Greek Peak, NY: 01/08/26

[jamesdeluxe]

Early last week, Jason and I were comparing notes about skiing on Thursday because it looked like a sunny day with above-freezing temps before the likely gully washer forecast for Friday and Saturday. He was planning on Belleayre while my wife and I were headed up to Central New York for the first time in six years and decided on using our Indy Passes at Greek Peak. We got the better end of the deal as the Catskills stayed cold and overcast while upstate cleared up, hit 40 degrees, and had soft, pleasant conditions more appropriate for late March than early January.

Arriving at 10:15 after a three-hour drive, here's Greek's lower pitch alongside the creek:

Although I counted 75 cars in the parking lot, it was a complete private-ski-area experience: no one on the trails and ski-on chairs. Since it was my first day this season (and her first day in several years), we warmed up with the mellow groomers on the far looker's left. Mars Hill:

The snow was springtime perfect:

Aresthusa Way:

The glades were also in nice shape and easy to rip down at full speed. Alsos had the best snow so I did it four times:

The bottom of Lift 5: the green light is gone

Heading back to the main sector via Poseidon:

Lower Electra's power line, famed in song and story:

Lift 4: infamous for dripping grease on ski coats back in the day:

I always loved the Greek theme.

As I've grumbled before -- while the graphic treatment of the rounded ridgeline in the current logo in the pic above is topographically accurate, its corporate feel leaves people cold. They should revert back to the inspired original.

Following our classic northeastern (spring) ski day, we finished with late-afternoon beers and vittles at Trax pub:

What continues to fascinate about Greek Peak -- mentioned by @EMSC in his February 2022 report -- is the odd sensation of destination-visit accoutrements (hotel, water park, four-season activities) tacked onto a resolutely old-school ski area with lifts and base infrastructure from the 1960s and 70s. That said; they deserve props for the solid grooming, investments in snowmaking, and a pleasant pub/restaurant on the second floor of the base lodge. I'll certainly go back later this season to cash in my second Indy Pass ticket.

 

[EMSC]

I had to switch from phone to computer to see this awesome TR.

The east side is certainly perfect for low angle groomers. Also love that the Electra is back to being a thing after decades of being off limits.

I never understood the triple chair loading with cattle pens and lights, etc... makes no sense. Everyone else just has normal lift bumps for triple chairs (and even quads).

Apparently no runs on the main face?

Certainly looking forward to a second GP TR. Don't forget to include the Zeus and Olympian!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I never understood the triple chair loading with cattle pens and lights, etc... makes no sense. Everyone else just has normal lift bumps for triple chairs (and even quads).

As everyone knows, the lift situation there is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. A younger guy on NY Ski Forum, snoloco, seems to have a PhD-level of knowledge about uphill transport and snowmaking. Maybe @Harvey can dig out his review of Greek's infrastructure as I couldn't find it.

Apparently no runs on the main face?

We lapped the East sector for the first couple hours (where I took most of my pix) because the sun had warmed up the snow so nicely and moved to the north-facing front sector during the afternoon after it had softened. The run of the day was Alcmene under the 1a lift with perfect sugar. Did it multiple times.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Also love that the Electra is back to being a thing after decades of being off limits.

I remembered this 2008 thread about how the status of trails, glades, safety bars, etc. at Greek and other ski areas goes back and forth between open, restricted, and then open again depending on a variety of factors.

 

[ChrisC]

my wife and I were headed up to Central New York for the first time in six years and decided on using our Indy Passes at Greek Peak. We got the better end of the deal as the Catskills stayed cold and overcast while upstate cleared up, hit 40 degrees, and had soft, pleasant conditions more appropriate for late March than early January.

Impressive conditions for Central New York.

I remembered this 2008 thread about how the status of trails, glades, safety bars, etc. at Greek

I have seen glades come and go over the years at Greek Peak. I believe the Alsos glade used to be called Aesop's glade, which is more in line with Greek Peak's naming theme.

And I have no idea what is going on with the old Ronnie's Run (I thought it was a remembrance of a first-generation/OG ski patroller killed in a Chilean avalanche??). But now it's cleared from Atlas to Castor as a massive glade and renamed Aesop's?

