Holiday Valley, New York State's most visited ski resort, has added to its automated snowmaking system, purchased two groomers, expanded the beginner's area and accomplished a host of other projects for the 2017-2018 winter season. Guests of Holiday Valley will reap the benefits of more efficient and increased snowmaking, allowing for added time and enjoyment on the slopes this season. This year's $3.3 million brings the total investment for this independent resort to more than $126 million in the past 24 years.
Other projects include the replacement of the Cindy's Warming Hut and the Mistletoe Lean To, construction of two new beginner trails off of Northwind, and new uniforms for the Mountain Operations department.
Snowmaking is the life blood of ski resorts throughout the country, and Holiday Valley has invested three quarters of a million dollars for this season to continue to grow their state-of-the-art automated system. This year's purchase of 70 HKD Auto units and 10 HKD Viper ground guns allow the talented snowmaking crew to make more snow in shorter windows of time using less energy. With 337 automated guns and a total of 701 snowguns, the resort now has the largest and most powerful HKD automated snowmaking system on the East Coast. The new snowmaking guns will be placed on Cross Cut, Chute, Upper Northwind, Lower Crystal, Lower Cindy's and Lower Foxfire. Pipeline additions and upgrades have also taken place as a part of this year's investment. The two new Pisten Bully 600 Grooming Tractors will replace two older units, resulting in a cleaner and more energy efficient fleet of six groomers. These highly specialized machines are used almost every night of the winter season to redistribute manmade snow and resurface the slopes for the following day.
The beginner's slope, Slippery Streets, will be expanded to accommodate the resort's Shaped Snow Learning Terrain. This slope is specially groomed to make the learning process more intuitive and enjoyable for students of all ages. The two new trails constructed for this season are both rated "Easier" and are located off lower Northwind slope. Shamrock will bypass the steep section of lower Northwind to give beginners and families easier access to the base of the Mardi Gras lift. The Boomerang trail will allow for easy access to the Morning Star Quad chair from lower Northwind. Both of these slopes were outfitted with lights and snowmaking.
The Cindy's Warming Hut has quite a history at Holiday Valley, as it was the original 1960 bottom terminal building of the Tannenbaum T-Bar and moved to its current site more than 30 years ago. It has been replaced by a cozy chalet for the upcoming season, featuring a fire place and large windows for a broad lookout over Cindy's Run. The Mistletoe Lean To has also been a part of Holiday Valley's history, and the new Lean To is very similar in size and shape, but will be set back a bit more into the tall iconic pines of the Mistletoe slope.
About Holiday Valley Resort
Holiday Valley is Western New York's largest year 'round resort featuring 60 slopes and trails, 13 lifts, 3 base lodges, slope side lodging and dining, conference facilities, an 18 hole golf course, a tree top aerial adventure park, a mountain coaster and a summer pool complex.
Holiday Valley Resort in Ellicottville is on the web at www.holidayvalley.com.
Ellicottville is located on Route 219, just 50 miles (90 kms) south of Buffalo and less than three hours from Toronto.
Source : Holiday Valley
