Holiday Valley

Holiday Valley spreads 60 runs across 290 acres skiable of terrain. It leans beginner at 37%, with 22 beginner runs to find your feet and 23 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.

Holiday Valley operates from early December through to mid-April, with the 2025/26 season running 6 December to 13 April. The resort averages approximately 180 inches of annual snowfall — roughly double the annual totals recorded at competing resorts in Pennsylvania and the Catskills — driven by its position approximately 30 miles from Lake Erie, which delivers lake-effect snow systems reliably from late autumn through early spring.

Lake-effect events at this latitude produce high-frequency, moderate-intensity snowfall that accumulates steadily across the season and supplements the extensive snowmaking system to maintain a consistent base across all 290 acres. The current 2025/26 season has logged a base depth of around 24 inches with a season total approaching 88 inches as of early March, reflecting the reliable mid-winter accumulation the Western New York snowbelt regularly produces.

The combination of 180 inches of natural snowfall and 95% snowmaking coverage gives Holiday Valley one of the more dependable operating records of any Eastern US resort, with conditions remaining skiable well into April most years. The après-ski culture around Holiday Valley is well established, with the village of Ellicottville one mile from the base offering a concentration of restaurants, bars and accommodation that the resort directly benefits from — and which Ski Magazine has ranked among the better après destinations in the Eastern US, not far behind Tremblant and Killington in reader surveys.

College students access the mountain at a reduced rate on Sunday through Thursday evenings, and the Locals Sunday programme provides discounted access for residents within a one-hour radius including Buffalo, Erie and the Southern Ontario communities that make up a significant share of the resort's repeat visitor base.