Regular readers of NYSkiBlog already know we think the turn around at Holiday Mountain is one of most exciting stories in New York skiing this year. When Mike Taylor bought Holiday last spring, he attacked the problem of repairing, updating and expanding the ski area.
New skis and snowboards for the rental fleet? Done. New carpet, tables and POS system for the lodge? Done. Need some new groomers? Done. Well, not new per se, but new to them. A new lift? It’s happening. Actually, buying and installing a ski lift isn’t that easy. Mike decided to get the double chair — sitting unused for years — back into service this season.
The lights for night skiing have been replaced. The snowmaking system is almost completely new. Trails had to be cleared and widened. There are probably a hundred additional things I’m missing, innumerable intermediate steps that had to be taken to pull it all off.
There were last minute hiccups too. When it came time to fire up the new snowmaking system, electrical gremlins had to be tracked down and addressed. Of course the weather didn’t cooperate. December was too warm for everybody in the East.
The unfinished status of the new snowmaking system caused them to miss the short snowmaking windows that other hills used to make early snow. Running a ski resort is a hard business. Resurrecting one from the brink in one off season is even harder.
I can’t claim to be part of the Holiday community but I know Mike from his service on Plattekill Ski Patrol. I’m also familiar with the hill from having taken some of my OEC (basic ski patrol school) training there. Even before Mike bought Holiday, I intended to go back and put in some time with the ski patrol, even if just a few week nights here and there.
I’ve been following their progress on their extremely frank and transparent social media. It’s been exciting. When I saw that they were ready to open up to the public on MLK weekend, I shot off an email to Bob Scarabino, Holiday’s patrol director, asking if they could use an extra hand for opening day. It turned out they could.
On Saturday the mountain opened for the seaon, and I was there. When I showed up at 8 AM, temps were already in the 40s. Bob was there with a few other patrollers, Mike, and some of the mountain operations guys. The lodge was open and ready to go. Everybody seemed excited and ready to work. Bob put us to work, setting up the lift line and getting signage up.
It wasn’t long before skiers started arriving. The lift started loading at 9 AM. Ski school instructors got themselves lined out and began shepherding their students up the lift and down the three open trails. There was a lot to do and everybody pitched in.
I did eventually get clicked in to my skis and head up the hill too. The skiing was decent. With just the three trails open there wasn’t much variety of course but the snow surface was high quality, soft and pliable, just like it’s supposed to be. After a few runs, I gave myself a tour of the updated lodge.
It was full of skiers and their families. The parking lot was full too; the community seemed to have come out for their home mountain. The whole scene was one big heartwarming, inspiring Norman Rockwell painting.
Maybe I’m overselling it a little. It was so warm, we had a big puddle outside the patrol office. We had to dig a little trench to drain it. The first bit of snow Holiday had managed to lay down was in jeopardy of melting away. And it rained just a little bit — in the afternoon. None of that could suppress the spirit of the day. I was proud to play a small part in it.
Things are looking up and the forecast is looking better this week. If it pans out, Holiday will have a solid block of snowmaking temps. As more terrain gets covered and the the hill comes back to life, I can’t wait to be there.
This is heart-warming! Long live the little guys!
Can’t wait to get back East and hit the Catskills.
The comeback kid! So great to see! Nice of you to chip in, Brownski. Looking forward to checking it out.
Thanks Brownski and Harvey for the kind words. Holiday’s a work in progress, making huge advancements which as you described, we’re very transparent on our Facebook posts. Holiday is a huge piece of this community for over 65 years, we’re all in, making lots of progress and in time will be pretty cool. In the meantime, we’re opening more terrain, have a refurbished lodge, all new snowmaking, waffles and lots of community enthusiasm and support!
Thanks again – Mike
You know what? I should have mentioned the waffles. Multiple locals mentioned to me how cool the waffle stand was. “It’s like we have a big ski resort here now. “ is an exact quote. The waffle stand is a big hit.
Oak Mountain has a cute little waffle wagon and it’s a big hit, especially with the kids!
Great to see Holiday back skiing. Big Kudos to all involved. It is now on the must visit list.
Great writeup, @Brownski. Keep after it.
Good snag Brownski, we didn’t want to miss this.
Looks like some new snow on the cam tonight! Night skiing!
Rock on Mike.
I grew up in Monticello, a few miles from Holiday Mtn. skiing after school at night, going to birthday parties and meeting with friends to ski all day. Parents would drop off their kids knowing they were in a safe environment. Vic Gordon ran the mountain and was a surrogate parent to many of us. My Dad helped lead as Commissioner the expansion to the new (50 years ago) area. Holiday although small created a large number of great skier’s who went on to racing, teaching, and moving on to larger mountains. Mountains like Holiday need to exist to encourage the next diverse generation to enjoy skiing. Back yonder, on a weekend upwards of 40 buses would show up from urban city schools. As someone who was involved in the ski industry…it was disheartening to see the industries focus to reach out to the affluent (Golf, Yachting, Tennis, Magazines) vs getting 1st generation urban skiers on the slope. Congratulations to Mike for having the vision or insanity to re-develop Holiday Mountain. I look forward to running up from Westchester for a day of skiing and show my support.
Nice to see it resurrected rather than added to the Lost Ski Areas of NY! I used to drive by it on Rt. 17 on my sales trips to and from the Hudson Valley. I remember the concrete counterweight with the “16 tons” label on it. I doubt I’ll ever ski there (long trip from Rochester) but wish them all the success in the world!
Best story in NY skiing this year. Mike has done an enormous service to the future of skiing. The small ski area that I took my first turns at is gone now, as is the one 40 minutes down the road. Kids growing up there have nowhere to ski, so they don’t. This is awesome.
So good to see a local area revitalized. Fond memories of skiing and teaching there in the early 70s!
From 1975 – 1977 I was on my high school ski team and we routinely raced at Holiday Mountain. Back in the day I skied here often, it was a mountain, when I had little financial means, that I could manage. It was one of the few areas that offered night skiing and its good to see they still do. It’s also good to see that skiable snow was on tap, back in the day, blue ice was the standard of care.
It is great to see this comeback happening. I am going pack up the gear and take a few turns this season.
Thank you for choosing to publish this heartwarming story. Small family oriented community ski areas are the heart and soul of the NY skiing experience. Congratulations to the Mikes for preserving the heritage.
Great to see Holiday return – this is a great story. Having grown up in the area, skied there as a kid. Nice to see it’s back.