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Holiday Valley Resort Area
Categories: Event Planning & Services Hotels Hotels & Travel Hotels Hotels & Travel Ski Resorts Active Life Golf Hotels, Ski Resorts, Golf [Edit]
6557 Holiday Valley RdEllicottville, NY 14731
(716) 699-2345
- Price Range:
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$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
14 reviews for Holiday Valley Resort Area
14 reviews in English
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Review from Cheryl P.
1/16/2012
I went snowboarding for the first time and I honestly had no idea what to expect. All I know is that I had a great time and all the workers and instructors were super nice. The workers were so ridiculously nice helping us registering for class and renting our equipment. Hey, $56 for lessons, 8 hour lift ticket and rentals is good for my wallet! They also came over to give us snack bars when we came in for a rest. Then the instructors went above and beyond to try to teach us the basics of surviving the slopes. I had a couple bad falls, but they were continuously helpful and encouraging. They also did an extra run with our group even though they ran over time.
I have no idea about the slope conditions or whether they were good or not, but I definitely had fun there! Oh and an hour from Buffalo = awesome! -
Review from Coralie B.
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
1/9/2012
As a first timer, I didn't know exactly what to expect from a ski resort and I was plenty nervous. I was so happy to immediately find that everyone was so nice and helpful. They made it very easy for me to rent equipment, take a beginners lesson and hit the slopes.
Other things to note:
*very clean
*easy parking and shuttle service
*organized and easy to navigate the area
*trails for everyone - kids, beginners, experts
*kind employees and guests
*short distance to the village with great gift shops and restaurants
Looking forward to making it back there once my body recovers... -
Review from DJ J.
1/7/2011
Very nice eastern ski resort. Not a lot of vertical, but this is not skiing the west or Vermont, but they have nice long runs and quality terrain and enough variety for everyone. Lift capacity is good...staff is located at the more popular lifts to make sure everyone is paired up so that the seats do not go up empty. This is great! More ski places should do this.
The food is reasonably priced, relatively good and they have a lodge up the mountain that was crowded but everyone does not end up at the bottom of the mountain lodge (Thank you, thank you). The lodge was very clean, not always easy for a ski lodge. Had to rent some ski's for some of the group and the rental shop was well organized and the staff was awesome. They have relatively new rental skis that are in good shape.
Good snow not the usual eastern hard pack/almost ice, which they do get at times, lake effect sure helps.
Lift ticket pricing seems high but compared to other nice ski areas the prices are normal/comparable to other ski places. -
Review from Lou S.
1/2/2011
At 750ft. vertical rise, Holiday Valley is on the short side for a ski area. What it lacks in height (though it is taller everything nearby except for Bristol Mountain), Holiday Valley makes up for in snow coverage and quality, terrain variety, lift capacity and speed, availability of lodging, reasonably priced food, convenient parking and overall good management. Another welcome recent development is the relaxation of the tree-skiing policy.
Anthropomorphization time. I hope that you consider Holiday Valley to be a woman and not a man. A short woman who is otherwise attractive, intelligent and interesting will likely be seen as vivacious and passionate. A similarly situated man will be seen as an angry midget with a Napoleon complex, his virtues overlooked and denigrated as mere compensations for his lack of height.
A ski area is much more than its height. Therefore, I urge you to look past Holiday Valley's relatively short stature and extol its virtues, which may seemingly be only done if you view Holiday Valley not as a man, but as a woman. -
Review from Colleen P.
North Olmsted, OH
1/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
Spending New Years at Holiday Valley was a really great experience.
Minus their lame party, being on the slopes in rainy weather was still really fun!
After being on these hills, Boston Mills/Brandywine is super lame. I will totally make the trip to Ellicotville again!
Staying at their new Tamarack club was super nice too, but also super pricey. One night is roughly $200-$300.
I would do a cheap motel then spend the extra money on an all day lift ticket or something.
But the hills are beautiful and that's really all that matters :) -
Review from Robert T.
