Greek Peak Conditions (2017 - 2018)

billyymc wrote

Big D wrote

Does anyone know about the white groomer Greek has? Someone said Greek has it on a tryout basis to see if they want to buy it.

It's a Zamboni.

pro2860 wrote

billyymc wrote

Big D wrote

Does anyone know about the white groomer Greek has? Someone said Greek has it on a tryout basis to see if they want to buy it.

It's a Zamboni.

lmao lmao lmao

that was a good one Billy

Rj1972 wrote

 I couldn’t believe how much they lost.

Yet they still are reporting 18 - 38 inch base....

pro2860 wrote

Rj1972 wrote

 I couldn’t believe how much they lost.

Yet they still are reporting 18 - 38 inch base....

Yes, they say that " in the snow making areas" ---- I'd guess that's about right, no?

campgottagopee wrote

pro2860 wrote

Rj1972 wrote

 I couldn’t believe how much they lost.

Yet they still are reporting 18 - 38 inch base....

Yes, they say that " in the snow making areas" ---- I'd guess that's about right, no?

Eh...we all know conditions reports are often inflated. I think GP's report is on the cutting edge of misleading, but anyone paying attention knows the deal. There isn't much to ski there right now. With a race taking up one of the few open trails this weekend I went for a bike ride instead.

Hopefully they can get the snowguns back out, and there appears to be some snow in the forecast. Keep your fingers crossed and next weekend could look completely different.

Greek needs to do better with snow making. I think most of us agree on that. It's not clear what's holding them back.

Why they need another groomer isn't apparent.

One thing that's relatively new, say, within the last 10 years or so, is this mentality of making snow on only half of the trail. That totally sucks imo. None of our trails are all that big to begin with so now you take an already narrow trail and cut it in half? Common!!! Make snow on the entire trail, tree line to tree line.

campgottagopee wrote

One thing that's relatively new, say, within the last 10 years or so, is this mentality of making snow on only half of the trail.

Yeah, I've noticed that. The Stoic, Mars, and so on are prime examples of only covering half the trail. They also are blowing massive mounds of snow this year, which contain a high moisture content, rather than re-positioning the guns. They groom so darn quickly without letting the water dissipate, so we end up with an ice rink. Not sure what that is all about.

In terms of the silver snow cat, GP likes to demo equipment. They demo snow guns, as well.  I too heard that they were demoing the cat, but nothing definitive. I briefly saw it Sunday morning, but could not tell the manufacturer. What I will say is that it was rather loud compared to other cats.

"In terms of the silver snow cat, GP likes to demo equipment. They demo snow guns, as well.  I too heard that they were demoing the cat, but nothing definitive. I briefly saw it Sunday morning, but could not tell the manufacturer. What I will say is that it was rather loud compared to other cats."

It is a Zamboni with a twin turbo charged V8 Detroit Diesel!

I heard they're buying it to turn it into an on-the-hill mobile Waffle Shack satellite unit.  Waffle sticks will be priced at the same reasonable rate as the base Waffle Shack, plus a nominal $40,000 delivery fee, with an 8% resort fee.

Edit to add : The resort fee kills the deal for me.

HaHa!  

I just peeked at the webcam and see that they have their base area fan guns on and tilted high in the air. With the wind, my guess is that the snow is landing over on East.  

With GP's increase in trail count this year to include the non-snow making mountain biking trails, here's the percentage of open terrain compared to the competition (plus several southern ski areas):

Greek Peak - 39%
Song Mtn - 54%
Toggenburg - 60%
Labrador - 68%
Elk Mtn - 81%
Blue Mtn - 90%
Jack Frost - 91%
Montage - 92%
Bear Creek - 96%
Mountain Creek - 96%
Spring Mountain 96%
Big Boulder - 100%
Shawnee - 100%
Camelback - 100%

Renaming the trails didn't actually affect the skiing, "just" the marketing right?

Would you rather have 50% of 30 miles of trail open, or 100% of 5 miles?  

What percentage of Woodstream is open?  :)

Harvey wrote

What percentage of Woodstream is open?  :)

Right now we're closed, but I'm anticipating 30% for the weekend as snowmaking resumes today. We really only have 1 snowmaking trail. I actually want to update the map because there are other trails I'm adding (and have already added) that will only decrease the snowmaking percentage. But it will certainly increase my trail miles.

