In 1962 a small group of people embarked on a venture that
would eventually change the lives of tens of thousands of people. These people, all skiing enthusiasts, loved
skiing at Holiday Valley but were growing tired of waiting in line at the
increasingly popular ski area. They
began to envision an area that provided a family-friendly atmosphere that was
void of the lift lines that they were becoming more and more prevalent at the
Valley.
Originally the thinking was that if they could get 300
people to buy a membership to the club at $1,000 a piece it would provide
enough funds to be able to build a lift and pay for the land. They then planned to cover operating costs by
a controlled sale of individual guest lift tickets. And while this original plan isn’t exactly
what ended up happening during the beginning years of HoliMont, it did create
the foundation of the infrastructure that is HoliMont today.
In the early years there was no ski lift. Prior to the 1963-64 season a snowcat doubled
as transportation to the top of the area where skiers had access to eight
different trails to make their way back down to the bottom. Members
and their guests would ski down at roughly the same pace and then take their
skis off, load them onto a sled attached to the snowcat and then sit on the
same sled in order to get pulled back to the top of the hill. On very cold days the occasional lucky woman
and children were allowed to ride in the snowcat. There is a saying that goes something along
the lines of, “those who wish for the past weren’t really there to experience
it.” Can you imagine essentially cat-skiing
at an area with approximately 700 feet of elevation in this day and age? Instead, 50 years later HoliMont is proud to
be celebrating the addition of its first high-speed detachable quad. The Exhibition Express will help increase
traffic to the top of the area and allow people to disperse throughout the area
even easier than ever.
HoliMont’s monthly newsletter, the HoliLeaf (originally The
Holly Leaf), was first published in 1964.
In it, the Membership Report states that the Club had 117 members. Today the Club has over 4,000 Members.
Just as HoliMont has evolved, so to has the town of
Ellicottville. In fact, Ellicottville as
we now know and love it is astronomically different from the early days of
skiing in this area. At one point this
quite town didn’t even have a restaurant and every Saturday night one of the
local churches would host a potluck dinner where families who were in town to
ski could congregate and eat after a fun day out on the slopes. The price: about $2 for adults and $1 for
kids.
Naturally, as Ellicottville grew so to did HoliMont. What started out as a small club of friends
was, by 1972, transforming into a full-fledged ski area. The addition of the Plum Creek Chair in 1972
attracted an entirely new demographic of skiing families due to the increased
amount of skiable terrain. By the end of
the season HoliMont even had a wait list of people who were hoping to become
Members.
As you can imagine a major reason for the Club’s growth
during that time period was due to the number of Canadians who were becoming
Members. There were already a decent
number of private ski clubs north of Toronto and once word started to spread
that there was a club just south of the boarder that offered skiing equal to,
if not better, than the Canadian clubs and at a more affordable price it didn’t
take long for HoliMont to develop a Canadian vibe that has only grown stronger
over the years.
On the topic of things that have grown stronger over the
years, the HoliMont Racing Program once started out as a very laid back, no
frills gathering of Members. Originally,
adults with racing experience would teach kids about the art of racing on a
pretty informal basis. However, as time
went on and more technology was incorporated into the area, the program began
to grow in popularity. One example of this
growth is that when the program first started racers were restricted to racing
on slopes the officials could see both the start and end point of the race
because the race official at the top of the hill used a flag on a pole to signal
the start of the race, which told the official at the bottom of the hill to
start his or her stopwatch. Eventually
walkie-talkies were incorporated into the process and this allowed for longer
races as officials at the top and bottom of the hill now had a more effective
way of communicating. The program really
took off when a Member, using a kit, put together the Club’s first electric
timing system. Having the technology of
an electric eye was a true game changer and was probably the catalyst for
building the program up to what it is today.
Today HoliMont racers compete all over the east coast and some even
compete on a national level.
One thing that has been a HoliMont fixture from the
beginning is the social foundation of the Club.
Members have a long history of pulling together and planning various
après ski activities. Lately, annual
favorites include the New Year’s Eve Celebration, Men’s Day, Ladies Day, and
the always-festive Jimmy Buffet Party.
On weekends where there are no large parties on the calendar, Member’s
and their guests can usually expect to see a local band in the Chalet
entertaining everyone who isn’t out on the slopes. Being in the Chalet on a busy January
Saturday afternoon after spending all morning out tearing it up on pristine
corduroy is a part of what the HoliMont Membership experience is all
about. Families and friends come
together to talk about their powder run through the Sunset Glades or jibbing
the new dinosaur funbox or cruising down Greer and are able to escape from the
rest of the outside world. And at the
end of the day that is what HoliMont is here for, to be a safe place for
Members and guests to congregate, have fun and make a lifetime of
memories.
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