Greek Peak Conditions

Copied from our local paper's FB page


Greek Peak Mountain Resort is tucked away in the southern hills of Cortland County, but it has played host to ski enthusiasts from all over the country since its humble beginnings in 1958. Starting with just a mere four ski trails and an A-frame lodge at the base of the mountains, the resort has grown both physically and in terms of what they can offer for the adventurous types it attracts.
The resort was founded by members of Cortland Ski Club after they did a flyover of the region to scope out the mountains. The opening day on Jan. 11, 1958, was celebrated with a ski parade down Main Street in the City of Cortland and a visit from then-Governor William Averell Harriman. Greek Peak had the first chair lift structure in New York State, according to President Wesley Kryger, and has been expanding ever since those first opening days.
One of the biggest additions to Greek Peak has been the indoor water park and lodging accommodations just down the street from the original ski resort location. The ski side of the business is still the primary money maker, but having alternative streams of revenue was a major motivating factor for the further development in the area.
“A lot of the industry, not just Greek Peak, but other ski resorts, started to expand into the summer business to try to spread the risk, so to speak,” Kryger said. “Back in the early 2000s there was the realization that the climate was changing and it was really difficult to make a successful business out of something that operated basically four months a year. It doesn’t totally equal the ski resort side, but it has been profitable business venture.”
Greek Peak Mountain Resort has the indoor water park, an event center, lodging, hiking, a mountain coaster, concessions and more in addition to the ski slopes that started it all. While all of this has been extremely lucrative for the business and creating profit outside of ski season, that also means that there’s more work to be done in the off season than before.
“I think when it was just a ski resort there was a lot more time in the summer to do things,” Kryger said. “Now it’s seven days a week, 24 hours a day, so it’s a lot of work. We do pretty well from a year-round standpoint. Our slower months are May and June and then September and October, but other than that it’s fairly steady.”
A lot of the improvements to the ski slopes happened throughout the ’70s and ’80s. The resort started out with a dependency on natural snowfall, but when snowmaking became a viable option for ski resorts, Greek Peak made sure to include that technology in their operation. The snowmaking machines lengthen the season on either end and provide good quality powder for winter sports, and they’re still continuing to make advancements today in this area.
Hope Lake Lodge, the most recent addition to the Greek Peak compound, was finalized and opened in 2009. The process of making the lodge a reality wasn’t always smooth sailing, though, especially during the financial crisis in 2008.
“The bank that originally financed Hope Lake Lodge got in financial trouble and that’s when the economy kind of crashed,” Kryger said. “The bank had said that we had to find a new bank to take over the mortgage. Long story short, because the economy was bad no other bank would take over the mortgage so it forced it into a bankruptcy.”
The company was purchased out of bankruptcy by John Meier and Marc Stemerman, who managed to finish what had been started at get the resort back on its feet. Now Meier is the sole owner and has invested largely in the business to make sure it remains a strong staple of the region.
Greek Peak makes sure to do plenty of outreach with community organizations, because Kryger knows how important it is to maintain a good relationship with the other businesses and residents in the region. They host events for nonprofits and make donations to programs whenever possible and take their responsibility in the local economy very seriously.
“We try to support the local community because that that’s where our employee base comes from,” Kryger said. “The fact that we do bring in a lot of outside business for the recreation, it brings in tax dollars for the community with all of the sales tax and the room tax. That is a huge commitment to the community.”
The biggest thing on the horizon for Greek Peak right now is the upcoming winter, and it will prepare over the next couple months to welcome winter sports enthusiasts and outdoorsmen for yet another season.
 
Campgottagopee said:
Copied from our local paper's FB page


Greek Peak Mountain Resort is tucked away in the southern hills of Cortland County, but it has played host to ski enthusiasts from all over the country since its humble beginnings in 1958. Starting with just a mere four ski trails and an A-frame lodge at the base of the mountains, the resort has grown both physically and in terms of what they can offer for the adventurous types it attracts.
The resort was founded by members of Cortland Ski Club after they did a flyover of the region to scope out the mountains. The opening day on Jan. 11, 1958, was celebrated with a ski parade down Main Street in the City of Cortland and a visit from then-Governor William Averell Harriman. Greek Peak had the first chair lift structure in New York State, according to President Wesley Kryger, and has been expanding ever since those first opening days.
One of the biggest additions to Greek Peak has been the indoor water park and lodging accommodations just down the street from the original ski resort location. The ski side of the business is still the primary money maker, but having alternative streams of revenue was a major motivating factor for the further development in the area.
“A lot of the industry, not just Greek Peak, but other ski resorts, started to expand into the summer business to try to spread the risk, so to speak,” Kryger said. “Back in the early 2000s there was the realization that the climate was changing and it was really difficult to make a successful business out of something that operated basically four months a year. It doesn’t totally equal the ski resort side, but it has been profitable business venture.”
Greek Peak Mountain Resort has the indoor water park, an event center, lodging, hiking, a mountain coaster, concessions and more in addition to the ski slopes that started it all. While all of this has been extremely lucrative for the business and creating profit outside of ski season, that also means that there’s more work to be done in the off season than before.
“I think when it was just a ski resort there was a lot more time in the summer to do things,” Kryger said. “Now it’s seven days a week, 24 hours a day, so it’s a lot of work. We do pretty well from a year-round standpoint. Our slower months are May and June and then September and October, but other than that it’s fairly steady.”
A lot of the improvements to the ski slopes happened throughout the ’70s and ’80s. The resort started out with a dependency on natural snowfall, but when snowmaking became a viable option for ski resorts, Greek Peak made sure to include that technology in their operation. The snowmaking machines lengthen the season on either end and provide good quality powder for winter sports, and they’re still continuing to make advancements today in this area.
Hope Lake Lodge, the most recent addition to the Greek Peak compound, was finalized and opened in 2009. The process of making the lodge a reality wasn’t always smooth sailing, though, especially during the financial crisis in 2008.
“The bank that originally financed Hope Lake Lodge got in financial trouble and that’s when the economy kind of crashed,” Kryger said. “The bank had said that we had to find a new bank to take over the mortgage. Long story short, because the economy was bad no other bank would take over the mortgage so it forced it into a bankruptcy.”
The company was purchased out of bankruptcy by John Meier and Marc Stemerman, who managed to finish what had been started at get the resort back on its feet. Now Meier is the sole owner and has invested largely in the business to make sure it remains a strong staple of the region.
Greek Peak makes sure to do plenty of outreach with community organizations, because Kryger knows how important it is to maintain a good relationship with the other businesses and residents in the region. They host events for nonprofits and make donations to programs whenever possible and take their responsibility in the local economy very seriously.
“We try to support the local community because that that’s where our employee base comes from,” Kryger said. “The fact that we do bring in a lot of outside business for the recreation, it brings in tax dollars for the community with all of the sales tax and the room tax. That is a huge commitment to the community.”
The biggest thing on the horizon for Greek Peak right now is the upcoming winter, and it will prepare over the next couple months to welcome winter sports enthusiasts and outdoorsmen for yet another season.
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