Winter Carnival Draws
A Skiing Crowd

By Rob Potter
BRIDGEVILLE — February 29, 2000 -- Many Sullivan County residents make it a point to visit Holiday Mountain Ski Area at least once during the winter to enjoy skiing.
And this past weekend, those regulars and scores of other people visited Holiday Mountain for its 27th annual Winter Carnival.
The carnival kicked off Friday evening with a WSUL DJ party, torch light parade and shovel races. Saturday’s festivities included volleyball for everyone, a snow sculpture contest, saucer race, obstacle terrain course, family race and a tug-of-war on skis.
On Sunday, the carnival concluded with a costume character brunch, dual slalom race, buddy race, ski and dunk, big air competition, adult giant slalom and other events.
The weather was warm, but not warm enough to melt all of the snow or keep people away.
“We’ve had a really good turnout,” said Rick Conklin, who is the Holiday Mountain Ski School Director. “There are a lot of people going out for all of the events. We thought it might be a little slow because of the weather, but so far it’s been going pretty well.”
Holiday Mountain Manager Bill Culligan also noted that the warm weather could have been a negative factor but wasn’t.
“We had cold weather in January and February, so we’re in good shape with the snow on the trails,” Culligan said Sunday afternoon. “Yesterday was successful, and the attendance today is picking up.”
Two of the many people enjoying the carnival events Sunday afternoon were Erin Doyle of Middletown and her friend Kayla Chilton of Goshen. Both girls were competing in as many events as they could.
“We’ve done the slalom and plan to do the buddy race and ski and dunk events,” said Doyle, 12. “I love skiing.”
Although Doyle had been to a few Holiday Mountain winter carnivals, this was the first for Chilton.
“This is awesome,” exclaimed twelve-year-old Chilton.
That was probably the feeling shared by many people over the weekend.
Although every event seemed to be a hit, there were a couple that stuck out.
“The tug-of-war was the most popular event among teenagers, so we are scheduling a tug-of-war every Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. throughout the rest of the season,” said Holiday Mountain Marketing Director/Public Relations specialist Sue Glass. “And the crowd really enjoyed the fabulous fireworks display Saturday night.”
For those who didn’t make it to the carnival, there is still plenty of skiing and snowboarding to be found at the ski area.
Holiday Mountain will be open Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 9 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For more information, call 796-3161.