President's Day draws skiers to the slopes
Story Created:
Feb 15, 2010 at 4:02 PM EST
Story Updated:
Feb 15, 2010 at 6:15 PM EST
WESTERNVILLE, N.Y. (WKTV) - Woods Valley Ski Resort in Westernville normally has a big week during President's Week when kids have their winter break.
This year, however, they expect to get some extra slope traffic, thanks to the Olympic Games going on in Vancouver.
Woods Valley Ski Resort Owner Joe Olney said the weather this winter has been great, despite a lower than normal snowfall. He said it's all thanks to the temperatures staying below freezing.
"We've had some natural snow the past few days, which is perfect timing for President's Week," Olney said. "Coming up, this is an important week for us - probably the second most important week for us after Christmas time."
Woods Valley hosts ski clinics for adults and kids during this holiday week, and Woods Valley Ski Patroller Rick O'Meara said the conditions are perfect for beginners, as well as so-called experts.
"It's phenomenal skiing," O'Meara said. "It's like skiing on velvet right now with this fresh snow, and the base is huge. We've been able to make a lot of snow and we've got ample snow and great skiing. It's kind of phenomenal that the Olympics would be in Vancouver with no snow, and it was snowing in Pensacola last week."
Woods Valley has been in the Olympic spirit since Friday, when they had their own opening ceremony festivities. They've even brought in two 60 inch big screen televisions for the two weeks worth of NBC's Olympic coverage.
Olney said the spirit is alive, especially for Erin Hamlin's trial runs Monday night.
"There's a lot of excitement in the air following the athletes, especially our luger right here from Oneida County and Remsen," Olney said. "Although she's not a skier or a snowboarder, we still follow her pretty closely."
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