Holiday Valley not ending ski season just yet

"It's been an interesting season"
Holiday Valley
Photo credit Holiday Valley

Ellicottville, N.Y. (WBEN) - With temperatures hitting record highs Monday and a repeat expected Tuesday, the last thing on the minds of many is skiing. However, Holiday Valley says the season is not over yet.

"It's been a interesting season to say the least," says Dash Hegeman of Holiday Valley.

Holiday Valley wants to give skiers every opportunity before the season officially ends in Ellicottville.

"We haven't discussed any sort of closing date beyond our initial plans," says Hegeman, which he indicates will be April 7.

Hegeman adds the snowmaking team has been out there every opportunity they've had when it's been below freezing to make snow not just at the resort, but also at the tubing park.

Hegeman notes the season started later this year on Dec. 1. Since then, the resort has been open for skiing most of the season.

"We've shut down very intermittently due to some high level rain and warm temperatures," Hegeman said.

Hegeman admits he's not ready to shift gears to summer just yet, but others are getting set.

"Our golf pro is already in full-on summer mode, and is looking to open the courses pretty much as soon as we shut down the lifts for the season. So golf will open first," Hegeman said.

While the front nine holes will open in April, the High Aerial Adventure Park, the Mountain Coaster and scenic lift rides will open later this summer.

Also later this summer, Holiday Valley will host special events, including a mudslide event, which is a kind of obstacle course.

"We do weddings throughout the summer, a lot of business conferences, we've got the Sky High Aerial Adventure Park, which has awesome opportunities for families to get out there. There's a wide range of courses and degrees of difficulty that people can play on, so it's a lot of climbing and ziplining. Also in that area, we've got a mountain coaster that runs throughout the summer," Hegeman detailed.

The temperature hit 72 degrees at the Buffalo National Weather Service Office on Monday, shattering the record set back in 1974.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Holiday Valley