Considering a trip to Holiday Valley, NY, this year. Has anyone been there? In terms of vert and total acreage it really doesn't seem much bigger than Snowshoe, but I get the sense that it would ski much bigger than that. Looks like they have a few glades...
wgo, I have not skied Holiday Valley but I have skied Holimont, Holiday Valley's "private" neighbor. Holimont is open to all weekdays, members only on the weekend. Ellicottville NY is a REALLY COOL ski town. Plan a weekday or two at Holimont and do Holiday on the weekend. I've been told Holiday resembles Seven Springs only it skis bigger. Holimont has some "steep" trails, steeper than anything at Seven Springs.
jimmy wrote:
HOw do I edit a post?
I have NOT skied Holiday Valley, just Holimont.
Thanks Jimmy. When you are logged in you should see a little "edit" icon to the right of the post. There's a delete icon as well.
Holiday Valley is really good for the area. They do a great job of handling crowds. One of the best run ski areas I have been to. Here is my TR from last year:
http://www.skinorthcarolina.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=15841
Droogie wrote:
Holiday Valley is really good for the area. They do a great job of handling crowds. One of the best run ski areas I have been to. Here is my TR from last year:
http://www.skinorthcarolina.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=15841
Thanks for the response and the TR. Basically trying to decide if it would be worth going there for a long weekend with the family, taking into account both (1) the skiing and (2) the non-skiing activities. I really don't care about the non-skiing options but my family probably would. Issue is that TL/CV are only about 3 hours from me, so I am not sure if it would be worth the extra 4.5 hours to get to western NY.
I think we're now well into 'let the weather be your guide' territory. If the weather is anything like last year, HV would be on my short list without a doubt, especially between Christmas and MLK day. If the weather is anything like 4 years ago, then anyplace other than TL/CV is a silly person's choice.
Definitely a great ski area. Skis bigger than 800 ft vertical; most likely because almost every slope trail is 800 ft vertical. As Jimmy said, Ellicottville is a great town; walking distance from the slopes if one desires. Town has a microbrewery called, of all names, Ellicottville Brewing Company. Brews one of the best IPAs I've ever come across. Worth the trip for the IPA alone.
I disagree that holiday valley skis bigger than 800 feet. Holiday Valley has a stated vertical of 750 feet. However, I would estimate the most true vertical a run has is around 600 feet on Mardi Gras. The longest black diamond runs are off the yodeler lift, and I would think are only around 500 feet or so of vertical.
hockeydave wrote:
Definitely a great ski area. Skis bigger than 800 ft vertical; most likely because almost every slope trail is 800 ft vertical. As Jimmy said, Ellicottville is a great town; walking distance from the slopes if one desires. Town has a microbrewery called, of all names, Ellicottville Brewing Company. Brews one of the best IPAs I've ever come across. Worth the trip for the IPA alone.
The stout is also pretty good and the food is great. I was there in February and since then they have expanded and completely remodeled the place, we had lunch in August in the outdoor beer garden, well worth a trip.
fmi1 wrote:
I disagree that holiday valley skis bigger than 800 feet. Holiday Valley has a stated vertical of 750 feet. However, I would estimate the most true vertical a run has is around 600 feet on Mardi Gras. The longest black diamond runs are off the yodeler lift, and I would think are only around 500 feet or so of vertical.
Stated vert of 750, 680 actual, but like fmi1 said most of it is less than that. It is still enough to have a good time on, but definitely not 800.
http://mountainvertical.com/trail-maps-compare.php?r=84&t=1
