Holiday Valley built this lift in house over two summers and it replaced a CTEC detachable quad.Loading area with queueing gates.View up the lift line at tower 2.Tower 1 next to the drive station.Tower foundations were completed in 2022 with the rest of the lift following in 2023.Middle section of the lift line.Gold chair number 1.View up the relatively low angle lift line.View down.Canadian style Doppelmayr towers.The final two towers.Upper station at the summit of Holiday Valley.Side view of the top terminal.Unloading area.UNI-G return.Top station next to sister lift Yodeler Express.Tower 11.View down from the summit.Looking toward the town of Ellicottville.Lower lift line.Tower 3.Tower 2.Lower station overview.
10 thoughts on “Mardi Gras Express – Holiday Valley, NY”
The Skiing StigOctober 16, 2023 / 4:45 pm
I can’t believe you already have pictures of this lift. But then again I shouldn’t be. I sorry you could not enjoy a skiing day while riding this lift but I understand that you can only do so much. Maybe some day you will get a chance to enjoy a skiing day at Holiday Valley, and see why everyone close to the area ski here. That includes Toronto area, Cleveland area and Pittsburgh area as well as Rochester NY. It is a magical place when everyone is enjoying the skiing here.
To celebrate Holiday Valley’s 50th anniversary in 2008 they painted the #50 chairs on the lifts gold. On the newer lifts they made the #1 chair the gold one. People get very excited when they get the gold chair! Last year I went twenty times without sitting on it once so sometimes it can prove elusive.
I am wondering what the guide wire on the top of the Terminals is for. It doesn’t seem to be under tension but also doesn’t seem to serve a purpose. I see it on this and at yodeler. Is this a new feature on Doppelmayr Hi speed lifts?
Got the pleasure of riding this today.. Pleasure is an overstatement though. As a main out of base lift without a direct backup, it’s good that they are installing a brand new lift for increased reliability, especially since the old Mardi Gras had at least 2 major breakdowns already. But that’s really the only improvement in my opinion. Staff was doing nothing to ensure chairs were being filled, and many chairs went up with only a couple people or even 1 person on it, and on top of that, the loading gates were not always opening like they should, sending up some empty chairs as well. Because of these, there was still a line stretching both ways all the way to the lodge and to Cindy’s. The lift also moves slower, and yet still is stopping and slowing pretty much every minute or two because loading speed is too fast and/or chair spacing slightly too close causing misloads from the haven of beginners that attempt to ride this lift instead of Creekside (and still end up sliding down Mardi Gras trail on their ass!) Still makes me wonder, was this upgrade worth it? The prominent uphill capacity has seemed to go down a tiny bit, at least from what I saw today
Yeah, unfortunately, I have to agree with you on a lot of your points. Lately, I have only been visiting HV on weekdays, so while not loading every chair with 5 or 6 people wasn’t the end of the world, I have heard from others that this is a major problem on weekends and holidays. In years past, staff would make a little more effort to load chairs fully, but for the most part, and especially this season, it seems like they don’t make any effort. As for the loading gates, their inconsistency to open for every chair has been annoying. At all the resorts I’ve been to, I don’t ever recall seeing this problem. On a few occasions, I’ve seen people standing in those gate lanes while at least 2 or 3 chairs go by empty, and the gates won’t open. Meanwhile, even though the staff sees this happening, they won’t override the gate sensor or, frankly, even tell the skiers what the problem is. This is quite annoying when you’re farther back in line watching the chairs go by, knowing what the problem is, but nothing is being done to fix it. Overall, this lift has the potential to at least alleviate the capacity issues experienced at the main base, but that can only happen when the staff steps in to make sure each chair is being loaded at or close to full capacity. The whole situation is frustrating because one of the main reasons HV management cited for replacing Mardi Gras was to reduce capacity issues and wait times at this lift, but you’re right in that these problems still exist. Hopefully, these problems (that shouldn’t really exist in the first place) can be fixed eventually.
