The Expansion Blog

It occurred to me that we were overdue for an update on what’s happening at Holiday Mountain. The ongoing resurrection marches on. Watching the steady progress made by staff and community is almost as much fun as skiing. I resolved to get myself up to Holiday and catch up with owner Mike Taylor. Then I completely forgot about it for three weeks. Late summer is a busy time, with beach vacations, family events and college drop-offs.

On my way back home from one of those college drop offs last Saturday, I crossed into Sullivan County on Route 17 and I reached out to Mike. On short notice, he offered to meet me at the hill and give me a tour of recent work in his jeep.

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If you’re connected to New York skiing, it’s been hard to miss the blizzard of activity at Holiday Mountain, following the acquisition of the property by the Bridgeville Ski Company, in May.  Leading the effort is Mike Taylor. He was born in Monticello NY and grew up skiing the hill.

I drove up on Sunday to meet with Mike and see it for myself.  We met in the outer lot, near the North Lodge and the Fun Park. Mike was driving a red Jeep Wrangler that would prove integral to our tour. The volume of work-in-progress inspired a million questions and Mike had the answers. I’ve got two stories to tell, first the backstory.

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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.

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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