Long time ski patroller, Mike Taylor, bought Holiday Mountain in Monticello, NY breathing new life into a ski area that was about to be added to the list of “lost ski areas.” He feels that it is important to keep smaller ‘feeder mountains’ open. At Holiday we breed skiers and cater to families which is important to our local community.
Holiday opened in 1957, owned by the Township of Thompson, which ran it until it was sold to a private owner in 2000. Lack of cold weather and the inability to make needed upgrades, caused Holiday to slowly fall into disrepair eliminating four lifts, closing nine of their original 12 trails, and leaving one triple Poma chairlift operating and one conveyor.
Holiday Mountain was purchased last May after the former owner told Taylor that he was done, losing money, and was going to close and that the only buyers were housing developers. No one wanted to buy it for use as a ski area. There was no choice since Holiday is just too important for the community and the area’s kids; the Taylors jumped in.
Mike Taylor originally joined NSP at McIntyre Mountain in Manchester, NH while he was in college. He returned home after college and joined the Holiday Mountain Ski Patrol, the area where he grew up. He became a paramedic, which he did nights and weekends for the next 25 years. After a five year break to have kids, he rejoined Holiday’s patrol to get his kids on skis. The family gravitated to Plattekill Mountain, where he still patrols today, but came back to Holiday to keep it from closing and give it a second chance.
Last season Holiday saw a total revamp of their snowmaking system including new water pumps, an air compressor, miles of pipe, 45 stick guns, and 16 fan guns in addition to adding a conveyor for a new snow-tubing park and redirected “learning center.” Their 20+ year old rental equipment was all replaced, over 100 trail lights replaced, lodges renovated, and a new website and ticketing software were put in place. A used (but newer to them) PistenBully groomer was purchased. Erosion was repaired with lots of drainage piping. Over 30 dumpsters of debris were removed from the property as buildings were torn down or revamped. Racing came back with the addition of a new timing building and fiber optic cabling top to bottom.
A 1968 Poma double chairlift serving three closed trails that was out of service for six years was put back into service. Many skiers were thrilled that terrain they never dreamed of skiing again was open, including kids who had never skied there. In addition, lots of work was done at the summer “fun park” with upgrades to the Go-Karts, bumper boats, batting cages, arcade, and mini-golf as a start.
This year the work hasn’t slowed. Two lanes of “synthetic” summer tubing was put down in the tubing park serviced by a 250-foot conveyor lift. A 4th new 450 HP snowmaking water pump is on order in addition to 23 tower fan guns, 100 air/water stick guns, and over six miles of snowmaking piping. In addition, the mountain is currently replacing that 2800-foot double chair with a completely reconditioned quad lift that will service four trails that will have 100% new snowmaking installed this fall. A new double black diamond trail dubbed “Hackledam” (named after a long-abandoned logging town down river from Holiday) has been cut. Work this summer included blasting some of the rock off the top ledges, removing stumps, and adding snowmaking. This new trail will rank with some of the steepest in the Catskills with great northern exposure which will help keep the snow.
Phase 3 of reconstruction will add a third chairlift and snowmaking over time, reopening the closed trails in their “north” area, replacing the iconic long-dormant chairlift that’s adjacent to NYS Route 17 with its “floating bullwheel” that motorists have seen for over five decades. Phase 3 should add another seven to eight trails to Holiday in the end. Plans are also in the works to possibly add Nordic trails with snowmaking on the top of the mountain with extra snowmaking water pumping capacity going in this year for future expansion.
Holiday’s ski patrol is gaining in numbers. The mountain is coming back with 13 students recently completing the OEC program taught
by ski patrol director Bob Scarabino. Holiday is always looking for patrollers whether it’s your home mountain, a ‘secondary’ where you can get on the schedule, and we also welcome visiting patrollers. Bring your coat and pack, we never turn down help!
The community support for Holiday Mountain has been amazing. After-school ski programs are coming back, and high school race teams will sprout again. This summer Holiday was proud to host the NSP “Certified Boot Camp” in August as well as other community events including an Oktoberfest on October 26!
This is what happens when a passionate ski patroller with a strong vision and abilities buys a small community ski area that was about to close. While Holiday will never be a “big mountain,” we’ll be one that’s less than two hours from NYC, has some great terrain, and a warm, local, hometown feeling that’s been lost at many of the mega-mountains over time.
We look forward to you visiting us soon. Follow Holiday Mountain’s progress on Facebook® & Instagram®
