By Barbara Arnstein
This year the exciting annual Ski 4 A Cure ski day at HoliMont, to benefit the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, will be held on Valentine’s Day. Enjoying the fun-filled ski day is a great way to celebrate that traditional day of love! HoliMont, in Ellicottville, a deluxe skiing and snowboarding destination that offers lots of fun all year round, is located minutes from the main shopping and dining area in the downtown Village. The activities included in the third annual family-friendly event include: a full day of skiing, a lunch catered by Dina’s at the Mont and ski demos from the City Garage. There will be a downhill parade, a scavenger hunt, a bombardier ball drop, a giant slalom race, most consistent timed race, a 50/50 drawing and a basket raffle. Options for non-skiers include cross-country skiing or showshoeing. (Rentals are available).
This year, Team Pritchard Realty will be sponsoring the Timed Race. The two new Gold Sponsors are: Doran & Murphy PLLC and National Grid. HoliMont is raffling off a 10-pack of lift tickets and Snowflake Ski Shop & 245 Board Co. is once again raffling off skis. This year, the downhill parade which snakes down Exposition Run, held in honor of cancer survivors and those who lost their battle with it, will honor Lara Flory, who passed away in December (the sister of Paula Bowers, a long-time Ski Club of Lockport member), and SCOL member Steve Korn, who is currently receiving treatment at Roswell for multiple cancers. 
The money raised by the ski days goes to help fund activities at the Center such as Phase II testing of the Survax brain cancer vaccine developed at Roswell Park itself. It also helps the next generation of clinical trials, and research initiatives to find new therapies, as well as helping the Quality of Life programs supporting patients and their caregivers. Ski 4 A Cure was inspired by the Pink Vail Event in Colorado, which has raised money for over a decade for a Colorado cancer center, and offers the world’s biggest ski day.
According to SCOLer Tom Doran, “Our goal for Ski 4 A Cure is to bring together members of the Ski Club of Lockport (SCOL) along with HoliMont, as well as other ski groups and families, to enjoy an array of skiing events, while giving support to the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center’s most pressing needs involving cutting-edge research and treatment”. He continued, “It’s encouraging to know that for every dollar donated to cancer research, Roswell Park is now able to leverage an additional twenty-three dollars from external grants toward that research.”
About the ski demos, Doran commented, “People have said they loved having the opportunity to try out as many skis as they wanted, and to get expert, one-on-one help from the technician.”
The event will be held from 9am-4:30pm on February 14. Pre-registration tickets for the day will be available for $130 until January 31. February 1st through February 14th, tickets are $135. The price includes an all-day lift ticket. HoliMont is located at 6921 Route 242 W, in Ellicottville, NY. For more information, email Ski4ACure@gmail.com or email Tom Doran at tdoranwriter@gmail.com