Tag Archives: Holimont Ski Club

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A Drive to the North Country

The Lodge at Glendorn in Winter

Last week for Janet’s birthday, we took a drive north to do some skiing, snowshoeing, and relaxing at a wonderful place called The Lodge at Glendorn. I have posted about this place before but it is worth repeating what a wonderful experience it is to go there.

Janet kept checking the weather and we realized that we would be heading through Kane and Marienville in single digit temperatures. They don’t call those places the ” Icebox of Pennsylvania” for nothing. Those folks are really frozen in this winter, like many winters up north in Pa. The snow is deep, the roads are slick ( plowed and scraped but very little cinders) and literally no place to pull over in the Allegheny National Forest because of the deep snow and frozen conditions.

But my wife is a tough one when it comes to doing things and as long as she is warm, she is game for winter conditions. Good thing because she is married to me, a true lover of winter. After following two oversized loads through the Allegheny National Forest which added another hour of driving, we approached the gates of Glendorn and entered into a magical forest ( no pun intended) filled with lights and snow. Glendorn is so welcoming and the people who are lucky enough to work there could not be nicer. I figured if I was going to drag my wife out in the frozen tundra conditions, she should have some niceties too and Glendorn does not disappoint.

Janet always comments about how I pack it in, but I don’t want to miss anything. Especially on her birthday. We had lunch after we arrived, and immediately went snowshoeing. After about an hour on the trails at Glendorn, I took her to the Forest Spa for a massage and I headed back out on the trails for another hour and a half. There are so many trails and the peaceful atmosphere of the north country in winter is truly something to be treasured.

The next day, we headed to Holimont which ,for those of you who have not skied it, should be on your list. A private ski club on the weekends, it is open to the public during the week and is impeccably groomed. The atmosphere of the place is so warming and the people there are really friendly. They love their club and welcome visitors like us. Yes, it was brisk, but Janet was prepared and skied very well in very cold conditions. As we headed back to Glendorn, we remarked that if Holimont and Ellicottville were just a little closer, we would be going there all the time. Ellicottville is a great town and a real gem in Western New York. The nice thing is that it is only a 40 minute drive from Glendorn.

Notice that they let the riff raff in today. LOL!!

After a wonderful breakfast overlooking the property on our last day, we headed south back to reality. We took in the remote winter atmosphere of the National Forest and were amazed at the amount of snow that had fallen since we had arrived two days before. This winter has been a real “old fashioned” winter for sure. When you venture to the Laurel Highlands or up north to the “Iceboxes of Pa” you can really soak in the harshness and natural beauty of winter the way it should be. I love winter, I love fireplaces, I love snowy trails, I love great ski conditions. I am probably one of the only ones around my neighborhood who actually gets a little depressed when winter comes to a close. But when you tally up your ski days, and take in some great atmosphere, you can look back with very fond memories. No wonder I talk about skiing and winter all summer long. Some of my mountain bike friends, who do not ski, can’t get over it. But a trip to the North Country would explain it to all of them.

We are headed west at the end of March to ski and that will most likely end our 2025 campaign. But this winter locally has been spectacular. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t have fun in the winter in these parts. Simply not true. It has been truly amazing. And we are hoping that the rodent was accurate in his predictions. More winter to come. Thanks for reading.

” I lift up mine eyes to the mountains” Psalm 121 1-4.

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A Tough Winter

Lake Tahoe Region

Depending on how you look at it……. it has been a tough winter. If you live out west, you have had colossal snows and are probably getting weary of shoveling, road closures and roofs that are buried in snow. As a skier, you have perhaps had one of the best winters in years but still tough to get around. We missed new snow on our recent week in Utah, but the sunshine was welcome that week. My powder skis are still collecting dust, but maybe I will get to use them at the end of the month on our trip to Oregon? But suffice to say, the west is buried in snow and at least it will end the tough drought conditions out there.

Back here in the mid-Atlantic, it has been a tough winter from a skier’s perspective. I always say that if you live here, you can’t always be out west and you have to make the best out of local ski conditions and local ski areas. Unfortunately, this has been a thin one, but our local areas have done a good job of making snow and grooming and trying to give us the best conditions that they can muster in spite of challenging odds. Vail’s first year or ownership has shown promise, in my opinion, because they have been really challenged in their first year of operating our local areas. Lots of comments pro and con out there and lots to do in the coming summer to get ahead of things for the next ski season ( think expanded snowmaking and new chairlifts), but Vail is data driven and sees the potential of keeping local skiers satisfied.

That being said, we have skied in a lot of icy conditions, rain, poor visibility to get our days in. We all talked about how much work it is to get the days in and what we have to put up with in years like this. But the Epic Pass has brought out all the diehards and the numbers of people skiing are increasing despite marginal conditions.

Skiing the strips

As a skier, it is disheartening to see all the rain we have had lately and the warm temperatures especially when the ski season around here is limited to 4 months at best. We do take our trips which kind of salvage the winter, but this season has been a struggle locally, and there is the need to follow the snow and somewhere within local distance. Enter Ellicottville, New York.

