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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Letchworth State Park

The Empire Pass is a great product for New Yorkers who want to get outside. This summer Farah and I used our passes at a bunch of beaches. Now that swimming season is over we’ve been looking for places to hike and continue to explore. Recently we visited my parents in the Finger Lakes and from there, we checked out the Grand Canyon of the East, Letchworth State Park.

descending the stairs

I visited Letchwork and had my first white water rafting experience as a young kid. It was Farah’s first time; she’d wanted to go all summer. With unseasonably warm weather and leaves turning, it looked prime for a visit. We left early in the morning making stopping once, in Dansville for coffee.

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Dennis Eshbaugh of Holiday Valley

Holiday Valley logoDennis Eshbaugh is the President and General Manager of Holiday Valley, one of New York’s largest resorts. He came to Ellicottville in the 1970s as a ski instructor assumed his leadership position in the mid-1990s, overseeing significant growth and the transformation of the resort.

Under Eshbaugh, Holiday grew into one of the most successful ski areas in the East, adding amenities and becoming a year-round destination. He has focused on a local approach to resort management, allowing the resort to thrive without becoming part of one of the major ski pass conglomerates.

He graciously agreed to detail his rise through the company and the philosophy that has contributed to this success story.

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