Cleveland, OH
10/11/2011
Best skiing within 3 hours of Cleveland. I have been lucky enough to travel to HV for the last 17 years of my life. I can honestly say each year they put money back into the mountain. They have new runs, lifts, lodges, or adventure areas. People need to realize that it is out east skiing. It isn't Aspen. If you are looking for a quick getaway with a nightlife, then EVL is the place. Do not get sucked in by the signs for Peek N Peak. The place is half the size and sucks. There are also no bars or nightlife to speak of.
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Review from Arthur L.
Chinatown, Manhattan, NY
5/4/2011
This is probably one of the best local mountains that I've been to.
Holiday has trails for everybody, ranging from kids and beginners to more advanced riders. Each trail takes on its own personality, having different shapes, turns, bumps, etc. So the scenary is always changing, which is good because things dont get boring. Its also very easy to get around on the top of the mountain, with tons of lifts and paths that cut and merge into other trails.
Its a great riding mountain and they do have a terrain park but I believe Kissingbridge's park is the better of the two. But if you're talking about the mountain itself and the trails, then Holiday is definitely the better for riding. But overall I think Holiday is the nicer and more quality mountain vs Kissingbridge.
Snow quality here is usually pretty on point. Everything is nicely maintained. Overall it just looks and feels beautiful when your out on a nice winter evening (I usually went during the night because of price and less people). Its a great mountain in my opinion, and if I ever go back to Buffalo to snowboard then Holiday Valley it is. -
Review from Derrick C.
Buffalo, NY
1/16/2011
First time I've gone skiing out East and HV had its ups and downs.
Pros:
-CHEAP ($28 for night lift ticket from 4-10 at participating Wegman's + $22 for ski rentals). I've done most of my skiing at Lake Tahoe in CA and prices there have gotten so out of hand that I would pay ~$100 for the lift + rental combo.
-Good staff. I got all lift ticket + rentals taken care of in a matter of minutes. And although it was a little annoying that towards the peak hours, they checked proof of lift ticket but at least they're doing their job.
Cons:
-Runs were really short and difficulty ratings were inconsistent. I found some blues to be every bit as difficult as some blacks and as a whole, the runs were less challenging than ones elsewhere. Maybe it's just b/c it's a shorter mountain that what I'm used to.
-Lots of kids there. I don't know if this is just a one-time thing but there were literally hundreds of high-schoolers there that night and maybe it was their ski trip but if it's like that all the time, it gets to be pretty obnoxious. -
Review from Andrea G.
Virginia Beach, VA
12/2/2008 1 photo
Three words describe Holiday Valley: LAKE EFFECT HEAVEN.
I'm a former ski racer, and I'm very picky about my terrain. Holiday Valley definitely ranks up there as one of the best ski resorts in the east. While it only has about 700 vertical feet, it has a good range of terrain. You can buy a 4- or 8-hour lift ticket and ski from 8:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night if you want. For aggressive skiers, I suggest the 4-hour, and don't take a break, as the mountain can get boring because it's pretty small. For beginner and intermediate, I suggest 8-hour. You can see the whole mountain, and take breaks.
The lodges on the mountains are quite nice--very much like those that you see at the Money Mountains (Beaver Creek, Vail, Deer Valley) that you get out west (btw, I ski at all these places . . . they have their appeal).
As a former member of the Killington Ski Club/Kilington Mountain School team, I'm pretty biased as to my opinion of Eastern ski resorts. Okay, so there's not a ton of terrain . . . but the QUALITY OF THE SNOW IS FANTASTIC. Unlike most eastern ski resorts, there is very little snowmaking, as Holiday Valley/Elicottville falls at the heart of the Lake Erie snow belt.
I left my equipment at home since I was only skiing for a day, so I rented from the demo shop. I have to say, they were not very knowledgeable, and tried to give an ex-racer a women's ski (which are WAYYYYY soft) Though that shouldn't matter for most people. They did listen to me when I protested, and their prices were very reasonable.
