Greek Peak's last Opening Day?

New member to the forum here. Been reading for a long time, but I thought I'd chime in with my two cents on the thought of Cornell being involved in GP going forward.

I would be shocked to see Cornell invest some $$ into Greek Peak, even with its Ivy League endowment. With the giant multi-billion dollar tech campus Cornell is building on Roosevelt Island in NYC (not to mention a push to make individual athletic programs as financially independent as possible over the next few years), I would imagine supporting a ski resort is out of the question for the university. While GP certainly benefits from its proximity to Cornell and Ithaca College (my alma mater), I just don't see it making financial sense for either one of those schools.

I do hope GP gets its act together, one way or another. The East side of the mountain is some of the most fun I've ever had (that is, until I finally made it to Gore last winter!)

Al

Big D wrote

How about Cornell University. Perhaps they could take possession of everything (deep pockets). Cornell's ski race team trains at GP now. Maybe have management and marketing courses involving the ski area and hotel. Maybe they could put in an 18 hole golf course as a tax write-off or build an agricultural center. Perhaps build some classrooms... etc.

Great idea---if that were to hapen we'd have the best of the best

I wouldn't count on Cornell doing anything. Their beautiful Robert Trent Jones design golf course had an antiquated irrigation system that involved dragging hoses around whenever they watered. The system didn't get modernized until one of their alums ponied up the money for the entire project in the early 2000' s. He also paid for their hideous new pro shop (that he designed) that included three of the four walls made of glass. (affectionately known as the "crystal cathedral")

Debbie downer^^^^^

Just win the US open and you buy it!!!

lol...you must remember the story...Matt Cone was superintendent at the course that the guy owned ( that also needed irrigation updating) and he was totally pissed that he paid for Cornell and not his own course! Matt was still dragging around hoses..

lmao, i do now!!!

Any idea why they halted snow making today at 10:30AM, while it was still 20 degrees outside?  Very weird.

Rj1972 wrote

Any idea why they halted snow making today at 10:30AM, while it was still 20 degrees outside?  Very weird.

Because that's typical GP BS.  They see the potential for some snow in the forecast so the cheap out and stop making new snow. What they should do is start laying down a base on some new trails, instead of counting on a storm which might not live up to the potential.  Even the high end estimates aren't going to leave a very deep base.

They should keep making snow, but that costs money. GP management consistently makes bad, short sighted decisions.  But don't worry, they won't be making them much longer.

I am completely dumbfounded.  To think that they are banking on the storm is insane--especially since it now looks like the storm totals have been downgraded by a few inches.  Instead they are going to gamble on the next 24 hours during Christmas/New Years week.  I sure hope that storm pans out and they were right to pull the plug on snowmaking.

Rj1972 wrote

I am completely dumbfounded.  To think that they are banking on the storm is insane--especially since it now looks like the storm totals have been downgraded by a few inches.  Instead they are going to gamble on the next 24 hours during Christmas/New Years week.  I sure hope that storm pans out and they were right to pull the plug on snowmaking.

Yeah - quite frustrating.  And to top it off, they'll groom the h-ll out of it tonight, ruining most of the powder for tomorrow.

We got a foot

with no base i hope they groom it

as long as ma-natch behaves it's game on

Today was sweet.  Although they groomed, there were untracked areas all day.  Lifts didn't exactly open as intended, but they finally opened 1 after lunch.  I'm not sure if chair 5 ever opened.  I know they ran some cats back there, but Poseidon looked to be a rocky mess.  

Now they need to re-think the halting of their snowmaking, as there is no base.  Weeds are sticking up on the Fields, and most natural snow areas are scraped to the dirt. It's not very impressive to the general public not to have a single snow gun going--especially given their minimal coverage.

Rj1972 wrote

Today was sweet.  Although they groomed, there were untracked areas all day.  Lifts didn't exactly open as intended, but they finally opened 1 after lunch.  I'm not sure if chair 5 ever opened.  I know they ran some cats back there, but Poseidon looked to be a rocky mess.  

Now they need to re-think the halting of their snowmaking, as there is no base.  Weeds are sticking up on the Fields, and most natural snow areas are scraped to the dirt. It's not very impressive to the general public not to have a single snow gun going--especially given their minimal coverage.

