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Wintertime in Southwest NY can only mean one thing. It's time to hit the slopes and trails. How could you miss when Lake Erie helps Mother Nature make 200+ inches of white powder each winter?
If downhill skiing or snowboarding is your thing, then this is the place to be. Southwest NY features five different resorts, each offering all the modern amenities skiers and boarders could ask for. Some are big, some small, and everything in between. Holiday Valley is perennially the largest ski resort in NYS. Holimont is the largest private resort in North America. Most of the area resorts offer nightime skiing, and most have excellent snowmaking coverage if Mother Nature decides not to cooperate. All have special accommodations for snowboarding.
The Village of Ellicottville plays host to Holiday Valley, Holimont, and the Holiday Valley Tubing Company. No wonder it is referred to as the Aspen of the East. Other resorts include Cockaigne in Cherry Creek, Peak-n-Peek in Findley Lake, and Swain in the Northeast corner of Allegany County.
If you're more a purist that prefers a set of x-c skis and a long trail through the wilderness, you'll feel at home here too. The thousands of acres of public land in Southwest NY offer a wide variety of x-c ski conditions and skill levels. Some have groomed trails, Allegany State Park alone has several miles of groomed trails dedicated to x-c skiing. In other places, you will be blazing the trail. Keep your head up, you'll likely see deer, turkeys, and other wildlife on your silent trek through the seclusion of Southwest NY.
Much can be said about skiing and snowboarding in the Southwest NY region. For complete information, link to the following:
Allegany County Outdoor Sports
Enchanted Mountains Skiing & Tubing
Chautauqua County Skiing |
