Greek Peak Conditions (2017 - 2018)

Been snowing here for the last 2 hrs!!!!

campgottagopee wrote

I'm not re-hashing this with you yet again.

HaHa, yeah we seem to go down that road every few months. We are two people passionate about the same cause.

P.S., The large amount of leases is why the FDIC shut down Tennessee Financial. One thing we also learned is that the demographics changed at GP over the past couple of decades. The NYC, NJ, and Philly crowds no longer needed to drive past the Poconos and Catskills for state of the art lifts and facilities. As funny as it may seem, the triple chair at GP was state of the art when it was installed.

Rj1972 wrote

campgottagopee wrote

I'm not re-hashing this with you yet again.

HaHa, yeah we seem to go down that road every few months. We are two people passionate about the same cause.

 

Very true --- I look at it the same way. I enjoy our conversations.

 

It's called debt maintenance. Just about every farm around here is operating on debt from generations ago, that's why it's critical for farmers to keep the farm in the family. A ski resort is nothing more than a snow farm.

That's what sank GP more than once. Mom and pop farms milking 50 cows are all but extinct which is sad. It's all big automated business now, milking hundreds. The other option is to go organic. Friends of mine went all organic 8 years ago and are killing it.

campgottagopee wrote

Everything on the ski side of the road has been run into the ground. What used to be is no longer. It needs fixing/upgrading and all that cost's millions. I feel we will get there, but again, it took 50 years to run  the place right into non-existence so it will take a few years to bring it back up to par.

As a Plattekill skier, I don't see GP as being outdated. Sure, if you compare it to Windham, Okemo, Stratton, or a place like that than sure. Plattekill is arguably outdated, but it's way less outdated than it was 10 years ago. It has 2 Hall lifts meanwhile Greek has 4 Hall lifts, a new Doppelmayr quad, and a Carlevaro double with Borvig chairs.  The difference it Plattekill goes full send every year. Greek's snowmaking system may be a bit outdated, but that doesn't mean they can't use it more.

I'm pretty sure that there is a separate pump house for lift 4 and 5 Couldn't they run both pump houses and produce a lot more snow? with the number of fan guns they have with OB compressors, it seems feasible. If air is still an issue, they could rent a portable diesel Compressor. Belleayre only has one compressor. They rely on renting 4 large diesel compressors every season to make snow.

What's outdated and abused is the infrastructure. Snowmaking was neglected, patched up just to get by. Computer systems. Electrical was a nightmare, most likely still is. Lights on the hill. Shit man the GD hand dryers in the bathrooms (up until last year I think) were the same ones I serviced in the 80's. The paint on the walls. Carpet. I could go on and on.

LOL, those hand dryers! They never worked in my lifetime. I also remember skiing there one day while they were digging up a snowmaking pipe to make a repair mid-season.

Don't get me wrong, Ethan. I understand why it happened I just don't like the why. That HLL is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. The ski side of the road is getting there. They've already replaced carpet and repainted the ballroom wherre the have weddings and it still looks as fresh as the day they built it. Fresh paint in the bathrooms. The new deck is friggin amazing. Etc, etc. It's SO nice to see!

Is the lift 4 expansion to a HSQ something you see happening in the foreseeable future? Also are they planning to take 4 up higher? it looks like they were planning to at one point as there is what is left of a clearing directly above lift 4

Ethan Snow wrote

LOL, those hand dryers! Damn!

They were a pain in the ass to maintain!! I have first hand knowledge of the electrical bees nest at GP. I worked with the electrician there for a summer while I was in college (1985). That's the same year they built the current rental/repair shop building. The joke at GP was that Gary did all the electrical in such a way that he was the only one who knew what was going on as to give him job security. He was a great guy with one short Polish fuse. While they were building he and a sheet rocker got into a fight. He laid that guy right the fuck out!!!

Ethan Snow wrote

Is the lift 4 expansion to a HSQ something you see happening in the foreseeable future? Also are they planning to take 4 up higher? it looks like they were planning to at one point as there is what is left of a clearing directly above lift 4

I honestly don't know. IMO it should be down on the list of things to do. I think the concentration is, and should be, on getting our snowmaking to state of the art capability, then move on to something like chair 4 area. They did clear that out with anticipation of extending chair 4. It would be so cool if/when that day comes. There's a nice ridge in there that would open up some more nice skiing down to chair 5. I'd love to see it!!!! Hopefully I'm still alive when it happens.

Yep Yep Yep

Ethan Snow wrote

Is the lift 4 expansion to a HSQ something you see happening in the foreseeable future? Also are they planning to take 4 up higher? it looks like they were planning to at one point as there is what is left of a clearing directly above lift 4

The chair 4 replacement, and expansion of the skiing over on East was planned by the previous owners. A fixed grip quad was ordered prior to the bankruptcy to replace 1A. It was obviously never installed by the previous owners. They had also hit the metrics required (based on HLL timeshare sales) for their now defunct bank to release funds for the Chair 4 expansion, which was a year away. This was to include a HSQ from the base to the new summit, as well as terrain expansion, a possible new beginner learning area at the summit, and there was also plans for a summit lodge. However, I believe the summit lodge was not part of that phase.

All I know is that the goal of the new owners was to install a HSQ within five years of purchasing the place. I'm not certain where they intend to install it, and I wouldn't hold my breath that it's still on track to occur, as year 5 is nearly upon us.

LMAO!!!

Words on a paper --- if I shoulda coulda woulda

campgottagopee wrote

LMAO!!!

Words on a paper --- if I shoulda coulda woulda

Can you imagine if they actually did those things? The place would go under for sure. There's not enough local skier base to support it, and there's not enough draw from farther away.

Yesterday was a nice surprise mini-powder day, and the skiing was very good all over the hill. Pretty deserted by 3:00, and completely dead by 5.

Forecast is looking good.

There's a reason that there isn't a Ferrari dealership  in Cortland and they've already built quite a Ferrari in HLL right in Virgil. That said the Hotel looked to have a lot  of cars parked in the lot, it was nice to see.

Billy --- why didn't you stop by chair 5? ! ?! ?

campgottagopee wrote

There's a reason that there isn't a Ferrari dealership  in Cortland and they've already built quite a Ferrari in HLL right in Virgil. That said the Hotel looked to have a lot  of cars parked in the lot, it was nice to see.

Billy --- why didn't you stop by chair 5? ! ?! ?

Misunderstood your post from the other day...thought you guys were going to be at Trax. Reading comprehension is weak apparently. Saw the big group at 5 but didn't know what group it was. My buddy and i stopped in Trax for a couple beers and a bite - was pretty quiet there.

campgottagopee wrote

LMAO!!!

Words on a paper --- if I shoulda coulda woulda

Yeah, I hear ya!

The only definite was the fixed grip quad because that lift was on order and scheduled for installation. I concur that the Lift 4 improvements may have been a bit of a pipe dream. The crazy thing is that the bank was ready to release $13M for that project, as they had hit the percentage of timeshare sales required. I almost wish the prior owners would have been able to pull all of this off before Tennessee Financial was seized. This would have been a nice bonus for the new owners.

You guys seem to forget that HLL is fractional ownership, with costs being born by those who own timeshares. It is not a traditional hotel. Units are sold as quarter shares, some eighth shares, and some full shares. Expenses still get paid by the individual timeshare owners regardless of if they are staying there or not. Think of it as a homeowners association paying the bulk of the operating costs, with Greek Peak benefiting from spa, restaurant, and water-park sales. Timeshare owners pay not only for day-to-day expenses, but also have capital contributions for future roof replacement, paving, interior renovations. etc. It is an excellent business to be in for the developer.