Holiday Valley Capital Improvements
Holiday Valley Reinvests $2.9Million
The Ellicottville, NY ski resort reinvests with new snowmaking, LED lighting and equipment for the 2020-21 winter season.
Photo/Jim Curtis
At Holiday Valley, reinvestment isn’t celebrated as an achievement. It’s executed as a policy.
Despite a worldwide pandemic forcing an early shutdown of the 2019-20 winter season, the resort announced its plans to pour $2.9 million across the resort for the upcoming year. Some of the funds, such as the construction of a first-time visitors kiosk and continued glade/tree work, have already been implemented. The rest of the improvements include additions to the snowmaking system, a new Pisten Bully 600 Grooming Tractor, new uniforms for the Snowsports School and Phase II of the LED lighting project.
While resorts around the world deal with the fallout - and future uncertainties - surrounding COVID-19, Holiday Valley chose to forge ahead with its capital improvement plan.
“We have a long range plan and are able to continue moving forward on resort projects. We are thinking positive about the future and plan to provide great skiing and riding for our customers while promoting cleanliness, safety and health of our guests and employees,” Holiday Valley President and General Manager Dennis Eshbaugh said in a statement. “We hope that by continuing to invest in this community, it will help stimulate the economy and instill confidence in others to follow suit.”
If the improvements for this season garnered excitement, it was the stunning announcement of two new future chairlifts that set the resort’s social media pages ablaze. If all goes according to plan, the resort will realign and install a high-speed quad at Yodeler for the 2021-22 season and follow it with a high-speed 6-pack at Mardi Gras in 2022-23.
Snowmaking
As the climate becomes more uncertain, Holiday Valley continues to add to its already world-class HKD Snowmaking System. With over 700 guns in its arsenal - 50% of those being automated - the resort can cover 95% of its 300 skiable acres with manmade snow.
HKD’s system allows the snowmaking crew to operate the guns remotely, harnessing information from on-hill weather centers to produce the best snow during ideal temperature and humidity windows.
Already beginning the work, the mountain operations crew will install 20 new automated guns. Mistletoe will be fully covered by automated guns, and lower Mardi Gras’ have been replaced with HKD’s most energy efficient guns to date. The crew will also replace 1,500 feet of underground air and water lines.
PistenBully and SNOWSat
Holiday Valley’s fleet of six PistenBully grooming tractors create a smooth surface for skiers and snowboarders. The 20,000+ pound machines, made in Germany, couple high-end engineering with practicality and are the industry’s most prevalent snowcats. The newest 600, on delivery for sometime in the fall, is PistenBully’s most energy-efficient to date - becoming the first snowcat in the industry to pass the European Union’s Stage V emissions-control requirements.
While even standing next to the machines leave you with a sense of wonder, it’s the inside that packs the real punch. Holiday Valley, realizing efficiency is paramount, recently embraced technology and armed some of its snowcats with SNOWSat, a GPS-powered grooming tool.
SNOWSat provides unparalleled information for the mountain operations crew. By reading the depth of the snow, snowmakers can visually see which runs need more coverage, while groomers - and their on-board screens with real-time information - can push surpluses to areas that need it. In total, four of the PistenBully 600s at Holiday Valley are equipped with SNOWsat technology.
Phase II of LED Lighting, Snowsports Uniforms and Tree/Glades Work
Other resorts may take the advantage when it comes to elevation, but it’s Holiday Valley’s night capabilities that help it consistently rank with the best of them. With over half of the resort rideable at night, visitors can take turns from sunrise to way past sunset. Execution of Phase II of the LED lighting project adds more energy efficient LED lighting around the resort, replacing halide lights. Over 100 new lights will be installed.
Iconic with their bright red uniforms, the Snowsports School will receive new Marmot clothing embroidered with the snowsports logo. A bright blue colorway will match the resort’s branding, with over 200 on the way.
Last season, work began on clearing tree and glade runs, creating safer, more fun tree skiing and riding. Work will continue throughout the fall on clearing more brush.
Holiday Valley has shown that they are committed to providing the best possible experience for its guests, and new procedures will be implemented to enhance safety around the resort in light of the pandemic. The target #OpeningDayHV is November 27th, and all passes are now on sale at www.holidayvalley.com.
