R.I.P. Greek Peak

pro2860 wrote

Big D wrote

Yikes... saw this on WBNG TV website about the skiers picnic on Sat. 10/13/12. The clown guy surely is not using real knives????

Yikes....is that a drug sniffing dog at a skiers picnic?

Wow, glad I didn't go..sniff..sniff. I've talked to the clown before, Calamity the Clown, Clitoris the Clown, John Wayne Gacy, something like that, he freaks me out.

Yeah, page 19!

It's "Crossroads the Clown" ...

Quote from Greek's Facebook Page:
"Preparations on the hill have begun, snow making soon to begin! Make sure you are ready and contact us or stop in to purchase your season pass!!"

Looks like Greek Peak could be open weekends in November. They said they are looking to make snow possibly on Fri. Nov. 16th if the temps are cold enough. If that happens they could have 1 trail open on Sun. 11/18, I would think.

Checking my notes and they opened in 2008 on Sat. 11/22 for the weekend!

Seems as though Greek would be motivated to open weekends early if possible in order to book lodging at the Hope Lake Lodge.

Opening in 48 hours might be a bit optimistic, as they have an aging snowmaking system that lacks firepower.  Killington can pull off a 48 hour opening, but they'll also line up 75 guns on a trail in order to do so.  It would, however, be interesting to see if the manage to open for the Thanksgiving Hope Lake Lodge crowd, since the hotel obviously is their top priority.

They'll be open

I agree that their focus has been on HLL and not the hill. I think we'll start seeing a shift of focus towards the hill, if not, IMO, GP as we know it will fade away.

But who cares---I'm ready to make Ronnies Run my bitch this year

I don't know they would be thinking of starting snowmaking so soon. The extended forecast shows quite a few days in the 50's thru the end of the month.

Howdy,
Long time viewer, first time submitter.   I like skiing at GP, and definitely agree the focus has been on the lodge, then the adventure center.    The snow making is definitely aged - hopefully there will be upgrades at some point;  it'd be great if it were prior to or during this season.
Regarding the ski hill contributing to filling the rooms at the lodge, GP ran specials on Groupon and another site in October, offering two nights at much more reasonable rates than previously; but which had to be used prior to mid-December.   Sounds like the offers were a hit,  the Groupon offer sold out within 2 days.   Don't know about the other web offer but I expect it was popular also.
All that said, I and lots of others would certainly welcome a November opening, but the lodge may doing very well (esp weekends) due to the offers.
Hope the weather forecasters' long range forecast holds true to their past record (and that the area gets some consistent colder weather)!

They still can't figure out their price points.  The rates at their lodge were far too high during off season, which resulted in extremely low occupancy.  They thought the adventure center would help with occupancy, so they threw money at that venture.  Then they offered the Groupon and Travelzoo deals, which gave away the farm, and sold out within 48 hours.  They need to find that happy medium, but they refuse to hire anyone with real experience to do so.  What one pays is what one gets, and I can't image they pay very well.  I wish the bankruptcy judge and FDIC would have appointed an on-site receiver to oversee the assets as part of their restructuring deal.

pro2860 wrote

I don't know they would be thinking of starting snowmaking so soon. The extended forecast shows quite a few days in the 50's thru the end of the month.

Once we get thru today the temps will be good for snowmaking at night---it's on Pro, put those silly sticks away and get ready!!!

I always heard that Greek gets a big reduction in the electric rates for snowmaking early in the season... and the electric rate goes up after January, I think.

Clubs are put away, 3 more weeks of work, jury duty, then time for 4 more months of my early retirement program

I used to think the same, but received clarification last year, that the electricity discount is based on the number of days-- not a specific cutoff date.  They did tell me the number, but I do not recall.

Hey Zippy, I'm a full time patroller at Greek, and I haven't met YOU yet:-) Maybe we passed one another somewhere in da woods...

Acidchrist wrote

Hey Zippy, I'm a full time patroller at Greek, and I haven't met YOU yet:-) Maybe we passed one another somewhere in da woods...

hehe

You guys helped me out w/ a ride down the hill last year when i blew my knee out and made me comfortable in SP shack until the bar opened up

i'm sure we've crossed paths---our crew runs with Doc and the "Boo Crew" at times