When you get down to it, Woodstream is really all about natural snow. The snowmaking just keeps most high traffic and sun exposed terrain covered straight through the season so there is always something to ski on. It also keeps the resort looking legit from the road throughout the season.

^^See... Woodstream is all about a quality, they don't let no stinkin marketing run the show. Except for that "from the road stuff" maybe.

GP has been dead this year, and I’m concerned that when the average person views OpenSnow or Snocountry, they may make a decision where to spend their money based on the percentage of open terrain. It’s all about marketing, and while they wanted to increase their trail count this year by adding single lane mountain biking trails to their ski map, they are rarely going to be open. You should see these trails. They are not like skiing the glades. They are narrow bobsled runs with very little room to maneuver. One serious accident, and GP’s insurance company will shut them down.

Rj1972 wrote

GP has been dead this year, and I’m concerned that when the average person views OpenSnow or Snocountry, they may make a decision where to spend their money based on the percentage of open terrain. It’s all about marketing, and while they wanted to increase their trail count this year by adding single lane mountain biking trails to their ski map, they are rarely going to be open. You should see these trails. They are not like skiing the glades. They are narrow bobsled runs with very little room to maneuver. One serious accident, and GP’s insurance company will shut them down.

It's a legit point, I was being a bit facetious. Hey I work in marketing.

But do ski areas calculate percentage on number of trails or trail miles?

FWIW I agree that single track MTB trails shouldn't be marked ski trails.

This is not current, but it was taken on Jan 12 when it was 61 degrees. It was about 3:00 PM just before temps started dropping.  I'm making snow as I type, expanding my base down the hill toward where I'm standing.

Good grief RJ. What gives with you man?? Please help me understand your constant negativity for our beloved Greek Peak, I don't get it. I should think as a homeowner there you would be supportive and want the place to thrive. Is it you think somehow you poking holes in everything Greek does is helpful?? Is that it? If so, I'm hear to tell you that imo it's not helping. Are you on Kzone constantly poking at them as well?? I know there are people who do that so maybe that's just the type of person you are. Not really sure, but I'm curious to know.

You've stated GP has been dead all year. Granted I haven't been there as much as years in the past, but the handful of times I've been in Trax this year the place has been jammin! Despite the subzero temps over NYE all of their venues were sold out. But yet to you the place has been dead. Amazing!

You took a swing at them regarding having snow guns pointing up in the air? You could tell by the webcam (lmao) that the snow was blowing over to 5. WTF does that even mean. Have you ever made snow or do you just play a snowmaker on the internet. I made snow one year, granted things have changed, but in my day pointing the gun up in the air was to make the best gun pow possible. I'm sure you are right and that the snowmakers at GP don't have a clue.  What an ass.

You've stated on here that you feel you know more about the hotel biz than anyone else here. Mighty bold statement, but if true why not sit down with Marc and John and offer some of your valuable insight. I'm sure they'd love to talk to you being the book of knowledge you are. GPP has put his personal cell number out here for anyone to call. That's a classy guy. That's a guy who has passion for Greek Peak and all of it's skiers. Why not show some respect for that. Do they somehow disrespect you?

Camp, I want to see the place do well--believe me, I do.  However, I certainly am not interested in volunteering my time to be a hospitality consultant to GP. This is not a charity organization. There once was a time when my company did hotel consulting, but not any more.

I simply wanted to point out that their trail count increase has resulted in GP having the least percentage of trails open, which will not entice customers to flock there.

Some ski areas report miles open, some report acres open, and some report number of trails open. Many on-line ski reports pull their data from Snocountry, which reports number and percentage of trails open.

Regardless of where customers gather their information, GP can't afford to lose any customers due to their latest marketing scheme. If they were hell bent on boosting trail count, they could have done so by segmenting their existing snow making trails, which is what the New England ski areas did back in the 80's. I'm not a fan of this type of marketing, because it falsely alters customer expectations, but it is what it is.

Harvey, you should see these new trails. They are so narrow--there literally is no place to stop. In addition, some of them are sandwiched in between existing expert ski trails. I have no idea what they were thinking.

IMO, they need to focus on snow making and infrastructure improvements. Stop the deceptive nonsense, which drove the Binghamton customers to Elk this year, and others to Song.

Camp, I am pleased to hear that Trax has been busy. We eat at Trax and the Acorn just about every weekend. While the Acorn has been relatively dead, as you indicated, there is a nice flow in Trax. That's great to see.