By Jessica Schultz
Both of our ski areas have been busy this year. Offering year-round fun and activities, making improvements to each, building big plans for the future. There is always something happening. The Villager spoke with Director of Marketing for Holiday Valley, Dash Hegeman and Sales/Marketing Director for HoliMont, Jennah Bradley about each resort’s most notable improvements for 2022 so far.
Holiday Valley Resort:
The Villager: Dash, could you let us know the most notable changes for Holiday Valley Resort this year?
Dash: “Holiday Valley has invested over $5 million in improvement projects throughout this past summer as we prepare for the 2022-23 winter season. The improvement highlights include the purchase of a new PistenBully 600 Groomer, continued upgrades to the snowmaking system, RFID ticket scanning, slope work and the start of construction on a brand-new high speed 6 pack chairlift, which will be completed in the summer of 2023.”
“Direct-to-lift RFID ticketing and scanning will allow guests to purchase their tickets online, print out a reusable lift ticket (or season pass) at one of our Pick-Up Box (PUB) locations throughout the resort and go directly to the lift without having to wait in line at a ticket booth. RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification Device and the “device” is a small chip that is integrated into the lift ticket. The chip contains information pertaining to the product a guest purchased and tells our scanning system that the ticket or pass is valid. The cards have an expected multi-year lifespan, which means whether you are a season pass holder or a day ticket purchaser, you can reuse your card for the duration of its lifespan. The multi-year durability of the new RFID cards will drastically reduce Holiday Valley’s environmental impact in comparison to the use of the old day tickets and season pass cards.”
“The new groomer replaces an older machine to maintain Holiday Valley’s modern fleet, which are used to recondition the snow surface every night. The new machine is more fuel efficient and produces lower emissions than the one it replaces. Snowmaking is key to the successful operation of Holiday Valley. Holiday Valley is able to make snow on 95% of its 300 acres of slopes, with approximately 50% of its 715 snowguns equipped with automation.”
“And finally, The Mardi Gras 6 pack chairlift project will be the first 6 pack lift in the Western New York region. This past summer, the Mountain Operations team worked to set the concrete foundations for the lift towers in the ground. That will allow the team to get an early start on the construction of the lift in the spring of 2023. Once the 2022-23 winter season comes to an end, work will begin to take down the existing Mardi Gras high speed quad, which will then be followed by the building of the new 6 pack lift.
The target date for opening of the 2022-23 season is Friday, November 25, weather permitting.”
HoliMont Resort:
The Villager: Jennah, what’s happened at HoliMont the year so far and what are your plans looking ahead?
Jennah: “As we roll into the fall and winter months, we are excited to see some frosty mornings, and are so grateful for our HoliMont Family. It is hard to believe this coming weekend, Fall Festival, October 8/9, 2022 will be the final weekend for the HoliMont Bike Park this season. The feedback from our members and guests has been very positive and humbling. We are so thankful to all who have helped us make this a success. The amount of fun you can have at HoliMont has grown rapidly with the Bike Trails, Paddleboard and Kayak Rentals, Hiking, Disc Golf and more there is something for the whole family. We are happy you are enjoying it as much as we are”.
“As we are preparing for the fall and winter months, we are also planning for next bike season, and we are energized by the growth we have seen this year. Our Trail Crew was able to complete and open 1.88 miles of new trails this summer in addition to maintenance and improvements on many of our current trails. The growing trail system has increased the traffic at the Bike Park and in response we have increased the turnaround with twice as many bike carriers allowing us to cycle more than 165 bikes per hour to the top. Look for the New Jump Trail we are planning to have on Opening Day 2023 next season.
Looking back on this season, with the addition of our Skills Area near the base of Sunset we were able to add three 2-day Mountain Bike Camps for riders 7 and older to learn and grow their skills in mountain biking. For the more seasoned riders we have hosted 3 DH Races and one XC Race. Over 200 athletes took part in these events, and we are looking forward to growing these events and programs for the upcoming season. Weekly Race Series, Private Lessons, and additional events are all being considered. Save the dates for these Winter Bike Events. Winter FUNnel – Fat Bike DH Race, February 19th, 2023
Over the Bars Dual SL Fat Tire Race on April 8th, 2023”
“We cannot express enough how thankful we are to all staff, members, guests, supporters, and all who have helped us add a fun offering to the Ellicottville and Western NY Mountain Bike Scene, and we hope you come and join us for some fun winter fun on two planks, one, or tires it doesn’t matter. Get out there and have fun!”
Thank you, Dash and Jennah for sharing the updates. And a huge thank you to both Holiday Valley and HoliMont and their dedicated staff for making it possible to enjoy the area in all seasons!!!