Greek Peak Conditions (2018 - 2019)

The nice thing about the internet is that you can ask for anything. You may not get it, but you can ask...

And so I am asking for a real life conditions report. I have multiple options for fun things to do tomorrow (Saturday). If tonight's hotline report of "machine groomed packed powder" means the same conditions as the day I ended up backwards on the Bunny slope, then I can scratch skiing off my list. But, if conditions are good, then I am going to have to suck it up and make some hard decisions.

Thanks!

WP

I can tell you this for sure, it will be hard under what ever they can put over it tonight.
They have a lot of real estate so depends on their snow making capabilities. I skied Elk tonight was definitely hard and fast but definitely skiable ( weather the same as Elk )

WP - I was up there yesterday for a couple hours mid-day.

They were making snow on Iliad, so that was closed. Trojan was also closed - snowmaking on what appeared to be the lower half only. They had a couple guys running their new groomer on the bottom of Alcemene and setting up the last parts of the terrain park there.

Anything that hadn't been groomed, right side of Fields for instance, wasn't much fun. What remained of the little bumps there was hard on top and harder in the trough, covered by an inch or two of windblown powder.

So I mainly skied some runs down Fields and Odyssey. Both skied fine - hard for sure but I wouldn't call either one icy. Ody was better than fields IMO - probably due to less traffic. Went over to chair 5 - took the long outside run down from 4  (Arcadian Gate) which was ok as long as you paid attention. Not worth doing twice. Mars Hill was similar to Fields and Odyssey - hard but not icy. Arethusa (the last bit under Ch 5) was closed.

There was nothing to ski off Chair 4 - Herc was closed, Zues was closed (scraped down to dirt in places) and as I said Trojan was closed for snowmaking but presumably open today. Marathon was the only thing open - didn't go on it.

So I think today Fields, Iliad, Ody, and Mars would all ski fine. Trojan - maybe. Trojan has been crap all year which is really weird. I'd get there earlyish if you're going though - likely a lot of scraping down will occur today.

As usual, Chair 2 did not run. At this point I think it's safe to assume it won't run this year and we'll never know why.

billyymc wrote

 

As usual, Chair 2 did not run. At this point I think it's safe to assume it won't run this year and we'll never know why.

I think they're having issues getting people to work.

That’s not comforting in the least.

Nobody wants to work

Doesn't surprise me at all

campgottagopee wrote

Nobody wants to work

Doesn't surprise me at all

Or - nobody wants to do that job for the pay, opportunity, and conditions being offered. Let's face it, there's not a lot of growth opportunity in running a lift, so if the pay and the working environment isn't adequate you wont' get people to stay - at least not people who can do better elsewhere.

Today was actually really nice! I went with very low expectations, figuring that at the worst, I would pick up my skis and take a few runs down the Bunny slope. But, I ended up staying for two hours. I only skied off the quad. Iliad needs another grooming, imo. But, there was a really super nice strip of snow down the middle of Fields that really needed to be skied.

Chair 2 did open around 11, which helped reduce the line at the quad.

WP

Conditions were good today at Greek. A couple inches atop the groomers first thing was sublime. Then the lift issue began. When my buddy and I skied to the base around 10, the "express" quad was down. There was a considerable line at the now running 1A. We skated over to 3 only to find out 4 wasn't spinning. Patrol said 5 would open soon. I skied to the base and grabbed a shuttle bus to 5. When we got there 5 wasn't spinning, 4 people were there. The lift said something to them. I couldn't hear what. I said, "Should I get back on the bus?", one of them shook his head up and down. I got back to the base and decided to suffer the line at 1A until the bar opened. When I got there the line stretched from 1A to the quad, back to 1A. I went back in the lodge and wondered if I could ski Togg on my GP pass without the add on. Surely it would be sound business sense to allow a 20+yr consecutive season pass holder this courtesy considering the situation. I forgot I was at Greek Peak. I asked if I had it straight that 3 chairs that should be spinning are down, but you won't let me ski on my pass at a hill owned by the same people, nice. I told them perhaps I'll buy an Elk pass next season. I won't, they're friggin $800.

All of this was after last Sunday. Holiday weekend, foot of fresh snow, chair 4 didn't spin till 10.

Looks good to me. You guys getting snow today?

Definitely a rough start to the day. I got to 5 at 10, and left at 10:15. When I got to the base at the main mountain, I was told by a pissed off skier that neither the quad or 1 were running. Some people left, some went over right Bunny slope to head for 4. I had parked in the far lot and figured I might as well take a few Bunny slope and Trojan runs. Then, I saw someone leave the Bunny slope line, skating back to the quad, which was up again. All the chaos meant that there were very few skiers at the quad. I had Iliad pretty much to myself.

I did ride up with patrol once, and overheard that 5 finally opened up at 10:53. Glad I didn't wait.

Oh, and the skiing was great!!!

WP
 

Yes the skiing was excellent today. They need to sort their frickin lift issues out damn soon.  Constantly breaking down, lots of long long stops. It feels like something is going very wrong at Greek in regard to their lifts. I heard yesterday people were jumping off one of the lifts that either stopped for a long time or rolled back...I forget which now because the tales of lift issues at Greek seem endless.

