National Safety Awareness Week

This week, January 14 – 22, HoliMont will be recognizing National Safety Awareness Week, which is an annual event highlighting resort safety education efforts while increasing slope safety. Resorts throughout the country are encouraged to develop new and creative ways to involve employees and guests in activities for safety week.

“At HoliMont we take safety very seriously and our goal is to always provide a safe and secure environment for HoliMont Members and guests,” said Justin Latimer, HoliMont Safety Manager.  “Historically we have a very good safety record and we’ve enjoyed many accident-free days of skiing and snowboarding so naturally we are on-board with promoting National Safety Awareness Week.”

This year the HoliMont Ski School will be holding a coloring contest for its younger patrons, which will emphasize the importance of skiing and riding safely and following the Skier Responsibility Code.  The HoliMont Safety Patrol will be meeting with Members and guests to talk with them about safety procedures that they should know and abide by.  And as always the Terrain Park Crew will be promoting the Smart Style initiative, which teaches skiers and riders all about proper terrain park etiquette.

Skiing and snowboarding can be enjoyed in many ways. At ski areas you may see people using alpine, snowboard, telemark, cross country and other specialized ski equipment, such as that used by disabled skiers. Regardless of how you decide to enjoy the slopes, always show courtesy to others and be aware that there are elements of risk in skiing that common sense and personal awareness can help reduce. Observe the code listed below and share with other skiers the responsibility for a great skiing experience.

1. Always stay in control.
2. People ahead of you have the right of way.
3. Stop in a safe place for you and others.
4. Whenever starting downhill or merging, look uphill and yield.
5. Use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.
6. Observe signs and warnings, and keep off closed trails.
7. Know how to use the lifts safely.

Be safety conscious and
KNOW THE CODE. IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

This is a partial list.

Wrapping up the 14th Annual SkiScape

Last Sunday, the 8^th of January, the organizers from Kids Escaping Drugs came down to HoliMont to host the 14^th Annual SkiScape event.  SkiScape has become a time-honored tradition at HoliMont.  Every year around the beginning of the New Year, Kids Escaping Drugs partners up with HoliMont in order to raise funs for the development of its facilities and the continuation of its programs in Western New York.

The Kids Escaping Drugs program is unique to this area.  In many places, kids who are in need of drug and/or alcohol treatment are placed in facilities with adults.  The Kids Escaping Drugs Campus consists of three buildings that house up to 62 chemically-dependent youths ages 12 to 20. Renaissance House is a 30-bed intensive treatment facility for boys, Stepping Stones is a 16-bed girls’ residence, which combines both inpatient and continuum of care programs and the Promise House is a 16-bed continuum of care residence for boys.

“Obviously this organization (Kids Escaping Drugs) works on a daily basis dealing with a very serious issue,” said Dash Hegeman, HoliMont Marketing Director.  “HoliMont is happy to be able to add some on-snow fun to the fundraising process.  This season we had a very solid turnout even though the weather in surrounding areas might not have looked like it was winter.”

Luckily, where Mother Nature has been lacking, the snowmaking at HoliMont has been picking up the slack.  With every chairlift open over the weekend, the Kids Escaping Drugs crowd had access to approximately 30 slopes. 

One of those slopes was the Exhibition trail, which in the morning, played host to the Annual Firefighter Ski Race.  Firefighter crews from all over the state traveled to HoliMont to compete for bragging rights and a pretty impressive trophy.  This year the North Boston team, led by HoliMont Ski Patroller Sean Crotty, just missed out on the 1^st place trophy when they were edged out by a team from Palenville, NY.  It was a thrilling, and at times, a very entertaining race to watch.

Back in the Main Chalet the Silent Auction featured some great items that ended up collecting a lot of bids (at the time this article went to print, the fundraising total for the day was not available).  There were donated items from both the Buffalo Bills and Sabres, dining packages, golf and spa packages, products from Verizon Wireless, local ski shop gift certificates, and much more. 

If you’re interested in contributing to the Kids Escaping Drugs cause, check out www.makeachange.wny.org. 

Kicking Off The New Year

Given the way that this ski season has started we can only hope that 2012 brings an entirely new, and much colder, weather pattern to Ellicottville.  After all, the New Year is supposed to be about making positive changes in your life and right about now a weeklong stretch of 10-degree temperatures and a couple of feet of lake effect snow would be a very positive change.

It’s not that there hasn’t been anything to celebrate thus far this season.  Up until we got snow last Monday the mere fact that HoliMont had enough coverage to make it from the top of the hill to the bottom, much less enough to warrant having features up in the terrain park, showcased what a great job the snowmaking crew has been doing this season. 

The morning of Monday, January 2^nd, Ellicottville woke up to a glorious sight.  Approximately 5 inches of fresh snow had accumulated throughout the night, which added a drastically needed characteristic to the landscape of the town.  And just like that, the ski-town vibe was back on track.  It was as if an entirely new season had begun…

Speaking of which, the HoliMont New Year’s Party took place last Saturday night.  Organized by HoliMont Member Liz Laube and her family the party was an all-out-family-affair and for the nearly 300 participants was a great way to say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012.

 There was an arts & crafts table set up where the younger crowd worked on bringing out their inner-creative genius.  Nearby a flat-screen TV played an assortment of child-appropriate animated movies throughout the night.  The upstairs portion of the Chalet was transformed into “The Loft” where the pre-teen/teen crowd spent much of the evening rocking out with Rock Band.  

 Dina’s at the Mont organized a delicious pasta buffet that left everyone feeling stuffed…or possibly it was the dessert selection that did that.  And in the front of the Chalet the DJ had the tunes pumping where people danced the night away without a care in the world.

When the first countdown began (there were three of them throughout the night so as to cater to all age groups) the Chalet exploded with the sound of festive celebration.  It was clear that everyone was in the mood to party and looking forward to 2012.  And why not?  2012 is looking like it’ll be a fantastic season at HoliMont.  Hopefully your year will be the same!