Greek Peak Mountain Summit

Since I live in NC, I was wondering if anyone is going to GP on Sunday for this meeting? They announced it on their FB page on 29 Dec. I would love to hear what people thought of the meeting, topics discussed, future growth, etc...I know most will be skiing but thought I would give it a shot.

I'll be skiing Sunday so may poke my head in there for a few minutes to see what's up.

Come on out for the first annual Greek Peak Summit, this Sunday at 10.  This will be a chance to connect the hill management up with our very important customer's.  Ever have suggestions on snow making, grooming, trail priority, future development, and any other questions you may have, Sunday is the day.  Come join us as it will be both fun and educational for all.

This is very cool.  Really a great opportunity to connect with the GP faithful.

One thing I really like about small companies (and I work for one) - if something makes a lot of sense, it's not that hard to get it done.

Harvey wrote

This is very cool.  Really a great opportunity to connect with the GP faithful.

I agree, Harv it is really cool that Greek is doing this, tells me they care about we skiers and riders. The other really cool thing is both Marc and Jon are very approachable by anyone. They def don't walk around like they own the place even though they do.

GPPartner- Is there any way to have a summary of topics discussed posted either to your website or some other form of media? As a full share owner of one of the condos at Hope Lake Lodge I am very pleased with the direction you are going. Coming from Elmira, I know how bad the area needs places like Greek Peak, which is why my family and I invested in it.

My .02- keep up the snowmaking improvements. No sense expanding terrain if you can't cover it with snow. I would then focus on lift upgrades and hopefully future terrain expansion. It is my understanding that you own an immense amount of land suitable for terrain expansion.  If that is the case, a gradual increase in trails with snowmaking and lifts over the next 5-10 years would truly make it a destination and potentially grow the area around the resort.

Either way, best of luck and I hope the rest of the season goes well.

jjbrady wrote

 As a full share owner of one of the condos at Hope Lake Lodge I am very pleased with the direction you are going. Coming from Elmira, I know how bad the area needs places like Greek Peak, which is why my family and I invested in it.

 

That's good to hear.

jjbrady wrote

 

My .02- keep up the snowmaking improvements.

I concur, it's all about the POW baby, the POW

jjbrady wrote

My .02- keep up the snowmaking improvements.

The snowmaking on Field / Stoic on NY Eve was amazing. Lots of guns blasting away with good quality snow. Enough so it was filling in between runs and made for great skiing on those two trails.

Seems like that kind of capacity on Iliad and Odyssey, and in the park for the kids, would be a great short term (3 year) goal. Then possibly on Trojan and Mars to move people to other parts of the hill earlier. The rest of the hill can be worked by moveable guns.

My opinion might be different if we were having a great natural snow year without these damn thaws.

Good job to GP on staying open and doing the best that can be expected.

That's good to hear. Some definite expansion on GP East would be welcome.

Anyone attend the summit? I'm curious to see how it went...

Didn't go, was skiing.

Did bump into Jon and asked how it went. He said there were some good ideas and  was overall productive.

That's all I got

Maybe GP Partner (who needs an avatar btw ) will give us some more details

That's my thought as well Camp....(in my best Bill O'Reily voice) GPPartner...what say you?

I left in the fog prior to the summit, as I live several hours away, and had not been home for quite some time. I too would like to hear the outcome of the meeting. The challenge I have is that it's difficult to make suggestions when one doesn't have a clear understanding of what the vision and business plan is of the partners. Do they want to return GP to what it was back in the 70's, or are they content growing the business at a slow, but steady pace?

It's easy for me to say that I'd like to see improvements other than general maintenance, including a substantial upgrade to snowmaking, lifts, facilities, and terrain, but is it realistic for small business owners to risk $50M to make that happen when the resort can't justify a debt load of that magnitude without a very clear plan. Keep in mind that they inherited years and years of deferred maintenance, which is one reason they were able to purchase the resort for little more than the value of the land.

My suggestion would be for the owners to bring in some experts to review the facilities, demographics, marketing plan, etc. in order to make some realistic recommendations. The owners are not resort experts. They are small business owners and skiers who felt they happened upon a good business opportunity.

Thank you for your patience as I try to work my other job during the week, so have not had time to respond until this A.M.

The summit was only the beginning of an attempt to connect the customer with the staff that are making the decisions.  It is our goal that we will create a steering committee of skier's and boarder's who will have a direct line to Toby Bonham, Wes, John, and Marc and will make suggestions and decisions for the good of the Mountain.  We had some great suggestions at this meeting, but attendance was not what we had hoped and plan on future meetings.

Our vision for the mountain is to make it the best ski/snowboard resort in New York State and beyond.  All of our improvements, with few exceptions will be on the ski side and continue to be that way for a long time.  This vision has not and will not change.  One thing we are conscious of debt load and doing changes that are consistent with our business plan, and hopefully through these meetings the customer's.

Items discussed at the meeting were:
Snow making- we currently have 29-fan guns 6 tower mount guns 69 air water guns running at 2700GPM, which is significantly up from last year with the $500,000 + improvements. ( Note: we have a five year plan to continue these improvements yearly until we are state of the art) Ratnik and HKD have our master plan.

