Ellicottville, NY, September 13, 2023 – Holiday Valley Ski Resort is happy to announce the addition of Andrew (Andy) Minier as the new Holiday Valley Snowsports Director. Minier’s history in the snowsports industry and lifelong commitment to skiing helped him stand out amongst a very talented group of applicants and he is now tasked with overseeing a team of approximately 300 ski and snowboard instructors, a successful race and freestyle program and the Phoenix Adaptive Program.
Minier grew up in Eden, NY and had his first experience on skis at Kissing Bridge in Glenwood. After that, he spent his childhood winters at Red Jacket Ski Club, a one t-bar ski hill, in Eden, NY where the hill closed from 5 to 6PM on weekends in order to let kids go home to warm up and grab dinner before they spent the rest of the evening making turns on the hill. From an early age, Minier knew he wanted to make skiing a lifelong endeavor.
“I began skiing at age 12 in the Eden, NY school club,” Minier said. “It was at the end of my six-week lesson program that the instructor recommended that I look into the race team for the next season. To me, this instructor was a legend and with those few words of encouragement I was hooked. I imagine my instructor spoke to all of his students with some words of encouragement that day, but he made me feel special and to this day, I remember it.”
Racing has been the primary focus of Minier’s snowsports career and he comes to Holiday Valley as a certified United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) coach, official and technical delegate. He was also the 2015 New York Coach of the Year and the chairman of the U16+ Ski Racing Development Committee. He has also spent time on the committee for both the U16+ and the Children’s Development Committee.
The Holiday Valley Snowsports program has a long and successful history of helping to cultivate lifelong skiers and snowboarders and Minier is excited to work with that team to keep building upon its strengths while also finding ways to help make the team even more guest satisfaction focused.