The owners (Krygers and others) have really cleared out the forest between old school runs and added new ones and glades. I highlighted the areas (in red) that are most interesting to me.

 

[EMSC]

The 3 glades worth the effort at GP IMHO are the 3 I've numbered below; though two of them are still not in-bounds.

For #1 you have to both know where you are going and need to stage a car on the road (unless you like walking - a lot).
#2 was always called Rough Rider Glade by the locals until GP made it an official glade 10 or so years ago. Many, many threats by patrol to pull my pass when ducking into there over the years. We even maintained the heart of it but not edges in the summer too. Idea was to keep it looking very thick on the edges, but then go sneak in and ski some great open trees.
#3 we used to simply call Olymp Glade (you know we had to try to sound cool and not use the full trail name, lol). Very steep and relatively rare for there to be enough snow at that 40 degree pitch up top, but oh so worth it when conditions did line up.

And yes Ronnies Run got renamed and the rest of the glades while not all terrible are too obvious and skied out. YMMV

 

[ChrisC]

The 3 glades worth the effort at GP IMHO are the 3 I've numbered below; though two of them are still not in-bounds.

Interesting, I never knew about these. Although I do remember some skiers ducking into the woods, and voices to the skier's left of the Trojan ski trail.

#3 we used to simply call Olymp Glade (you know we had to try to sound cool and not use the full trail name, lol). Very steep and relatively rare for there to be enough snow at that 40 degree pitch up top, but oh so worth it when conditions did line up.

Assume that was maybe a once per winter phenomena, if that. I remember when Greek Peak would stick a single snow gun at the top of the headwall, trying to spray snow (ice) forward onto the steep section. I was never even sure how much snowmaking Olympian even had - always seemed a bit ad hoc.

A lot of these glades were closed or could not be created in the 1980s, which was an overall ski industry, insurance-related trend - especially on the East Coast.

Looks like Ronnie's Run was around relatively early in Greek Peak's history.

I heard a Ronnie ski patrol/avalanche story, but NYSkiBloggers think Ronnie was an OG critical in developing Greek Peak and died in a motorcycle accident.

• According to discussions among longtime skiers and locals, “Ronnie” was a local skier / motocross enthusiast who regularly skied and rode in the Greek Peak area and was known for skiing the spur that became Ronnie’s Run.
• That same source claims that Ronnie died in a motorcycle accident, and fellow skiers started calling that line “Ronnie’s Run” in his memory

By the 1990s, Ronnie did not matter (nor the Atlas ski run), and it became a wall-to-wall glade. I don't think this is accurate, since both Ronnie's and Atlas were cut runs. I have no idea how much thinning occurred between runs.

But American Society quickly forgets when something is a Memorial, and will eventually relabel it:

 

[jamesdeluxe]

We only skied #1 and the right edge of #2 last week because they were low-angle enough for my wife. Both were in beautiful sugary condition. IIRC, Aesop's (in the middle) had some bare spots.

 

[EMSC]

We only skied #1

Sort of. You did the main low angle official glade next to Mars Hill. #1 I'm referring to requires that you take a hard left turn shortly after entering the glade and going down the pitch/hillside towards the creek and then near the bottom of the pitch making a hard right to traverse to get you to the very corner of the road has just gotten over the creek and is like 1/3 of a mile walk (or drive) to get back to the triple chair.

So in map terms below, you and your wife did the light blue line for the official glade, The Extended Also's glade is roughly the pink box with required staged car or a very long walk (maybe 1/3 mile?). One nice part was that you entered at the same spot as the official glade so no patrollers on the lift or skiing the main trail had any clue you were going OB for some side country.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

you and your wife did the light blue line for the official glade

I only have a half dozen GP visits but I know enough that without a hard right on the northfacing section in your purple diamond, you'll end up in someone's backyard. As mentioned, we just wanted to keep it low-angle, especially in the trees.

Moreover, my wife does not take kindly to walking back to lifts in ski boots. She still reminds me of schlepping back to the Belleayre parking lot from a beautiful run down abandoned Highmount and 20 years later, she hasn't forgiven me for making us hump out of a terrain trap for half an hour after I got greedy following untracked pow at Lech.

 

[EMSC]

you'll end up in someone's backyard.

