Thousands of people from near and far travel to Ellicottville to hit the slopes at Holiday Valley

ELLICOTTVILLE, N.Y. (WIVB) - The holiday weekend is drawing thousands of people near and far to Ellicottville and to the slopes at Holiday Valley. News 4 caught up with skiers and snowboarders taking advantage of the winter weather.

"You can't ask for a better weekend in these conditions. We're taking a family vacation up here with another family and we really haven't had any snow this winter. This timing was perfect," said Gretchen Heil, who traveled from Cleveland.

"It's amazing. Come out with the family and certainly a lot colder than sunny Florida but the conditions have been wonderful," said Adam Temple who's visiting Ellicottville from Florida.

The winter conditions have been hit or miss all season. The resort recently invested in its snow making equipment. Marketing director Dash Hegeman says that's been a "saving grace."

"It's been an interesting season for sure. We've had a lot of ups and downs in terms of the weather and you're going to have that in WNY. These days are the days that we absolutely live for and we're excited about that," said Dash Hegeman, who's the marketing director at Holiday Valley.

Mother natures pulled through this weekend. The resorts has 42 trails open and all 13 of its lifts up and running. Hegeman expects around 20,000 people will visit the resort over the 3 day weekend.

"We're happy, look at the mountain, there's a ton of snow. It hasn't been a great season I'm told. So we're happy to be here, skiing," said Mitch Faigan, who was visiting from Canada. "Normally we ski local, we're from Toronto and there's some good mountains. But we thought let's try something different and it's not a long drive so here we are."

"They're doing a great job managing the crowds. There's a lot of people but everybody is in good spirits, the lines are moving fast and it's a big mountain, once you get up there it's not so crowded," said Heil.