Holiday Mountain: Back from the Brink

I became aware of Holiday Mountain, like many people, by spotting one of their chairlifts while speeding past on Route 17. It’s doubly intriguing because it’s a “floating bullwheel” design. A quick internet search for “ski area Monticello, NY” identified the hill. That floating bullwheel south of the highway is a great advertisement.

riding the J-bar 1962
The Holiday J-Bar 1962

I never followed through and checked out the place until I took OEC (Outdoor Emergency Care – ski patrol school) and started attending some extra classes and hands on training sessions there.

By then, Holiday had seen better days. They only had one lift operational — the one by the highway hadn’t turned in years.

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Superstar to South Bay

Once you say it, you have to do it. I’ve been talking one more at Killington for weeks now. Spring is a busy time with lots of things happening. When the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend opened up, my course was clear. On Thursday night I bought tickets online and started making plans with Junior.

Killington Memorial Day Weekend 2023

Once again, I have a vehicle suitable for camping, so driving up on Friday evening was a no brainer. We got on the road after work and joined the throngs of Memorial Day celebrants on the Thruway. It took a little bit longer than usual to get to Albany with the extra traffic but it wasn’t too bad. We got off in Latham to grab dinner at Ted’s Fish Fry and buy some beer and ice. It was close to eight when we reached Killington.

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Lake Tiorati Paddle

As much as I would have loved skiing the bumps at Killington this past weekend, I was coming off of two long drives — one to central Pennsylvania last Saturday to pick up a new minivan I’d ordered ten months ago and then an eight hour round trip on Friday to help my son move out of his dorm. I wasn’t ready for another marathon drive, I was looking for local adventures to get outside.

Lake Tiorati parking

Last year I spent a lot of time paddling at Harriman State Park but I was too late to register my boats for one of the limited number of spots in the paddlers’ parking lots at Lake Tiorati and Lake Welch. Parking is a problem during the summer so having access to the boaters’ parking is a big advantage.

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