Greek Peak Conditions (2014-2015)

Felt like mid-winter yesterday. Could have used a fresh coat of spring wax. Almost nobody there.

It sure did

When is the last time you can remember the Big "O" being skied on Easter Sunday??

What an amazing ski season we've had here in the Valley

Has anyone been by the mountain today? I'm trying to plan my weekend, but if conditions are not looking promising at GP, I may need to rethink things.

Wow!  I'm pleasantly surprised that the snow held up as well as it did.  Thanks for taking the time to snap and post the photo's, Glade Runner.

Anyone ski Greek today? Did Chair 5 run?  Planning to go up tomorrow for the last day, and follow that up with a road ride -- good way to transition to the new season.

Chair 5 never ran this weekend despite being groomed. They certainly have been watching every penny the last month or so, but I was hoping they would open chair 5 today, given that it was their last day, and a gorgeous day at that. I think it would have been a nice gesture to their loyal patrons.

On a different note, anyone know why there were two land surveyors in the area above chair 4 last week?

Nice soft corn bumps on the top of Illiad today

Not bad coverage in the trees for middle April with very few bare patches if you knew where to look.  
Gorgeous day to end the season at GP on!  Looking forward to next year now.

Best last day of the season I can remember. Agree it would have been nice if the opened 5 today but didn't really expect them to.

There was a dude who skied a run in tiny short shorts only…I think it must have been Campy!

We're off to Song/Lab for next year - going to miss GP a  little but will probably hit it a couple times next year. Good season, and best wishes to GP for the future.

billyymc wrote

 

There was a dude who skied a run in tiny short shorts only…I think it must have been Campy!

 

LOL...I don't ski in banana hammocks

Olympian, Zues, Herc and woods skied on the last day of the year???


Seriously, there's sooooooo much snow left on that hill.......me thinks it will be skied this Sunday too

campgottagopee wrote

Olympian, Zues, Herc and woods skied on the last day of the year???


Seriously, there's sooooooo much snow left on that hill.......me thinks it will be skied this Sunday too

Camp - so they didn't open Zeus or Herc - both of which were skiable - Herc especially had tons of snow and almost no bare spots. When I ski with my kids (teens) I tend to not duck ropes at Greek, since they may not understand the difference in consequences between ducking ropes at Greek and ducking ropes on a trip out west.

It's one of the really annoying things about GP actually - that they keep trails closed for no reason.

In any case, the snow was great. Probably at least a few trails will remain skiable next weekend.

We're getting our Song/Lab season passes this week - their webpage isn't ruling out the possibility of opening next Sat and Sun!

Yeah, Billy I saw Song's mention of possibly reopening this weekend. That's pretty impressive for this region. I hope they can pull it off.

I did see a patroller skiing Hercules and Zeus last weekend. Hercules would have been more than fine to open to the public.

Of course, we saw a number of cutbacks this year. Why hasn't chair 2 run in over a month? I took a run on Castor and coverage was excellent on Sunday. Instead, the beginners are forced to ski Alpha or chair 1A. Since they can't handle chair 1A, the lift constantly slows down and stops. They also decided to operate the magic carpet last weekdn, which nobody used, so the lifties hung out with the crew at the bottom of 1A. Instead they could have moved staff to chair 5.

Rather than cutting back operations, why can't their part time marketing director develop promotions to bring customers to the slopes?

Most ski areas realize that early and late season are break-even's at best. Those times of the year are generally for season pass holders and true diehards. It almost seems as if they couldn't wait to close this year in order to cut their losses.

With all of that said, I do commend management for delivering a good product this season despite the setbacks with Christmas, Presidents week, the loss of pump house 4, and their lack of snowmaking infrastructure. Conditions have never been better.

Rj1972 wrote

Yeah, Billy I saw Song's mention of possibly reopening this weekend. That's pretty impressive for this region. I hope they can pull it off.

 .

Greek pulled the plug too early this year. I drove by this morning and the coverage hasn't change much, if any from the weekend. We could easily be skiing this weekend with no problem. If Song opens and Greek doesn't that sends the wrong message to Greek Peak pass holders imo. Greek is the best in CNY, and the best is the first to open and the last to close.....or so we thought. I know a lot of people will be disappointed  if it actually happens.

billyymc wrote

 

Camp - so they didn't open Zeus or Herc - both of which were skiable - Herc especially had tons of snow and almost no bare spots. When I ski with my kids (teens) I tend to not duck ropes at Greek, since they may not understand the difference in consequences between ducking ropes at Greek and ducking ropes on a trip out west.

 

Oh common....those teens would duck the rope if YOU weren't there  

billyymc wrote

 

 

It's one of the really annoying things about GP actually - that they keep trails closed for no reason.

