Ski resorts benefit from favorable conditions. News, Sports, Jobs

At Holiday Valley Resort in Ellicottville, there are even more guests than usual coming to the slopes.

“Things are going really well this season,” said Dash Hegeman, director of marketing at Holiday Valley. “We’ve got a lot of happy customers there. It’s amazing.”

Hegeman said attendance is up this year, with guests also enjoying the new Holiday Valley Tubing Park, which opened this season with 21 lanes of tubing. The tubing park has already sold out several times this season.

At Pecan Peak Resort in Clymer, as of Friday afternoon, a total of 99 inches of snow has accumulated for the season. The base depth figure is 8-48 inches. Updated forecasts are available online.

A snowboarder is shown on the slopes at Holiday Valley Ski Resort in Ellicottville.

Pikan Peak reports that 12 of 26 trails are open, as well as eight ski lifts and 180 terrain parks. Live camera feeds of the slopes and a full list of open trails are available online at pknpk.com.

This season, snow has been much easier to find in Ellicottville than it was a year ago. hegman called it “night and day” From last year. While Western New York was hit by some major winter storms last winter, Hegeman said most of the snowfall occurred in the northern end of the county. This year, cities to the south are getting more snow to keep snow in Holiday Valley and the cold weather will last longer.

“We started with a solid selection of terrain and have been able to build on that substantially every week throughout December.” Hegeman said. “We are heading into the new year really excited about what we have been able to accomplish in December, with a lot of excitement about the rest of the season to come.”

Holiday Valley opened on December 6 and has been open since. This year the goal is to be open until April 6. Last year, Holiday Valley was open for 115 days even in challenging conditions.

The increase in attendance at Holiday Valley may be due to the closure of Cockaigne Ski Resort in Cherry Creek, but even so, Hegeman feels its absence will not benefit the industry as a whole.

“It’s a shame when a local ski area goes out of business. This is not something we are remotely happy with.” Hegeman said. “Each ski area in this region serves a purpose.”

Hageman visited Cockayne growing up and felt it was a great place for inexperienced skiers and snowboarders to hone their craft before moving on to more challenging slopes at other locations, such as Holiday Valley. Without that option, Holiday Valley and Pecan Peak are tasked with keeping the love for snow sports alive with even more customers.

“Hopefully all the people who were skiing or riding at Cockayne will continue to do so, and they’re either going to Piquon Peak now or they’re coming to Holiday Valley. Ideally, they don’t drop out of the game completely. That’s the last thing we want,” Hegeman said. “We want people to stay on the slopes as much as possible. Obviously, we want them to come here, but for the longevity and health of this industry, it’s important to make sure people have options.

Peek’n Peek offers a “Snow Sports School” Programs, starting from age 3, up to adults and even groups, along with private lessons. For questions contact the Snowsports Desk at 716-355-4141, extension 7350. For more information visit pknpk.com.

Holiday Valley also offers lessons starting at age 4. Lessons are divided into age groups 4-11; 12 and up days; And above 8 pm. there is also one “Your turn” Women’s Clinic February 24-25.

For more information about Holiday Valley and its offerings this season, visit holidayvalley.com