ELLICOTTVILLE, N.Y. — Winter is just around the corner and some areas in New York have already seen snow. Right now, ski resorts are looking forward to a busy season.

Jane Eshbaugh spent many winters in her childhood skiing at Holiday Valley in Ellicottville. But the ski season of 2020, during the pandemic, may take the prize for being the most unusual — in a good way.

“It’s kind of surprising, but was an excellent year for us," said Eshbaugh, Holiday Valley director of marketing. "Skiing was one of the things you could do. People were outside for the most part and we were really busy.”

The ski resort and its employees are back in full gear, preparing for another busy winter season. Those in the rental shop are getting skis and snowboards ready and it’s not an easy task.

"We have about 700 adult skis and 400 pairs of junior skis," said Eshbaugh. "And we are going to get about 500 new skis. And then we have snowboards too. We tune about 400 snowboards and probably about 120 new snowboards as well."

The resort was supposed to open on Friday, but the official opening date has been pushed back to early December. They have two weeks to sharpen and wax the rental gear. This year’s ski season is expected to be busier than it was in 2020 during the pandemic. Jane says they’re expecting more skiers as the border has finally opened to Canadians.

“Our Canadian visitors are about maybe 20 to 25% of all of our visitors so that’s a pretty big chunk," said Eshbaugh.

In fact, Jane says she spoke to a Canadian couple who made their way to the resort barely half a day after the border opened.

“People coming back on the first day that the border is open shows that there’s a lot of enthusiasm to come back,” Eshbaugh said.

With more guests expected, it’s all hands on deck. And help is needed. Jane says there are many job openings at Holiday Valley.

“One of the best benefits is that you can ski for free," Eshbaugh said. "So that’s great. Plus it’s a great place to work, it’s a place where people come to have fun.”

Jane herself started working at Holiday Valley as a ski instructor 40 years ago. Now she looks forward to welcoming people back to the slopes this winter season.

You can find out more about hiring at Holiday Valley by clicking here.