Greek Peak, 12/13/14

[Cornhead]

Date(s) Skied: 12/13/14

Resort or Ski Area: Greek Peak

Conditions: Packed Powder

Trip Report:
Headed up to my home hill for the first time after last week's snowstorm. Conditions were quite good. Our first run was down the recently opened Elysian Fields. The groomed snow was soft for the most part, it was icy with a few death cookies in the flat spot between Fields and Stoic, no biggie, just had to be light on your skis through the flats. Our second run was down Alcmene, the bottom half was a little firm with minimal coverage, thin and bare signs were posted on the bottom half. We bombed one run down the groomed half of Iliad next, skied great. It was now time to test the ungroomed side if Iliad. It didn't ski terribly, but the bumps were a tad firm early in the morning. The snow didn't allow for any slarving, and you felt like you could easly catch an edge and be tossed at any moment. We decided to stick to the groomers until things softened up a bit.

We decided to take a ride on chair two with the hopes of poaching Aesop's Glade. As we approached the top of the hill we noticed people dropping into Aesop's. Lo and behold, Aesop's was actually open. It skied well, but rock skis were a big plus, no base to speak of.

The coated trees made for a Wintry scene

Aesop's

More Aesop's

Upper Aesop's

Unofficial glade, skier's right Elysian Fields

I heard some clearing had taken place in here, but it didn't look any cleaner, still a lot of downed small trees, skied well though.

As the day wore on, and warmed, the ungroomed halves of Fields and Iliad skied much better. I didn't poach the closed Odyssey or Olympian, but they probably skied well except for the usual water bars on the lower parts. It was a good day at GP, the only downside was the flat light all day.

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[ScottySkis]

Flat light and some fog at hunter to yesterday. Pictures look sweet lookout for another west NY tier area I hope to try soon m

 

[doublediamond]

I was there on the 11th while it was snowing. Great skiing. Didn't bother to make a report as I was too busy skiing to take pics. Every good report needs pics.

I just want to say things are really starting to be looking up for GP. The A#1 most visible improvement is snowmaking. It's not much, but the new mountain ops manager has gotten them to install towers all the way down Fields --> Stotic save one hydrant on Fields. 5x Impulse, then empty, then 1x old HKDs and the MTS fan at the pumphouse. Watched them build and install the SnoLogic gun in the middle of the intersection (their low-pressure point) and Stotic has 10x old HKDs and a Ratnik Baby Snow Giant X-2 tower along with the MTS fan at the base. There were 2x more old HKDs on Meadows and at least 6x in storage on a trailer at the bottom. Some NY ski area was offering a bunch over the summer, GP must have jumped on them. Seeing a main trail lined with [mostly] low-E guns was a site you'd see anywhere else 20 years ago. Glad GP has made it to the 20th century with snowmaking.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that they haven't been wasting time taking snowguns down off the mountain when they weren't making snow. They'd always waste time putting all the guns in storage if they shut down the system and waste more time and money carting them back out just before turning them on. That's gotta save a few bucks across the season between snowmobile fuel and labor.

The buy-online is a real hit. Standing in "line" at 11, the lady in front of me also did it. Spent $26 online as opposed to their early-season window rate of $46. And I like the closing of Taverna following breakfast and concentrate ops in Trax. Early season mid week, few people. Makes sense, and forces customers into the more expensive venue (with better food). These guys know what they're doing.

Unfortunately, I found out some bad news about the quad. It can't run at 600 fpm like they claimed when they ordered it; or 550 fpm like their "math" claimed when they announced its specs; let alone it can't run 500 fpm. Currently running 425 fpm and is geared/designed for 485 fpm. They have a preliminary variance to run it at 485 fpm, but need a load test for braking distance. Load test has not been scheduled. I know the off-ramp was ice following the initial load test so they may wait untill the new year. IDK how they'll break it to the masses. Their old ownership PR lies/nonsense will unfortunately still bite them in the a$$.