Not many communities around the country have a ski hill within their city limits, but Utica does. City, business and community leaders, along with dozens of skiers and snowboarders gathered at the Val Bialas Ski Facility recently to celebrate recent renovations.
Snow grooming machines rolled around the ski hill, for what officials referred to as a “soft opening.”
That was after work was completed on a project that focused on the snowmaking and ski lift equipment. It’s aided by $2 million in state funds, as well as a lot of volunteer work by city and business leaders.
Val Bialas is not a big ski hill, compared to many other resorts around the state, but it is historic. It opened in 1954 and it was named after a former Olympic speedskater who grew up in Utica.
In the last several years, the ski facility has only operated sporadically, partly due to the weather, and also because its snowmaking and ski lift equipment were in need of modernization. That happened with the recent infusion of state funds which local Assemblymember Marianne Buttenschon (D-119) helped champion.
At a press conference last fall, Buttenschon said she advocated for the funding when Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie was visiting the region. She talked to him about the unique opportunity a municipal owned ski center presents to the community. Local government and tourism officials said that Val Bialas is likely one of only two municipal-owned ski facilities in the U.S. that are located within city limits.
Utica Mayor Michael Galime helped celebrate the recent enhancements by bringing his snowboard and taking some runs down the ski hill last Friday. He said he’s thrilled with the potential the upgraded facility has for the city.
“To have this in our own backyard,” said Galime. “I already just talked to 10 people on the way up, and they said it took (them) five minutes to drive here.” Galime said skiers and snowboarders he talked to on Friday, said things like, ‘I could come here after work. I could take a couple runs. I could bring a sandwich.’ Everyone is super pumped to have this in their own backyard.”
Harvey Road is an avid skier and editor of NYSkiBlog. He lives in the Adirondacks, but felt he had to come to Utica to be part of the reopening at Val Bialas last Friday.
“This seems like a bit of a historic moment,” Road said. “I retired last year, I’m on a mission to ski every ski area in New York and I didn’t know if I was ever going to get to Val Bialas, and now they’re open, so here I am.”
The dozens of people who came out for the reopening included longtime city residents like Brad Czerkies, who skied at Val Bialas when he was a child in the 1960s.
“It’s a tiny hill, I like Gore and, you know, I’ve been skiing at Woods Valley for years,” said Czerkies. “We go out to Colorado every so often. But you know, this is where I grew up.”
Among those snowboarding at the renovated ski hill was Robert Ross who is glad that his hometown skill got an upgrade.
“This is such a cool thing to have back for the city,” said Ross. It’s really, really unique in terms of a municipality-owned ski resort. Hope it’s something that the community can use, that it’s accessible for them and may attract people from the outside as well.”
There’s been a lot of talk among Utica city officials over how the new ski lift fees will be structured and what it will take to keep Val Bialas sustainable for years to come.
Mayor Galime announced recently that an anonymous donor contacted the city to offer $10,000 as an endowment, to ensure that Utica City School District students have an opportunity to try skiing, skating and any other activities to be offered at the historic ski facility.
Galime and other officials are hopeful that Val Bialas will be available for a variety of activities throughout the year, including things like mountain biking in the warmer months.
