Thursday November 20, 2008 marks a remarkable day that the Western New York Snowboarding community will never forget. Holiday Valley, The areas premier snowboard resort opened today with 28 new inches of snow, one lift with access to 6 open trails and 22 trails of “bottomless” turns just a short hike away.
The day was intense to say the least; I mean how often do riders in Western New York have the chance to attack steep “lift access” powder runs on opening day. Well lets do the math, you have the last year 1991, 28 inches and, shit.. That’s a long time.
For the SNOWREV crew the day started off with a deep drive through the depths of Alleghany State Forrest. When taking this route have the ability to drive through the forrest and then continue onto route 86 and continue your path to Holiday. This is a perfect drive when you riders feel adventurous, and have a little time.
We arrived at the new location of Suburban Blend, which is located in the lower level of The Depot and is scheduled to open the day after Thanksgiving. Don’t Miss it! For all of you that don’t know; the depot is located to the left of Burger King. There we picked up Billy Bacon, and his spirits were higher than a kid fresh in his first candy store. It seems like Bacon turns into a different person when 18-24 inches of snow is involved. I think the term for this is “Stoked”. Yeah that’s it…
After we picked Bacon up we headed straight for the Valley lifts… There we met up with Ben Farrell and Noah Hausknecht. These are two New York shredders that drove 4 hours from Syracuse to meet up and shred this snow. We were lapping out, hitting the jib house first, then through the powder field, to the cat track, then more pow, then to the traverse back to the lift. For me, it seemed like the day continued to mark the books as one of the “best days ever” when my recent ankle sprain sent me straight to the Ski Patrol lodge. There I got some rest, some input from the Patrolman, some ice for my sprain and motivation to pass the camera on..
As I laid up temporarily, the rest of the crew continued to shred on. Bill Cooley who is proving himself to be essential to the crew, took over the lens. Which reminds me, For me, the best part about SNOWREV is that this is a community effort. We ride together, document each other, and publish it for you to read. Enjoy the photos and if you are around Western New York.. Get here, because it’s going off!
- The SNOWREV crew is getting there, and having fun doing it..
- We made it just in time. The Holiday Valley lifts were less than crowded. The skies were overcast, but it wasn't slowing anyone here down.
ROUND 1: The Cat Track!
- Ben Farrell and Noah preparing to drop in to the Cat Track hit.
- Here is the cat track hit itself.
- Noah with a mean crail grab. I mean, MEAN CRAIL GRAB!
- Bill Cooley shreds.
- Ben Farrell, ONE FOOTED, NO GLOVE cat track launch. Do you think this kid knows how to shred? This requires a DOUBLE TAKE.
- Heading back up for round 2. Ben Farrell, Major Tom, and Noah.
ROUND 2: Jib the Race House!
- Choose your path wisely guys... The terrain is pretty mellow here though.
- Noah ollies into the tranny of the race house.
- Pat Bridges coined this the sleeper. Noah sleeps down the skiers speed tranny.
- Ben Farrell Sequences the race house.
- Ben jibs with a stall/indy grab on the starting gates of the race house.
- Ben Farrell finds an even more creative way to jib the Race House.. Job Well done.
- Holiday Valley is ready to launch the season. We ride down to take a quick break..
- We arrive to the bottom of the hill and take a quick look back up at the 600 foot vertical.
- Major Tom and John Centi parked there rides due to a slight injury to Johns ankle...
- Ben Farrell takes a breather.. He didn't say one thing about not having gloves or goggles the entire time. This kid is metal for sure.
- Noah is taking a look at what is happening outside of the lodge.
- This was going on outside of Holiday.
- As well as this. Holiday Valley New York.
ROUND 3 : Poach the Pow!
- This lady looks on as Ben explains politely how fun poaching pow runs is and how he is about to get some. Hey Ben, you think she can follow you through the pow?
- Plenty to be had, for now...
- Ben gets his daily dose of powder.
- and then some.
- Noah finds some too.
- In the event that there is no powder, do as Ben Farrell does. Tail Block.
- Overlooking Ellicottville New York. We stayed until the night session began, then rolled to Suburban Blend | The Depot for some pizza, wings and to get our boards tuned..
Speaking of tuned.. Stay tuned for more updates from Western New York as the crew is beginning to migrate back to the roots...