Yes, the snow belt used to start right on 219 South at the McKinley blvd exit for the stadium(Rich Stadium when I lived there).
We mostly skied at Kissing Bridge because several of my friends had passes. One was on the Orchard Park HS girls ski team. Plus it was about a half hour south of our house.
I only skied at Holiday Valley a few times. There was another private ski club down in Ellicottvile our friends were members of. I skied a couple times with them there. I can’t recall the name.
My mom lived in Orchard Park until her death three years ago. My parents bought that house in 1967. It had about 5 acres. I was four when we moved there. It was the edge of the country back then. Not really suburbia. Plenty of area around there to hunt, ride dirt bikes, snowmobiles, go carts, etc. Plus we had horses and a pony. There were still farms just a mile or two south of our house back then. Now, that area is full of big expensive houses. Jim Kelly used to live in one of those subdivisions about a mile away from my moms house. All the fields, woods where I hunted and rode horses and dirt bikes are full of houses right up to Chestnut Ridge Park.
I also remember it as you described. It was very beautiful there.
It’s a shame it all got so built up.
HoliMont Ski Club