Why the hell do they wait so long to run 1....that's been driving me crazy for years. Put the dang t-bars back in and RUN CHAIR ONE.

there, i feel better.

glad you got the goods

campgottagopee wrote

Why the hell do they wait so long to run 1....that's been driving me crazy for years. Put the dang t-bars back in and RUN CHAIR ONE.

there, i feel better.

glad you got the goods

They waited today until after 1:00.  I asked a liftie at 1A around 10 if he thought it would open and he just shook his head no with a grim look on his face.  I think they opened it because after lunch the entire race team with parents came out of the race shack all at once - just as my daughter and I were getting on 1A.  You could tell 1A was going to be a mess with that many people plus the general public finishing up lunchtime so we went to 2 and 4.

5 never opened.  THe phone line  said it was going to open at 11. At 11 we were riding Ch 4 and asked the liftie at the top if 5 was opening - he said he had just called and was told no.  

They did not open Zeus, Herc, Odyssey, or Olympian - although there were certainly enough people poaching Zeus and Herc that they might as well have opened them.  I asked ski patrol at the top of Herc if either was going to open - he said no, that management told them not to open those.

Not a single snow gun going that I could see.  They could have been blasting Mars Hill to get Ch5 open tomorrow - but they aren't

What they 're doing is operating the place like one would operate to conserve cash, and solely to conserve cash.  I don't have a good feeling about their ability to stay open for the entire season.

The skiing was good today. Even Aesops was open and skiable as long as you didnt' venture too wide.

crazy, just crazy....there should've been guns a blazin' and sleds dragging hose all over that hill today.

I fear the writting is on the wall

let's hope for good snow to keep us going the rest of this year, AND that the new owners really take notice of what THEIR skiers/riders/guests want.

I hope they didn't blow through the $1.8M FDIC loan already.  The Lodge has been full nearly every weekend since they ran the Groupon and Travelzoo promotions, so that's a good sign.  Hopefully people are also spending some money.  The lifts were fairly full today, albeit no lines once lift 1 opened.

I really want to see the Krygers work something out, as they will go ballistic if the place goes to auction.  Fortunately, they have a few options before them, but only time will tell.

Rj1972 wrote

 
I really want to see the Krygers work something out, as they will go ballistic if the place goes to auction.  Fortunately, they have a few options before them, but only time will tell.

I used to feel the same way, and honestly part of me still does(only cause they are locals), BUT I'm really getting sick and tired of all the false promises. I'm not even talking about major capitol improvements. I'm talking about little things that they can control right now. Take today for instance. WE GOT A FOOT OF SNOW----do you think they posted that anywhere??? NOPE. They claim trails, lifts, will open only to have that not come true. They continue to post, "we'll be making snow as temps allow", nope, nadda, nuttin. All you hear in line at 1A are peeps bitching about chair 1 not running------ run chair 1---seriously, WTF.

As for an auction, well, it didn't seem to bother them when they didn't pay their contractors (locals to boot) that did a lot of work for them building that hotel. Karma, it's a funny thing.

maybe I'm just grumpy cause i couldn't ski today---not sure

Labrador continues to look better and better

If GP makes it to mid-march and starts selling next years seasons passes, at the early deadline April 15th, who would feel like taking a gamble that present owners are able to open next year. I think Senator Shummer and the FDIC had better come up with a GUARANTEED refund to purchasers - maybe guarantee an 80% cash refund if they do not open, because I would hate for some bankruptcy judge deciding if pass-buyers would get any refund and how much.

Big D wrote

If GP makes it to mid-march and starts selling next years seasons passes, at the early deadline April 15th, who would feel like taking a gamble that present owners are able to open next year. I think Senator Shummer and the FDIC had better come up with a GUARANTEED refund to purchasers - maybe guarantee an 80% cash refund if they do not open, because I would hate for some bankruptcy judge deciding if pass-buyers would get any refund and how much.

Big D - it's going to be a tough decision to get our family season passes for next year - especially if the have the gall to raise prices.

If they manage to find new owners, I have to believe the new owners would honor season passes or they'd lose a whole lot of customers right away.  

Website says they are making snow today on several trails. If they'd been blowing all day yesterday they could open those trails today, including Chair 5 area.

BTW, they  never changed their phone message all day yesterday...so even after the decision at 11 to not open Ch 5, the phone line still said it would be open...I checked it around 9 pm.

They have been making snow all day on the fields, stoic, mars, and poseidon.  They also had guns going on the Alpha slope.  For the life of me, I can't figure out why they had two fan guns going in the old tubing center. What is that all about?