Greek Peak Conditions

tjf1967 wrote

Oh my, that a pretty cheap price to get a ride on a lift up a mountain for a  season.  What should the price be? What would make you happy?

$550 includes a lift serviced downhill mountain biking pass as well. To me it's cheap AF.

Hey on a lighter note. Being out of the loop , where do they plan on putting that lift laying in the field?

The lift laying on the ground next to Alpha is supposed to replace the Alpha lift. Its a used, newer lift acquired from another area and will be capable of multiple speeds to ease loading. Its chairs will carry three people. It was supposed to be installed last summer. Installation was delayed because the detailed site design drawings were not completed until snow was on the ground in November.

Those of us who teach really want this lift installed asap.  

Getting back to ski conditions at Greek:

Yesterday all lifts were operating and conditions were very good. Only Hercules was not open, and snow was being made on the trail. It was fairly busy for lessons and lifts. I am off today and happy about it because today is going to be insanely busy. Its sunny, 35 degrees, no wind, the tail end of a holiday week. And we were told to expect a crowd of boy and girl scout first time skiers today. So glad to have today off!

Anyway, it was a busy holiday week, except for Tuesday's light rain in the afternoon.  Ski school was slammed most days at noon, repeating a pattern I've noticed all year on weekends and holidays: We used to get big crowds at 10:00am, but that has changed to noon. If you want a smaller group lesson don't show up at noon. During the day the best time to get a smaller group is 10am, followed by 2:00 and 4:00. Yesterday there were many 10:00 and 2:00 "groups" of consisting of only one, two or three students per instructor.  We also do lessons at 6pm on weeknights, Saturdays and holidays. If you are an adult who wants a lesson you may want to avoid those days when we are full of local school clubs. Those would be non-holiday weekday afternoons after 3pm in January and February. The beginner area is crowded with first timers.

Dougski wrote

 . And we were told to expect a crowd of boy and girl scout first time skiers today.  

A group of them camped out over at chair 5 last night

Today was amazing! They filled the hole by the lodge, so my Fit and I had no problem navigating to the second row of the second lot, other than dodging a power mom who drove the wrong way to the lodge. That was the closest I could get at 9:15.

When I was in line at the quad for my third ride up, the liftie was moving the chains. When I came down, there was a dedicated single line, and someone organizing the lines. I don't think that I ever waited more than a minute or so to get on the lift. Chair 1 opened around 10:30. Iliad never got crowded, so I just stayed there. I kept thinking I should head to Trojan to avoid the crowds, but it wasn't necessary.

I left my normal time of 11:15ish. Some young kid bombed Iliad past me. That's my cue to leave.

WP

I just found that the pain in my back that I've been having for the last week since I fell off the stoop of my house is actually a broken rib. I may be done for the season.🤬

Well, that sucks! At the risk of being Pollyannaish, at least it's towards the end of the season. :P

I'll also say that as they bring in people from exotic places like New Jersey and Long Island, the place is taking on a distinct Hunter West type of vibe. The great thing about that is you can park absolutely anywhere with complete immunity.

It was pretty noticeable when the Groupons started. Joeys and Jerrys came a flocking.  

campgottagopee wrote

Dougski wrote

 . And we were told to expect a crowd of boy and girl scout first time skiers today.  

A group of them camped out over at chair 5 last night

Found this one in a trench.

Sunday at Greek was excellent. Started out firm but smooth, and softened up some as the day went on and temps rose. Everything skied very nicely except maybe Olympian which had quite a bit of ice on it - the result of a base of manmade checkered with the tracks from being groomed. Still there was enough snow on top of that to make it reasonably skiable.

Lifts all seemed to be running well, and they opened 1 to alleviate some pressure off the quad for a few hours.

We stayed much longer than planned because it never got very crowded, and had a very good lunch with great service in Trax.

About the only thing I can find to complain about is our table was a little unsteady and I almost spilled my beer.

What a day in the Valley. My wife and I rode sleds under bluebird sky's and total hero snow underneath. After our ride we hit Trax for a couple drinks with the crew before heading home. The deck was jammin with good tunes and plenty of sunshine.

I'm sorry that we missed the bluebird weekend. We plan to be back at GP later this week. I'm glad to hear that the place was hopping.

Another beautiful day! This was an excellent use of a vacation day!   I am in complete denial that I have to go to work tomorrow after three bluebird days.
I spoke with the people at the ticket counter. Parking is free at chair 5 on Spartan day.

WP

wonderpony wrote

I spoke with the people at the ticket counter. Parking is free at chair 5 on Spartan day.

WP

Get there before the lift starts to spin, 11 should be good.

Then after the lift evacuation you can go right to your car.

I rode up the other day with a guy who was evacuated. He said it was his first time being evacuated in 45 years of skiing. He was very positive about it.  He said they pulled all the professionals off the mountain to assist: ski patrol, ski school and adaptive were all there. They formed teams and had people down quickly. He was riding with a guy from adaptive, who was immediately involved in helping others be evacuated as soon as he was on the ground.

Yeah, it sucks that people had to be evacuated. Yeah, the prospect of rollback is terrifying.  

But... What are you going to do? Not ski seems to be your only choice.

I have a theory that humans are stupid. Most mornings, I get on a 1000 pound critter with a mind of his own.  One of my other favorite things to do is strap a couple of boards to my feet and go down a slippery hill.  These crazy, stupid things make me happy.  I guess that you take your chances. I have titanium in my back to prove it.  

You could be toast going to work or the mall.  I think I will continue to take my chances riding a 1000 pound critter and strapping board to my feet to go down a hill over being taken out at a mall or at work, which would be really annoying.

YMMV

WP

Back to the roll back question.  This popped up in my feed for some reason: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZWJ5l1Jzpc

My questions are: in a rollback situation, do the chairs rolling back speed up?  IOW, is it better to hang out for a bit on your rolling back chair and wait for your chair to get to a reasonably low level before jumping off, or is it better to bail a 30 feet, knowing you are going to be seriously hurt?  Waiting to be flung off a backwards spinning chair is obviously a poor choice.

WP

My guess is they speed up to some terminal velocity which is based on a whole set of factors. Chair 5 would be a tough one to bail from because it's pretty high most of the way.

A good friend of mine who skied GP all the time growing up said he was evac'd from it in the 80s.

You're spot on WP. Lift evacs happen all over at ski areas. I've been evacuated as well as evacuated others.

Very cool GP is offering parking over at chair 5 for the Spartan race. There's always such a cool vibe that day.