The village of Elicottville is also quite charming, and I would definitely suggest spending a weekend here if you're from Western NY or Southern Ontario.Listed in: Skiing in the Northeast
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Review from Mike B.
11/30/2008
Being from central ohio, we don't get anywhere near the amount of vertical elevation or snow that upstate NY gets, Therefore we have to really plan on where we want to go to ski.
Considering the distance, I would say Holiday Valley is in the top three resorts within six hours drive of Columbus. The other being peak and peek and the third being seven springs.
We took advantage of the early season package, as well as the unseasonal large amount of snow that fell on the area (60" by thanksgiving day) to have a weekend of skiing.
Although the skiing was good sometimes, there was definitely a lot of ice and crud (have the scrapes on my skis to prove it) throughout the resort, and about 1/3 of the runs were still closed when we were there. The lifts are fast and they get you to the top of the long runs fast.
It was never overly crowded when we were skiing, but that was during the morning and early afternoon (except late friday night, when it was blizzarding so a lot of people stayed in anyways).
As is the case with all ski resorts, lift tix are overpriced, food is outrageous, don't even bother stepping into the ski shops ($$$$$$$) and there is a distinct lack of close parking and changing areas.
Last tip for Ohio skiers, if you're skiing at ANY Ohio resort and haven't been to one in NY, make sure to start on the green runs first, if you think you're black diamond from going down those at mad river, BMBW, snow trails, etc... you've got nothing on the runs here. -
Review from Kelly S.
12/31/2007
It's not Utah or Colorado, or even Vermont for that matter. BUT it's the best same-day 'riding around. Yes, it does get icy especially when the season winds down.
Get up first thing Saturday or Sunday morning, load up the truck and hit the 219. 50 minutes later, I'm strapped on and waiting to take my first run of the day. At the end of a long "work out" on the slopes, I can be home in time for dinner (if I haven't been overserved at the bar).
Varied terrain, lots of easy green for the beginner skiier, semi-challenging blues for the beginner rider (cuz we don't need no stinkin' greens) and a good variety of black runs, when Eagle Chair is open. The Eagle lift never has a lift line. Always ask your chairmates where they're from--I can't believe how far people drive to hit up our little gem of WNY.Listed in: Appeasing my ADD
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Review from Rich H.
10/2/2009
Nice little ski hill in the heart of the Southern Tier. They have a few decent sized runs and the lifts are fast and convenient. Only thing I think is an issue is the grooming. they groom very little and that can be good when the snow is light and airy, but that heavy lake effect stuff just piles up and packs down to hard slush. It's east coast ,so it get's icy in a lot of places too. they should really take care to make sure their runs are better kept. it has the potential to be great.
lots of really nice backwoods pathsand cut-thrus for the adventurous, and some good trails for the beginner or casual skier. -
Review from Lindsay B.
Dublin, OH
We go on a ski trip evey year with our friends and in 2009 we went to Holiday Valley. We stayed at Valley Village in a very interesting condo. The decor was very strange( very orange and in most of the pictures there were these little dolls) but the condo was very modern, up to date. We had a hot tub on the back porch and one night we even went sledding out back. At the time I was not a good skiier at all but I really enjoyed all of the green runs and some of the blues. I loved our location on the slopes. It was great for everyone in our group.
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Review from Rick R.
State College, PA
2/18/2011
While Holiday Valley offers a wide variety of quality skiing and snowboarding, the "Safety Patrol" strictly enforces a list of rules and the mountain has basically become a police state. "Safety Patrol" members seem to take their job almost too seriously, and await on the slopes looking for any reason to accost a "guest" and lecture about the rules. I've seen numerous situations where guests were treated rudely by staff over trivial matters and I've also received similar treatment. HV has taken their "Safety Enforcement" a few steps too far and it is not conducive to a fun environment. If you enjoy the type of freedom that skiing or snowboarding at big mountains such as those in VT or out west offer, you probably won't enjoy the HV atmosphere. I've been going to HV for 10 years but this was my last. I'll spend my $ where it's appreciated.