Various discussions about trail priorities and snow making efficiency took place and more will continue. WE currently keep logs of all snow making activity, incl gal/min, temp,humidity, ect.. which are available.

Grooming- discussed our new policy started last year of grooming at night, mogul runs, and other suggestions. Customer's would like to see a grooming report in the am of each day.

Visions Express has now been approved to go to 485 ft/min up from 450

Trail and lift suggestions for opening ect... More signage

Terrain Park- priority

Race Club- set up and grooming

Future- where are we going and where have we come from. ie.. snow making improvements for this year- deck- Peak Fest ect.

As far as master planners we currently are reviewing a proposal from Eco Sign, who designed Whistler and Sochi, so our Vision and Business Plan is and will always be concise and without waiver.

Best wishes and GO POLAR VORTEX!!!!

GPPartner wrote

my other job

Roger that loud and clear GPP, I know where you are coming from.

I wonder if changing the timing would help the attendance. I got invited to a very cool NELSAP event in North Creek, and it's Saturday at 5pm, so I am definitely attending.  I'm not torn between skiing or if it was Sunday... the loong drive home.  I'll ski all day, grab a quick shower and hit it.  Let's face it you are targeting the passionate skier with that meeting.

Also I agree with Camp.  Represent with an avatar!

GPPartner wrote

Thank you for your patience as I try to work my other job during the week, so have not had time to respond until this A.M.

 

THANK YOU for taking the time to respond. These ski forums are for sure weird in a lot of ways, but when Homers like me and a few others can get direct info from the ski area we love, it means a lot to us, so thanks again for taking the time.

 

GPPartner wrote

 

The summit was only the beginning of an attempt to connect the customer with the staff that are making the decisions.  It is our goal that we will create a steering committee of skier's and boarder's who will have a direct line to Toby Bonham, Wes, John, and Marc and will make suggestions and decisions for the good of the Mountain.  We had some great suggestions at this meeting, but attendance was not what we had hoped and plan on future meetings.

 

I'm glad the meeting went well and I give you guys credit for putting it together. Personally, these types of committees aren't for me. I was involved with one many years ago at a golf club I was a member at and all it did was tick me off at how disrespectful some people are, so I stay away. I'd venture a guess that maybe Sunday mornings aren't the best times for meetings as most die hard skiers will be skiing....just a thought.

GPPartner wrote

 

Our vision for the mountain is to make it the best ski/snowboard resort in New York State and beyond.  All of our improvements, with few exceptions will be on the ski side and continue to be that way for a long time.  This vision has not and will not change.  One thing we are conscious of debt load and doing changes that are consistent with our business plan, and hopefully through these meetings the customer's.

 

  

I like how you guys don't mess around. Meaning, when you do something it's top notch and not half ass'd. The bar, the pump house, tuning shop, groomer, snow guns, etc etc all state of the art. Can't wait for the deck. If it looks anything like the drawing, WOW,  it will be amazing!

GPPartner wrote

 

Items discussed at the meeting were:
Snow making- we currently have 29-fan guns 6 tower mount guns 69 air water guns running at 2700GPM, which is significantly up from last year with the $500,000 + improvements. ( Note: we have a five year plan to continue these improvements yearly until we are state of the art) Ratnik and HKD have our master plan.

 

This makes me all warm and fuzzy!!!

GPPartner wrote

 

 GO POLAR VORTEX!!!!

Twas 4 degrees when I left the Valley this morning ---- I'd say she's here now

Thanks again GPPartner, ski you on the hill

Edit to add:
I hope you guys make a GAZILLION dollars and I live long enough to see what you guys will do with GP East. The possibilities over there are amazing. Also, with your gazillion I hope when you replace chair 2 it's yellow. As you know that's always been called the yellow chair and imo it should always be called the "Yellow Chair".

Nice update GPP - thanks for taking the time and making the effort to connect with skiers and riders both here and at the mountain.

One suggestion for the quad which may be  harder to implement than it sounds -- if the line was a bit more organized there might be fewer chairs going up with one, two, or three riders. I haven't noticed a singles line, so singles often struggle to move forward and fill in empty space.

Have a question also. What is your perspective on the Song / Lab merger?

Thanks for the update GPP, you guys are doing a great job so far!

Sounds like your headed down the right trail and we look forward to enjoying the ride with ya. Couldn't make the summit but the only thing I would have commented on that I didn't see addressed above is bringing mountain biking, both lift served and xc, to the peak. Any news? I haven't heard anything since the grant letter went out to assume that didn't work out?

Let's get that LE machine cranking so I can out of PA!

I appreciate the update and insight into the vision of the partners. It clearly demonstrates a passion for the resort and skier. Wishing you the best for the ski season.

GPPartner...THANK YOU!!! Great feedback. I am very excited to see what the future has in store. I am anxious to see what the business model/future plan will be ref: terrain expansion. We are all excited and appreciative of what you are doing for CNY!