Regional News
CNY Region Officially Kicks Off Winter
On October 16 in Utica and October 18 in Syracuse, the Central New York Region welcomed winter with Warren Miller’s ’75’ – the 75th-anniversary film. On hand were Mike LaPoint, Jodi Butterfield, Rich Pietrafesa, our National Chair, and me, Scott Launt.
Our goal was to recruit interested riders in patrolling, hand out NSP SWAG to our kindred spirits, promote goodwill, and have a good time. Mission Accomplished!
Women’s Mountain Bike Program in GVR
The Genesee Valley Region held its third annual Women’s Mountain Bike Enhancement Seminar at Dryer Road Park, a mountain biking trail network outside of Rochester, NY. This joint event between the Women’s Program and the Bike Program kicked-off with a comprehensive bike safety check, ensuring that all participants were properly equipped and ready to ride. Judy Valachovic organized the day.
The three instructors—Anne Schweighardt and Alexa Harding, part of the local racing and mountain biking scene, as well as Case Morrill, a local rider, instructor, GROC bike patroller, and Bristol Mountain patroller led several team-building exercises to foster a sense of camaraderie and trust among the group.
Holiday Mountain Reopens in SNY
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.
Women in the Wild
The Genesee Valley Region hosted its first MTR (Mountain Travel and Rescue) Women’s Clinic, “Women in the Wild,” on June 2, 2024. An energetic group of 24 women from regions throughout New York State and New Jersey representing 10 different alpine and Nordic patrols attended and were able to refresh and/or be introduced to a combination of skills.
Region Alumni Day Schedule 2024
Nearly every region conducts at least one alumni day each season. These include a free or reduced price lift ticket, skiing or riding together and some kind of social time like a lunch or post skiing refreshments. Here is the latest on those scheduled for the 2024 season…
