The year is 1957. A small group of avid skiers is looking for land for a new ski area. They have been skiing all over Western New York and the Eastern U.S. and now they need a place of their own.
They found the land they think would make a great ski area. And they are right! Join us for the story of how a few great people selling shares of Holiday Valley stock from the trunk of car founded and grew the place where we all come to have fun. Read more below...

The Roots of Holiday Valley

Holiday Valley’s roots go back to 1936 when Ellicottville’s G. Wilbur “Doc” Northrup and German Ski Champion Karl Fahrner brought the New York State Skiing Championship to the snowy hills of our town. Doc and Karl rigged a rope tow on Fish Hill just west of the village and soon skiers began flocking to Ellicottville from Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and all points in between.
Fish Hill skiers formed the Ellicottville Ski Club in 1938 with Doc as president, Isabel Northrup as treasurer and Lillian Rusow as secretary. The growing club moved on to Greer Hill, opposite the Catholic Church, which provide the members with more challenging terrain.
During this time the village was developing a reputation as a great ski town. Mrs. Weller who ran the Hotel Lincoln reserved her rooms exclusively for skiers on winter weekends and stocked her refrigerator full of Molson’s, the skiers favorite beer. Ski trains arrived at the village every weekend full of city folks eager to try the slopes and join the party.
In 1956 a group of the ski club members discovered a bowl-shaped location just over the ridge which held snow much longer and was protected from the wind. In 1957 they formed the Win-Sum Ski Corporation and purchased the initial 30 acres for $1050.00. On weekends in 1957 the founder’s wives sold shares of stock form a card table in the parking lot. Stock was $100 per share and investors were given a jeep ride to the top of the mountain. The first T-bar and slope opened to the public on January 4, 1958 with Bob Stubbs as General Manager. Thus began the resort of Holiday Valley which is now rated in the top five ski resorts in the East.