Holiday Valley

After skiing at Pakenham for the past 5 weeks I was really excited to have a chance to ski somewhere else over reading week. A change in location and terrain was quite saught after. Holiday Valley in New York State is only three hours from my home in Guelph and provided me with a wonderful opportunity for some variation. Holiday Valley boasts 56 runs and nearly 900 feet vertical. Although that is nothing compared to the Rockies it towers over Pakenham's 260 foot vertical and 13 runs. Holiday Valley is also only a three hour drive from my home town so it is a much more feasible trip then out east or out west.

When I ariaved home in Guelph last saturday I was very dissapointed to find absolutely no snow. This dissappointment quickly dissipated on the drive to Holiday Valley. When we crossed into New York state I was surprised to find a substantial amount of snow. Holiday Valley seemed to be unaffected by the thaw that plagued Southern and Eastern Ontario. Not only were the conditions good, but so was the weather. The sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was hovering just around zero which made being outside as pleasant as it can be while still maintaining winter conditions.

The only thing that seemed to be holding the day shy of perfection was the number of people present. It was the beginning of Presidents week in the states and it seemed like many people chose to celebrate the holiday on the slopes. Luckily Holiday Valley has a few very good chairlifts that managed to keep the lines down to a comfotable level. I also avoided the most popular lifts and runs to maximize the time I had to spend at the hill.

We began our day at ten thirty having our fist run down the extremely popular Mardi Gras. This is a long gentle sloping run that is great to warm up on. After completing a run down Mardigras we chose to avoid the Mardi Gras crowds and explor the rest of the hill. We worked our way over to the right side skiing some black diamonds, mogul runs and gladed runs. The conditions this morning were excellent, there seemed to be very few ice patches. Riding up the CCC lift we noticed something odd. On the right side of the chair many trees have Mardi Gras style beaded necklaces hanging from them.

After skiing the right side of the hill we decided to make our way over to the eagle lift to ski some of the central runs. The Eagle lift gave us access to some more challenging black diamonds. These runs were a welcomed change because they provided us with moguls, rolers and some steeps. There were also very few people on them which was also nice. Similar to the CCC chair the Eagle lift provided us with an amusing surprise. The trees on the right side of the lift were garnished in Bra's and Panties.

Once we earned our fill of the central runs we worked our way left. The left side of the hill gave me the opportunity to challenge myself in a vary well maintained Terrain Park. The Fox Fire terrain park featured a super pipe, many different kinda of rails and some amazing jumps. I did a few runs through the park and then decided to see what else this side of the hill offered. When riding up the lift at Holiday Valley you hear many people talking about a run called the Wall. The wall is a double black diamond that is so steep it does not hold very much snow. It is over 45 degrees and covered in ice.

I decided that I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about, so I skied my way over to check it out. Once I arriaved I could see that it was certainly steep and icy, but it was dissapointingly short. The pitch was no more then 50-60 feet long which in my mind made it easier. I waited a little bit for all of the fallen snow riders to slide their way to the bottom and then gave it a few tries myself. The ice certainly made it difficult to turn but it was managable. I did the run a few more times to concquer it as cleanly as possible.

As the day neared an end the temperatures began to fall and the conditions worsened. The hundreds of skiers that had adorned the runs for hours on end had chewed up everything and uncovered many ice patches. Runs that had been outstanding in the morning were now a little more sketchy. By five thirty my brother and I decided that were were content with the amount of riding we had gotten in and called it a day.

Overall we could not have asked for a better day of skiing. The weather was imaculent, conditions were good and the crowd was managable. The terrain at Holiday Valley capped the day off by providing us with a welcomed change. My only real complaint about the resort was that it costed me $31.83 for two hamburgers, two fries and two drinks.