in the ski industry influenced me to pursue a similar path. When I’m at work, I try to operate with the same grit and grace that my mom has shown in her career. We could all add more positivity, humility, and kindness into our workplace like Jane does.”—Maggie Eshbaugh