EVL as it is called is a nice shot in the arm when you are jonesing for winter. This week, my pals Porter Scott and Hiller Hardie and I made the decision to get out of Dodge for two days and take in Holimont and Holiday Valley up in EVL. A great decision seeing that as soon as we got to Meadville, the ground was turning white from the Lake Erie snow machine and it was starting to look like winter again. The three hour drive is well worth it and we always say that if it was a little closer, we would all opt to ski there all the time as a “local” option.

Porter and Hiller at Holimont
Lots of skiing history at Holimont and Greer Hill.
Nice to ski packed powder and some loose fresh Lake Erie fluff.

Ellicottville is a great town with ski and bike shops, great restaurants, and specialty shops. It is like a little New England ski town planted right in the middle of Western New York. For us, the short trip was just what the doctor ordered with snow everywhere and sunny conditions which brightened our spirits and kind of jump started the winter again for us in the beginning of March. We felt like we were getting robbed with an early ending, and that Phil the rodent, was less than truthful in his prediction. But we gave him a pass as we made our way into the Alleghenies of Western New York.

One thing about skiing with Porter and Hiller is that they are two friends who are as passionate about skiing as I am. Part of all the fun is the enthusiastic conversation about skiing on the chair lift and at dinner. We pull out all the old stories and as the saying goes” the older we get, the better we were.” But the undertone is that we all want to stay in shape so that we can continue to ski for a long time barring any catastrophic events. We love to ski and although we live in the mid-Atlantic, we make the best of it and try for as many days as we can. My wife thinks I am obsessed and maybe I am? I am passionate about some things and to me, there is no better feeling in the outdoors than a good carved turn on some nice groomed runs. And to ski fresh loose snow is always a bonus. Lake Erie fluff, as I call it, is special and to us- well worth the drive.

So until Oregon, I will try to finish up around here and again applaud Vail for trying their best. Riding the chair lift with brown grass below is not very appealing but making turns is, and after the season, it is a long 8 months until I can have that feeling again. Thank for reading.

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The EVL Fix

No, not Evil. EVL- as in Ellicottville, N.Y. This time of year, the guys I ski with, here in Western Pa., are itching to get started on the season. We want to break that seal for the new ski year. I always say, locally, anything before Christmas is a bonus as far as the ski season goes. So, when we are trying to kick and claw out a start with sporadic cold snaps augmented by snow making technology, the pickins get kind of slim. This group of guys are fanatics like I am and we talk about skiing all year round. We plan our western or New England trips and can’t wait to ski the big mountains. But living where we do, we can’t be there all the time and we have to make the best of what we have locally- which is pretty good if you look at it in a positive manner. Enter Western N.Y. and the Lake Erie snow machine.

The guys here start to get jazzed when they see the cold fronts from Canada marching across the big warm Lake Erie producing colossal amounts of snow. We know that Western New York is going to get it and even though the vertical drop is not up to western standards, it still allows for lots of turns and smiles with lots of snow. You can say what you want about modern snow making technology and we would be nowhere without it, but there is no snow machine like the Lake Erie snow machine. My drives on I-86 will testify to the whiteouts that occur when this phenomena occurs. So the trek north begins and we all assemble in EVL and go …………..night skiing. I don’t particularly see well at night but our enthusiasm takes hold and we make turns in the shadows and hidden terrain changes. The cheeseburger and beer at John Harvard’s Brew House follows along with a host of stories and one ups from this group of expert skiers. The next day was sunny and the visibility was perfect, so it was a little better experience. But I would not have missed the night skiing for anything. Just fun to get out there and ski. If you added up the years of this group skiing, you would have well over 250 years of turns. We have skied together a long time here in the Laurel Highlands, and have shared laughs and ski days for many seasons. We appreciate the history of the sport too and the beer fueled conversations often lead to the equipment that we started with, people that we knew, and places where we have skied. When we stroll the hallways of Holiday Valley and Holimont up in Western N.Y., we see pictures like this showing the history of the sport and the traditions that are sacred to Western New York. You see, there are enthusiasts like us everywhere in the ski world and part of the mystique of skiing is respecting that tradition and keeping it alive no matter what tries to get in the way in our busy hectic lives. As I gazed closer at these relics in the case, I see the same Lange ski boots that I used as a kid. I see wooden skis and cable bindings and lace leather boots that I also used as a young guy just starting to ski.

It is fun to get together with my group every week during the winter, because we all share that passion. When the first snowflakes arrive, we can’t help talking to each other about the coming season. People who do not ski cannot relate and sometimes are mystified by our willingness to drive through raging snowstorms to get to our slopes. But when you are willing to drive in harrowing conditions, ski in the rain, battle the ice, basically ski the east, you are not just a person who goes skiing. There is a difference. You are a skier! I hear people all the time say, ” Oh, I only ski out west.” I say, ” Oh that’s cool- you only ski one week a year?” Ski locally, then when you do go out west you are ready and not needing a couple of days to warm up. Don’t be a ski snob. Real skiers use every opportunity, no matter where they live, to enjoy what they have and look forward to great ski days out west too. You can’t be there every weekend so why not enjoy what your local mountains or hills offer?

So my continuing theme in the chronicles is no matter what fuels your passion, get out there and do it and keep doing it. I love the winter. I make no bones about it. I love the snow and although I like the change of the seasons, I get amped with the first snowflakes and make every effort, like my group here, to get out and ski, snowshoe, hike, whatever. I even throw in some yodels just for good measure. Thanks for reading and think snow!