Oh for sure I'm not recommending this glade for your recent trip at all. Vast majority of folks don't even know it's there/possible (TINY handful of even the locals have ever skied it).

And interestingly you wouldn't end up in a backyard, you'd end up in the creek which cuts directly against that hillside (and quite a steep drop off/cliffs on the bottom 10-20 verts too!).

 

[Tony Crocker]

hump out of a terrain trap for half an hour after I got greedy following untracked pow at Lech.

Small potatoes compared to our last day in Zermatt in 2014.

I got greedy with the powder and followed tracks into the trees on the lowest 500 vertical of Hohtalli. Liz broke off partway in and followed a track that led to a blind rollover into much steeper trees. She decided to climb back up, and I decided to wait for her rather than go down to the lifts at Gant. As a result we both arrived at Gant at 4:40PM, 20 minutes after the lifts had closed. No one was there, so I called the phone number on the trail map and was informed that it would cost 270CHF to turn the gondola back on. So we chose to do a little hiking.............our hotel, where we arrived 6:15PM.

But Liz was a happy camper because

This was probably the most powder Liz had skied in one day.

This was before Iceland 2015 or Japan 2016.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

love that the Electra is back to being a thing after decades of being off limits.

Not of tremendous importance but I have a request for information about Electra on Harv's forum. Will post when I get an answer. I should've just glided down and checked it out myself.

 

[ChrisC]

Electra's utility lines were replaced pre-2000 (Late 80s/90s??). There were really bad wooden poles (3 or 4), and the powerlines nearly sagged to a skier's head. I don't really recall any padding. The new metal, taller powerlines are much better.

However, after the Vermont Supreme Court's 1978 Decision regarding a (drunk) 21-year-old tripping over a bush, then hitting a rock on a beginner run, becoming a paraplegic ($1.5M Award), the insurance ramifications filtered down. In the 1980s, Greek Peak closed everything that was fun: Electra, glades (Aesop's in Greek Peak East), skiing unmarked woods, outlawed jumping/building kickers, and chasing skiers down for infractions. All ski areas did this.

Not of tremendous importance but I have a request for information about Electra on Harv's forum. Will post when I get an answer. I should've just glided down and checked it out myself.

Greek Peak wrote its own history of Electra for its grand reopening in Winter 2022/23

In addition to the snow-making upgrades, Electra, a natural-snow ski trail, is returning this coming ski season. Not active since the 1980’s, Electra is a natural snow trail nearly 2,000 feet long with 300 feet of vertical that runs parallel with Zeus.​

New Trails and Infrastructure Updates Announced - Greek Peak Mountain Resort

New Trails and Infrastructure Updates Announced November 16, 2022 CORTLAND, New York (November 1, 2022) – Greek Peak Mountain resort is progressing in its efforts with over $1.3 million in snow-making infrastructure and lift upgrades projected to be completed by the start of the 2022-2023 ski...

www.greekpeak.net

Oh for sure I'm not recommending this glade for your recent trip at all. Vast majority of folks don't even know it's there/possible (TINY handful of even the locals have ever skied it).

And interestingly you wouldn't end up in a backyard, you'd end up in the creek which cuts directly against that hillside (and quite a steep drop off/cliffs on the bottom 10-20 verts too!).

I never would have thought this glade/trees down to the Greek Peak Access road would be possible, given the topography. You guys spent A LOT of time in the woods to come up with that one!

Even the Olympian trees -looker's right- does not seem totally probable, but the headwall in the woods seems to have some spacing due to steepness. And even a narrow egress line down below.

Moreover, my wife does not take kindly to walking back to lifts in ski boots. She still reminds me of schlepping back to the Belleayre parking lot from a beautiful run down abandoned Highmount and 20 years later,

There really isn't an exit back to Belleayre from Highmont - still today. I got caught in Belleayre's old Cathedral Brook (now closed?) runout to nowhere, and had to hike back out.

The Mittersill area - now annexed by Cannon was similar. One could ski and pole a bit to get to the top of the old Mittersill from the Cannon trail network on a beautiful ridge with stunted trees. However, the return was always iffy due to low snowfall and low elevation, and overgrown-to-non-existent connector trails.