The parking again was a cluster. People parked on the walkthrough area by the creek because the signage isn’t adequate. Do the owners and management give a shit about anything there besides Trax?

billyymc wrote

Yes the skiing was excellent today. They need to sort their frickin lift issues out damn soon.  Constantly breaking down, lots of long long stops. It feels like something is going very wrong at Greek in regard to their lifts. I heard yesterday people were jumping off one of the lifts that either stopped for a long time or rolled back...I forget which now because the tales of lift issues at Greek seem endless.

The parking again was a cluster. People parked on the walkthrough area by the creek because the signage isn’t adequate. Do the owners and management give a shit about anything there besides Trax?

Yeah, some asshat in a new Hyundai turbo, Cornell student?, parked 10" from my driver's door. Slammed my door into his car pretty good trying to get in. I'm way too fat for 10" these days. Had to climb over from the passenger side, 5 speed, real fun. Wanted badly to slam my door into his car from the inside, or kick his door in once I pulled out, but just left a note admiring his parking job and telling him to expect damage if he parks that close again. I got almost to Marathon when I thought about what I should've done, taken his whipers blades off. Lazy dick probably wouldn't have noticed until he turned them on to clear the snow, probably scratch the shit out of his windshield. Was not a good day to drive without whipers. Almost turned around to do it, but what's the point?' He'd probably bitch to Greek and have them check their footage and I'd be charged with theft, or vandalism.

Here's what my note probably looked like by the time he left.https://youtu.be/bOp5wP5vxFM

Harvey wrote

Looks good to me. You guys getting snow today?

Harv - there was a couple inches of new snow overnight, and then we had several squalls throughout the day that added up to an inch or a bit more. That combined with the temperatures made the snow very nice.

But Greek appears to be having some real lift issues. It wasn't just yesterday, it's been all year. But yesterday was probably the worst I've seen it. When I walked out with my buddy it was right when their two lifts serving the most terrain both were down as described by Cornhead and WP. The only way to get anywhere for a bit was the really old, slow, beginner slope lift. We skated to that just like a hundred other people, and suffered through that mess.The quad did start loading again but was moving really slowly and we didn't want to risk getting on it and getting stuck.

I think a lot of the locals are probably really unhappy with the way thing are at Greek this year.

They're getting similar feedback on their facebook page, but are dead silent on the issues.

Maybe they're just trying to create a sense of urgency

Chair 4 didn't spin till 10 on Sunday 1/20, foot of fresh snow, holiday weekend.

The fact they wouldn't let me ski Togg on my GP pass when they were having all these lift problems says a lot about the management at GP, pathetic.

Cornhead wrote

 

The fact they wouldn't let me ski Togg on my GP pass when they were having all these lift problems says a lot about the management at GP, pathetic.

Curious as to why you feel they should've let you ski Togg with a GP pass

Really, they own the place, I paid for a season's pass to Greek, they can't manage Greek properly. Too much to ask? Homer, and you don't even ski there anymore.

Cornhead wrote

Really, they own the place, I paid for a season's pass to Greek, they can't manage Greek properly. Too much to ask? Homer, and you don't even ski there anymore.

It's simple --- your pass is to Greek, not Tog. They sell a combined pass so if you want to ski both places buy the combined pass, right? So yeah, imo, looking for something for nothing is too much to ask for.

No we don't ski anymore. We ride sleds at still support out local hill with our money at Trax year round. Having that place right in our backyards is super fun.

campgottagopee wrote

Cornhead wrote

Really, they own the place, I paid for a season's pass to Greek, they can't manage Greek properly. Too much to ask? Homer, and you don't even ski there anymore.

It's simple --- your pass is to Greek, not Tog. They sell a combined pass so if you want to ski both places buy the combined pass, right? So yeah, imo, looking for something for nothing is too much to ask for.

No we don't ski anymore. We ride sleds at still support out local hill with our money at Trax year round. Having that place right in our backyards is super fun.

Sweet, I'm glad Greek is committed to having a bar for snowmobilers. I think after 25yrs it may be time to pay up for Elk. Greek will probably have the balls to raise their season pass prices after the fiasco this year has been. Happy sledding!

Hey, isn't drinking and sledding illegal? Oh, you probably go there for the $10 hamburgers, or is it the $1.30 apiece wings?

Cornhead wrote

Sweet, I'm glad Greek is committed to having a bar for snowmobilers. I think after 25yrs it may be time to pay up for Elk. Greek will probably have the balls to raise their season pass prices after the fiasco this year has been. Happy sledding!

Cornhead - I'll bet you a beer you're wrong. I think they will definitely raise their season pass pricing. And maybe even pull another stupid promo stunt where they sell 50 passes at price X before bumping it up to the next level (which earned them recognition in Ski Area Management's list of "worst" marketing for 2017-2018: https://www.saminfo.com/the-magazine/this-issue/item/164920-sam-s-annual-best-and-worst-in-marketing-2017-18?start=1 )

My college age kids definitely did not get enough value from their passes this year - so not buying them passes for next year. One is to far away to ski on weekends and the other is closer to the Catskill areas.

As for me I'm already debating if I'll get a GP pass next year. Between the F'd up lifts and the equally F'd up parking I'm leaning toward not. Possibly go back to Song/Lab, or possibly just don't do a local season pass and get a multi-mountain product instead. There are cheap ways to ski Song and Lab especially during the week. Throw a couple nights at Greek in the mix and that would round out a season with more variety at similar cost.

Greek does not care about the locals, who they think won't go elsewhere in large numbers (so far they've been right I think). Their focus is on bringing in money from NJ, downstate NY, and eastern PA.