Ellicottville, N.Y. (WBEN) - With the arrival of a heavy lake effect snow storm over the weekend in the Southern Tier, Holiday Valley in Ellicottville is finally getting ready to open up some of their lifts.
Dash Hegeman with Holiday Valley says they're excited to finally get the ball rolling this season.
"We have decided to open up for the season on Friday the 6th. That'll give the team a little bit more time to keep making snow, and allow it to sit and cure for a little bit. Then the groomers can get out there and start to push snow around, and get everything ready to be opened up first thing Friday morning. We'll open up at 9 o'clock," said Hegeman in an interview with WBEN. "Friday was always scheduled to be our first night of night-skiing as well, so we'll roll right into that and be running from 9 o'clock until 10 p.m."
Hegeman says they won't have an accurate list of all the slopes that will be open until they get closer to opening day, but there will be, at least, four lifts up-and-running.
"We'll have the Creekside beginner area lift running, along with the Mardi Gras, the Yodeler lift, and hopefully Tannenbaum as well," Hegeman noted.
Over the summer, Holiday Valley made essential upgrades to the resort, like beefing up the snow machines, which Hegeman says will be put to the test on Friday.
"We're making a lot of snow very efficiently, and that's going to be very evident come Friday morning," he said. "Excited to see that we've got some off-slope improvements that have been made to the Tamarack club and the Inn at Holiday Valley for some of our lodging guests. Just some room improvements that are in Year 2 of a three-year phase of upgrades. People that are staying with us will be able to experience that, and we're thrilled to be able to offer that."
To get a sneak peak at what the slopes are looking like, visit Holiday Valley's website for live trail-cams.