I hate EVERYTHING about this lift. You have to push against the gate for it to open. If you don’t it won’t open. Also there’s no footrests on this lifts and I’m constantly hitting my helmet on this lift. I hate the straps too. It is fact so…
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I can’t believe you already have pictures of this lift. But then again I shouldn’t be. I sorry you could not enjoy a skiing day while riding this lift but I understand that you can only do so much. Maybe some day you will get a chance to enjoy a skiing day at Holiday Valley, and see why everyone close to the area ski here. That includes Toronto area, Cleveland area and Pittsburgh area as well as Rochester NY. It is a magical place when everyone is enjoying the skiing here.
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Love the gold chair! Seems to be a nod to King Cake, and finding the gold trinket inside.
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To celebrate Holiday Valley’s 50th anniversary in 2008 they painted the #50 chairs on the lifts gold. On the newer lifts they made the #1 chair the gold one. People get very excited when they get the gold chair! Last year I went twenty times without sitting on it once so sometimes it can prove elusive.
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long live the mardi gras xpress.
jokes aside this thing looks amazing and like itll fit right in!
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I am wondering what the guide wire on the top of the Terminals is for. It doesn’t seem to be under tension but also doesn’t seem to serve a purpose. I see it on this and at yodeler. Is this a new feature on Doppelmayr Hi speed lifts?
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Almost certain it’s for maintenance crews to clip onto for a safety harness.
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Why did they wait to use the puck footrests for here and not on Yodeler
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Got the pleasure of riding this today.. Pleasure is an overstatement though. As a main out of base lift without a direct backup, it’s good that they are installing a brand new lift for increased reliability, especially since the old Mardi Gras had at least 2 major breakdowns already. But that’s really the only improvement in my opinion. Staff was doing nothing to ensure chairs were being filled, and many chairs went up with only a couple people or even 1 person on it, and on top of that, the loading gates were not always opening like they should, sending up some empty chairs as well. Because of these, there was still a line stretching both ways all the way to the lodge and to Cindy’s. The lift also moves slower, and yet still is stopping and slowing pretty much every minute or two because loading speed is too fast and/or chair spacing slightly too close causing misloads from the haven of beginners that attempt to ride this lift instead of Creekside (and still end up sliding down Mardi Gras trail on their ass!) Still makes me wonder, was this upgrade worth it? The prominent uphill capacity has seemed to go down a tiny bit, at least from what I saw today
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Yeah, unfortunately, I have to agree with you on a lot of your points. Lately, I have only been visiting HV on weekdays, so while not loading every chair with 5 or 6 people wasn’t the end of the world, I have heard from others that this is a major problem on weekends and holidays. In years past, staff would make a little more effort to load chairs fully, but for the most part, and especially this season, it seems like they don’t make any effort. As for the loading gates, their inconsistency to open for every chair has been annoying. At all the resorts I’ve been to, I don’t ever recall seeing this problem. On a few occasions, I’ve seen people standing in those gate lanes while at least 2 or 3 chairs go by empty, and the gates won’t open. Meanwhile, even though the staff sees this happening, they won’t override the gate sensor or, frankly, even tell the skiers what the problem is. This is quite annoying when you’re farther back in line watching the chairs go by, knowing what the problem is, but nothing is being done to fix it. Overall, this lift has the potential to at least alleviate the capacity issues experienced at the main base, but that can only happen when the staff steps in to make sure each chair is being loaded at or close to full capacity. The whole situation is frustrating because one of the main reasons HV management cited for replacing Mardi Gras was to reduce capacity issues and wait times at this lift, but you’re right in that these problems still exist. Hopefully, these problems (that shouldn’t really exist in the first place) can be fixed eventually.
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I hate EVERYTHING about this lift. You have to push against the gate for it to open. If you don’t it won’t open. Also there’s no footrests on this lifts and I’m constantly hitting my helmet on this lift. I hate the straps too. It is fact so…
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