Greek Peak Conditions (2016 - 2017)

Rj1972 wrote

campgottagopee wrote

...she's pretty easy on the eyes as well.

I never heard of her, but thought the same. I then did a Google search and learned that she is only 18.

Translation :

 = "Giggity"

I live smack dab in the middle of Greek and another mountain south of border. Greek was my home for 8 years but sad to say no more. Lack of snow making is the main reason,never understood the whole new lift thing. "Thinking" maybe the fact you need snow at most ski ares? Not high speed lift ,Maybe I am wrong. I am very happy south and must say the terrain is better and snow coverage is just wow. Hopefully they have a great winter and generate some dough for some snow making equipment that is desperately needed.

Scrundy, if they don't get their act together and start making some snow, they will drive additional customers away. I can't imagine that the current owners are having financial difficulties, as they have very little invested in the place, but they sure are portraying an image of a business in financial distress.

They did not put their best foot forward to prepare for Christmas/New Years week relying far too heavily on natural snow. Those who took notice may book their Martin Luther and Presidents weekends elsewhere.

pro2860 wrote

They sold passes for  $250 for "1 day only" at a ski show in Syracuse this past September. One of our crew bought 2 passes that day.

I swear, I remember seeing an offer back in that time frame on the Song/Lab website trying to get Greek passholders who didn't buy their pass for this season to buy a special offer of a $199 season pass to Song/Lab. So maybe that $250 deal was a counter measure to keep more people from FLEEING.

Those hand dryers used to freak me out every time I saw them behind the garbage bins. I don't think they ever worked in my memorable lifetime either.

Agree, GP really needs to take it up just a notch on their snowmaking. You have to be aggressive for the holiday season to get enough open so people will show. I know they have the power to do it because I've seen them run full bore, and it's actually very good for a mountain of that size. And yes, there are a few lights that really should be replaced. Not sure what the operations staff do all summer.

I know contractor who worked there building a new bridge over by the shop this past summer and he said the other employees, who were supposed to be doing maintenance work, were very lazy.

I wonder if their seemingly lack of snowmaking has anything to do with the years of neglect that system has taken. I agree with you Ethan. When I made snow there we could light that place up and we didn't even have any of those fancy fan guns.

Was GP busy over the Christmas break? Was the hotel/waterpark full?

RJ I' sure you'll be shocked by this but I respectfully disagree with your assessment of what's going on at Greek.

I don't think it's any big secret they lost their asses last year as we all know it never snowed. I think what we are seeing is Greek operating within their means and still paying their bills. That's something we aren't used to seeing. Keep in mind Marc and John don't take a dime out of the place and every penny they make gets invested back into the place. How many business owners do that?!? Some could argue that in and of itself is bad business. Also remember why Marc and John bought the place. They are skiers and wanted to save hands down the best place in CNY to ski for themselves and their families, oh and the rest of us too. They've been around that place along time. I'm 100% certain they would love to have the firepower snowmaking system of Hunter (i believe someday we will) but not until it makes dollars and cents to them. They aren't all that hyped up on going out and becoming millions and millions of dollars in debt. We also have to keep in ming that Greek came with that boat anchor we call HLL. All that place does is stress the mountain side operations. Whether you have 1 guest or 1001 all systems need to be go over there. Shuttle needs to run, sidewalks need to be shoveled, parking lot and roads need to be plowed, lifeguards need to be on duty, bar needs to be staffed, chef needs to be there, dishwasher, wait staff, front desk staff, housekeeping, maintenance, store clerk, that silly spa place needs staffing etc etc. I think you know what I mean. That place has sucked the heart and soul out of Greek Peak. It never should've been built with $50 million of BORROWED money that could never have been payed back in friggin Virgil NY. Marc and John should sell that place, get the purple monkey off their backs, and ski their ever livin asses off all while counting their money

billyymc wrote

Was GP busy over the Christmas break? Was the hotel/waterpark full?

My understanding the place was full. It certainly looked like it was.

From what I could see from the hill, Trax looked really busy on New Year's Eve.  That being said, the skiing turnout that afternoon into the evening was not busy, and the conditions were actually pretty decent for that time of year, with a decent amount of terrain open.  I guess I should qualify that, if I don't have to wait in a lift line, I consider the turnout to be low.  I'm not sure about the other days (other than the free day on the 23rd, I heard that day was packed).

Camp, keep in mind that fractional ownership exists at HLL, so regardless of occupancy, many of the items you mentioned, including the shuttle, maintenance, and capital reserves are already paid for via monthly association fees. Where staffing primarily comes into play is with respect to food and beverage, the water park, and the spa. All of these should be a gravy train for the owners if they could figure out how to fill rooms. They actually booked over $1M in functions/banquets last year, so that certainly helped.

I know you don't agree, but HLL is a great asset. I would have purchased it in a heartbeat if it were not for the condition of the ski area. I also didn't believe that splitting the assets would have made sense.

They have yet to hire a manager for HLL who knows how to operate, position, and market it.

You bring up a good point regarding the fractional ownership, I did overlook that.

And yes we will agree to disagree regarding HLL being an asset. I still contend it never should've been built. From the get-go a $50 million whatever would never make it in Virgil NY and do nothing but suck money away from the ski area. It sure is purdy to look at tho.

Percentage of open terrain as of 1-5-17:

Greek Peak 44%
Song Mtn. 63%
Labrador 36%
Toggenburg 28%
Woods Valley  52%
Bristol  60%
Elk  78%
Camelback  82%
Big Boulder  73%
Jack Frost 100%
Shawnee  75%
Blue Mountain  72%
Montage 46%
Mountain Creek  67%

My apologies if I omitted any. I tried to list comparable ski areas.

I'm happy as hell Greek Peak is still on the open list  and not on the BK list

campgottagopee wrote

I'm happy as hell Greek Peak is still on the open list  and not on the BK list

Isn't that the truth.

Rj1972 wrote

Percentage of open terrain as of 1-5-17:

Jack Frost 100%

The only one that makes the Snoloco cut.

Cheers from GP Harv!!! Happy birthday!

Btw frost is about as big as my back yard and sits up on the plateau, doesn't count   I'd drive an hour and a half past it any day for even limited GP snow and terrain!

I skied GP this weekend and today. They blew massive mountains of snow on the Odyssey. It was quite a sight. They finished with Wendy's way and Castor. Now they are blowing on Alcmene and continuing on Chair 5. They may also be blowing on Marathon--not sure, as I stuck to the main mountain this morning. Chair 1 is running today instead of 1A.

Rumor on the street is that the owners are experiencing financial issues. While I heard this from a number of locals, I have yet to hear it from a reliable source. There are other rumors floating around out of Elmira, but again nothing credible.