Holiday Valley: Miles to Powder

In Western New York, I earn my miles. Between work during the week and recreation on the weekends, a lot of life happens on rural roads. My car has been incredibly reliable, carrying me to countless trailheads and ski areas over the years. On the way to Holiday Valley, I hit a milestone as the odometer rolled over to 333,333 miles. Triple threes, on a ski day, headed into the hills? That felt like a good omen.

Morningstar

For the second year in a row, Holiday Valley was the first resort to open in WNY, thanks again to heavy lake-effect snow. Last year, a storm dropped roughly 40 inches before opening day. This season, they’d already been open for a week with snowfall totals topping 50 inches.

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HoliMont: WNY Season Finale

I’d already called it. The skis were tuned and tucked away, boots dried in the mudroom. After returning from an April ski trip out west, I assumed my season was over. Every ski area in a 2 hour radius of home was closed. I was mentally ready to move onto the next season. Then I saw that HoliMont in Ellicottville would have 16 trails open, with a forecast of 50° and sunny. My season was not done… yet.

Main Chalet

Our season started in WNY with a magical lake effect snow cycle the first weekend of December, that brought a 5 day total of 40” before any mountains began their season operations.

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Hunt Hollow Ski Club on Indy Pass

I’ve been on the road a lot lately, covering 2500 miles in the first two weeks of February, a combination of work and play. The “play” was back-to-back weekends hunting pow, at Snow Ridge and Oak Mountain. While I felt the need for a day to unwind, my love for riding won out.

Hunt Hollow Base

By Friday, the itch to carve some turns was too strong. Looking closer to home, I set my sights on Hunt Hollow, excited for a new experience at a familiar yet still under-explored spot.

I’ve overlooked Hunt Hollow in previous years. Members-only access on the weekend limited my opportunities. My previous experiences had been night skiing on weekdays.

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