Hunt Hollow: A Glimpse of the Good Life

Growing up in the Finger Lakes I had always heard of Hunt Hollow hidden away in the hills of Naples. The idea of a private ski club is certainly alluring, so when family scored guests passes, I had to bite.

Hunt Hollow sign

My dad and Alex were equally excited, despite living less than half an hour away none of us had ever been there. We dried our clothes from pond skimming the day before at Bristol and loaded up first thing Sunday morning.

I’ve been lucky with the weather this season and Sunday was no exception. On the drive over we were greeted with a heavy snow squall and the road was covered from the nights previous snowfall. Pulling into the parking lot was like flicking a switch, the clouds dispersed and the sun came out.

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Coming Home to Bristol

My parents are to blame for my snowboarding addiction. They financed it, and in spite of my resistance, they pushed me to take lessons when I was young. So it’s only right that we go skiing on my Dad’s birthday every year at the place it all began, Bristol Mountain.

snowing at Bristol

We made the plans early in the week and we invited friends Jim and Alex along. Sunday morning I woke up in my childhood bedroom on Keuka Lake to a howling wind and heavy snow. A lake effect band had worked its way east into the Finger Lakes delivering a nice 3-inch refresh. Nothing was visible beyond the lower half of the mountain as we pulled into the quickly filling parking lot.

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The Holiday Valley Effect

I follow the lake effect snow in central and northern New York at this time of year. Sometimes it takes a little more work. Last week Holiday Valley came up big reporting 19 inches from Wednesday through Thursday night.

After work on Friday I linked up with my friend Alex in Rochester to plan our swing into Western New York. On Saturday we headed to Holiday Valley. Another friend, Katie met us at the Yodeler Lodge just as the lifts started spinning.

I’d taken trips to Holiday Valley as a kid, but Katie grew up skiing there. Even better we were joined by her father John, aka Wiz. John spent the last 27 years on patrol at Holiday Valley and his family has a deep ski heritage in western NY.

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