Nearest city Buffalo Top elevation 2,250 feet (690 m) Skiable area 290 acres (120 ha) | Vertical 750 feet (230 m) Base elevation 1,500 feet (460 m) | |
Location Ellicottville, New York, USA | ||
Holiday Valley is a family oriented vacation spot and ski resort in Ellicottville, New York. Established in 1957 by Dick Congdon, John Fisher and Bill Northrup, the facility opened with four runs and one T-bar lift. Currently the resort contains 58 slopes and 13 lifts. Since its opening Holiday Valley has experienced steady growth and has become the main tourist attraction in Cattaraugus County. In 1995 the Inn at Holiday Valley opened, turning the slope into a self-contained ski resort.
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Geography
The resort is located in the southern part of the town of Ellicottville, between the village and the town of Great Valley on U.S. Route 219. It is part of the ski country belt that runs through western New York and is one of two ski resorts in the town of Ellicottville, the other being Holimont; unlike Holimont, which is mostly restricted to members only, Holiday Valley is open to the public. (A third resort, the Concord Club on Poverty Hill, closed in 1991 and is currently being redeveloped into housing.)
Holiday Valley also operates a tubing facility on a separate plot well east of the ski resort in the town of Franklinville.
The resort is 52 miles (84 km) south of the Canada–United States border at Buffalo; Canadians constitute approximately one third of Holiday Valley's business.
Origin
After a search for initial investors, in 1956 Robert "Bob" Stubbs lead a group founders that included Dick Congdon, John Fisher and Bill Northrup sold stock in a parking lot in Ellicottville for $100 per share to open a ski area. Under Stubb's guidance Holiday Valley was among the early supporters of the relatively new technology of snow making. The first four runs called Yodeler, Champagne, Holiday Run and Edelweiss were cut in 1957 but due to mild weather early that winter their opening was delayed until January 7, 1958. Since then Holiday Valley has added 52 runs including two terrain parks, 12 lifts, and a snow tubing hill. The names of these runs and lifts can be found in the Full List of Ski Runs and Lifts section.
Ski Mountain
The ski mountain is the flagship attraction at Holiday Valley. Today the entire mountain holds 56 slopes and 13 ski lifts. Despite its relatively small size, the resort has experienced consistent growth since opening in 1958 and has erected two hotels on its property directed towards the skiing attractions. These hotels include the Inn at Holiday Valley and the Tamarack Club which opened in 2009 and holds both condominiums and hotel rooms. Per USGS Topographic Map MRC 42078C6, Holiday Valley lies at the foot of McCarty Hill with a peak elevation of 2,323 ft. and a base below 1,600 ft., giving Holiday Valley a "vertical drop" over 750 ft.
Due to the fluctuating climate in the area during the winter in the early and late season, the resort relies heavily on the ability to make snow. When trying to open the slopes in December the snowmaking takes each chance it gets to make snow while the temperature is cold enough. In 2011 it is using a completely automated snowmaking system for the first time. This system automatically controls the amount and temperature of water it sprays, which snow machines on the mountains are running, and when they turn on and shut off. The system can also adjust these variables based on the outside temperature. According to the snowmaking team, the software in this new system allows them to turn the snow machines on with their cell phones.
Recognition
In the past decade the resort has received positive recognition within the ski community. According to Buffalo Business First “Holiday Valley has been in [Ski Magazine’s] Top Ten poll for Eastern resorts for the past six years” prior to 2009. According to the same report by Buffalo Business First the resort ranked third in the east, surpassing “Whiteface Mountain and Killington as one of the top eastern North American winter destinations”.