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TIMES
VOLUME 9 ISSUE 4
DIGITAL EDITION ELLICOTTVILLETIMES.COM
The official Newspaper of the Village of Ellicottville, the Town of Ellicottville, Ellicottville Central Schools and the Towns of East Otto. Great Valley and Mansfield, NewYork
It’s ‘Your Turn’ for a Girls Ski Day at Holiday Valley By Kellen M. Quigley
Professional skier Lisa Densmore Ballard will lead a ski clinic exclusively for women beginning next Thursday at Holiday Valley. Holiday Valley Snowsports School is featuring the seventh annual “Your Turn” women’s clinic on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 30 and 31, led by Ballard, a widely acclaimed coach, instructor and ski racer and assisted by several of Holiday Valley’s finest women instructors. Intermediate through advanced level skiers — those who can comfortably ski blues and some black diamonds — will benefit from this clinic.
The clinic will begin at 8 a.m. with registration and breakfast. Preregistration is advised as attendance is limited. Stop at or call the Snowsports School Desk, (716) 699-2345 ext. 4422, or the Creekside Lodge Children’s Desk at (716) 6992345 ext. 4424. Lisa Densmore Ballard has been involved in many aspects of the ski world. A member of the U.S. Ski Team in the late 1970s and a six-year veteran of the Women’s Pro Ski Tour in the 1980s, she has competed in ski racing for most of her life. Today, Ballard is a standout on the master’s circuit, with four world
See Women’s Ski Day, page 5
Holiday Valley photo Professional skier Lisa Densmore Ballard will lead a ski clinic exclusively for women beginning next Thursday, Jan. 30 at Holiday Valley.
LIVE MUSIC Thur - 8pm • Jim & Tyler Fri - 8pm • 2 Guys Drinkin’ Beer Sat - 8pm • Mo Porter Tue - 7pm • The Hick Ups Wed 8pm • Joe Wagner 26 Washington St, Ellicottville, NY
Fri - 7 p.m. • Grosh Sat - 6:30 p.m. • Jennifer Westwood & The Handsome Devils
DJ AFTER BANDS
UPCOMING EVENTS Jan. 30-31
Steelbound Distillery
6600 US-219, Ellicottville, NY
Feb. 7
HV’s Your Turn Women’s Ski Clinic
Mountain Ski Fest at Holiday Valley
Fri • Snarski Sat • Jesterz 20 Monroe St • 699-4162
Three generations make a home at HoliMont
“Brianne was a ski racer. She raced all over Western New York and won the club championship for a couple of years,” she
Open for Lunch & Dinner Serving Cocktails & Beer
said. “Although Darren snowboards all over the world, he still thinks of HoliMont as his home-
See HoliMont, page 3
Patio NOW OPEN!
Cocktail Flights
Photo submitted HoliMont opened in 1962 and is now the largest private ski club in the United States. Shown are two of the three generations: Bruce, Brianne, Darren and Donna Gardner of Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Just a few blocks east of downtown Ellicottville
The HoliMont experience has been a tradition with an Ontario, Canada, family for over 50 years. Seeking an ideal winter vacation spot for their family, the late Gord and late Stella Wilkinson joined HoliMont Ski Resort the second year it was open. For three generations, the family has traveled from Burlington, Ontario, to enjoy winter sports at “the Mont.” Their daughter, Donna Gardner, said the whole family has skied together for many years and her parents actually skied until their late 80s. Although they have passed on, the tradition has continued with her husband, Bruce, and their two children, Brianne and Darren, who are now adults and very much a part of the HoliMont scene.
The Gardner family comes to Ellicottville every ski season to spend time together on the mountain slopes. “My dad never liked the roads to Collingwood [near the Blue Mountain ski resort, in Ontario]. That’s how we ended up driving down to Ellicottville,” she said. “It’s not very far. It’s just a two-hour drive.” Gardner said her children were born and bred at HoliMont, and the family has been building a lifetime of memories there. She said both Brianne and Darren started skiing at age 2. With his father’s encouragement, Darren took up snowboarding around age 4. With exceptional skills and learning to ski at such an early age, the siblings conquered the slopes not just at HoliMont, but all over the area and even the world.
716-699-2042
By Deb Everts
6600 RTE 219, ELLICOTTVILLE, NY • WWW.STEELBOUNDEVL.COM