Ski Wing/ Wing Hollow

Ski Wing was a ski resort located in Allegany that has a checkered past. Founded in 1958 the resort was only open for little over 20 years due to the deaths and reputation it gained. One boy died in 1968 and two workers were murdered in 1978. These deaths would lead to the resort closing in the early 1980's.

In 1978 two men were murdered while working their shift and in 1968, 30 people were injured and one person died. In 1978, Stephen Bender and Michael Forness were working late at night to groom the trails for the next day. When one of the snow groomers broke down the two went back to Wing Hollow to gather tools to fix the groomer and walked in on a burglary in progress. Three to four men were attempting to free a safe located under the floorboards, encased in cement. The two workers were then shot to death and left for their coworker to find. The men then made off with the safe full of $18,000 and the safe was found months later in the Allegany river with the side blown open and the money missing. This case was never solved and still haunts Allegany to this day. In 1968, a ski lift lurched backwards and people began falling out of their chairs. 30 people were injured and a nine year old boy died after falling and being hit in the head by another chair. The resort soon closed after the heist in the early 1980’s, but the past still lives with Allegany, NY

Cold Case Files: The Ski Wing Murders of 1978, Dan Herbeck, https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/cold-case-files-the-ski-wing-murders-of-1978/article_36625c90-c584-5cdc-8553-70017aa43b4d.html, June 21, 2021, Date Accessed: November 30,2022.

Cattaraugus County Judge Recalls History of Grosstal Ski Resort, Riley Eike, https://www.tapinto.net/towns/greater-olean/sections/sports/articles/cattaraugus-county-judge-recalls-history-of-gross, October 19, 2016, Date Accessed: November 30, 2022