 

Just suggested. Patrol at Greek is very chill when it comes to that.

<quote author="campgottagopee">

billyymc wrote

 

Camp - so they didn't open Zeus or Herc - both of which were skiable - Herc especially had tons of snow and almost no bare spots. When I ski with my kids (teens) I tend to not duck ropes at Greek, since they may not understand the difference in consequences between ducking ropes at Greek and ducking ropes on a trip out west.
 

Oh common....those teens would duck the rope if YOU weren't there  

billyymc wrote

Maybe. And maybe they're smart enough to understand the difference between ducking a rope at GP vs ducking a rope at a big western mountain where there may be avy danger, cliffs, or sasquatch beyond the ropes.

Skiing closed trails has more or less become the norm at GP, with ski patrol turning a blind eye. It's not uncommon to follow one of the owners (or ski patrollers) down a closed trail. So what happens when someone gets seriously injured on a "closed" trail?

Camp - I've also seen a guy driving a groomer jump out and clip the passes of people skiing the glades off Chair 2 when they were closed. On a mid-week powder day. They guy driving the f'n groomer.

They can put in all the "express" lifts and climbing walls they want. If they don't open the trails when they are skiable it pisses people off. Letting skiing closed trails become a defacto custom doesn't seem like good business.

When Powdr Corp. took over Killington from ASC years ago the new management halted the earlier openings and late closings. Their position was that it was not cost effective. I had several conversations with their then president, Chris Nyberg, about this move, and he defended the decision for several years despite their decline in sales and significant loss of season pass holders. Then a few years ago, Powdr promoted Mike Solimano to president, and he restored their mantra of first to open and last to close. Sales have since began to climb. I'm not certain if they are at pre-Powdr levels, but I do know they are pretty close.

There is something to be said for being the first and last, as it garners attention. There is a reason A-Basin and Loveland compete each year to be the first to open in Colorado. Neither of these areas have deep pockets, but they both feel the attention garnered is worth the cost of early season snowmaking. Granted, GP is competing at only a regional level, but CNYers will notice.

billyymc wrote

 

Camp - I've also seen a guy driving a groomer jump out and clip the passes of people skiing the glades off Chair 2 when they were closed. On a mid-week powder day. They guy driving the f'n groomer.

 

That's just dumb.

billyymc wrote

They can put in all the "express" lifts and climbing walls they want. If they don't open the trails when they are skiable it pisses people off. Letting skiing closed trails become a defacto custom doesn't seem like good business.

HaHa -- Yeah, the high speed express quad that runs slower than the 40 year old lift standing next to it due to Randy constantly slowing it down for every individual under five feet tall.

There was no reason to have Hercules closed. It had plenty of coverage. They could have posted one of their many "thin and bare coverage" signs at the top of it. Don't tell me that Pollux and Castor were being heavily patrolled despite being open. At least Hercules is easy to patrol.

You know how I feel about the Kryger's, but the new owners should have cleaned house, albeit kept Al on as a consultant, as his knowledge of the mish-mosh of systems are necessary. God only knows where all the snowmaking pipes are buried. The challenge is that the new owners know nothing about running a ski resort. I really don't need Brittany saying hello to me every run when chairs haven't been painted in years, light poles are falling over, trees are down all over the place, lights are out, and weeds are out of control. Yes, Deer Valley and Beaver Creek have mountain ambassadors, but GP is about $1.25B short of being a Deer Valley.

 

Rj1972 wrote

 

You know how I feel about the Kryger's, but the new owners should have cleaned house, albeit kept Al on as a consultant, as his knowledge of the mish-mosh of systems are necessary. God only knows where all the snowmaking pipes are buried. The challenge is that the new owners know nothing about running a ski resort. I really don't need Brittany saying hello to me every run when chairs haven't been painted in years, light poles are falling over, trees are down all over the place, lights are out, and weeds are out of control. Yes, Deer Valley and Beaver Creek have mountain ambassadors, but GP is about $1.25B short of being a Deer Valley.

Yep....the many, many years of neglect on the hill side of things are still somewhat apparent. It will take time, but you already know that.

campgottagopee wrote

Yep....the many, many years of neglect on the hill side of things are still somewhat apparent. It will take time, but you already know that.

I have no problems with the pace of change. They're moving forward and have a plan.

But not opening very skiable trails - that's just plan BS and bad for customer satisfaction. It takes almost no effort to drop a rope. We aren't talking a massive mountain that takes a couple hours to sweep at the end of the day.

So Camp - no inside scoop on Chair 2? hasn't run in weeks - is it broken, or did they just stop running it to save cost?