ELLICOTTVILLE, N.Y. — The sights of crowded ski lifts and packed slopes this weekend at Holiday Valley tell a very different story than what the resort has seen all season.
“It's just presented challenges that we have worked really hard to overcome,” said Dash Hegeman, director of marketing at Holiday Valley.
Since opening in late November, Holiday Valley has seen just 79 inches of snow — over a foot below average for this point in the season
But just because accumulation is down doesn’t mean skiers want to hit the lifts any less.
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“Our guests expect a certain experience out of us,” Hegeman said. “We want to deliver that and exceed upon it.”
These expectations are putting pressure on the resorts’ snowmakers to produce enough to play catch up.
But the other issue is the snowmaking machines require below-freezing temperatures and low humidity to function, conditions that have been few and far between all winter long.
“If it gets too warm, then you just shut the system off and go with what you've got,” Hegeman said.
Hegeman’s fear is this season is just the beginning of what’s to come as global warming has caused snowfall totals to continue to drop year-to-year — leaving the industry to climb its biggest mountain yet with no chairlift in site.
“It's a concern,” Hegeman said. “But we don't know. Are we in just a three or four-year cycle? Or is it going to play out into something longer?”