I set three alarms, one for 5 AM, then one for 5:05 and one for 5:10. I only needed the first one and I didn’t even get any guff from Danger Boy when I went to shake him awake. He got dressed and moved to the back Subaru’s back seat where I had a pillow and a pile of fleece blankets waiting for him.
Our bags, skis, a cooler of drinks, snacks and a thermos of hot coffee were already in the car. We were on the road by 5:10. My planning and preparations had paid off. Getting my son up that early was a lot to ask so I let him sleep all the way to Virgil. We made our way out Route 17 in the dark.
We pulled into Greek’s parking lot at 8:30. It was snowing lightly under a gray overcast. My son moved to the front seat to boot up while I went to redeem our Indy Passes.
He only had one boot on by the time I got back but it worked out. We were both ready to go at just at the same time and we headed over to Greek’s main lift, a conveyor loaded fixed grip quad.
While the lines on the quad remained short, we warmed up our legs on some of the fall line trails there. By our third or fourth run the lines were starting to build so we traversed away from the quad.
The character of the skiing changes as you move away from the wide open trails and steeps above the main lodge. This area of Greek has more of a New England’y flavor, narrower wooded trails with twists and turns. I could see that Chair Two wasn’t running yet so we continued on down to Chair Four and hopped on. When we reached the top, we went ahead and skied down Upper Mars Hill to access the blue cruisers under Chair Five.
This end of the resort has a different feel to it than the area near the main lodge. Greek is a friendly, family oriented place in general but Chair Five is somehow even more laid back. We enjoyed one unhurried cruiser run after another. The lift lines were short, everybody was smiling. Skiing over there made us feel like locals, even though we had to get up hours before sunrise to be there.
Our previous visits informed our goals for the day so we didn’t want to spend too much time down on that end of the resort. Our goal was to ski the Chair Two area so some time in the late morning we made our way back. Chair Two still wasn’t running but they’d opened Chair One, a fixed double, so we could avoid the line on the quad and did a few more runs before checking on Chair Two again.
Finally, we scored. This time we found Chair Two was running. As far as we’re concerned, Chair Two is the coolest zone at Greek. It accesses a few green and blue cruisers but the best part is that it dumps you right at the top of Aesop’s Glade. There was just enough snow on the ground to ski the glades.
We spent the rest of the day here, enjoying the trees and taking runs on Pollux for variety. I even like riding Chair Two. It’s an ancient double that makes its way up a narrow cut in the Forrest with short, wrought iron towers that remind you of the Eiffel Tower. It’s the kind of thing that makes me feel connected to previous generations of skiers.
We enjoyed everything about Chair Two. Eventually Patrol even officially opened Aesop’s and we were excited to be able to get into those trees.
We didn’t push it too hard. After skipping lunch, we wrapped things up in mid afternoon and got back on the road. Danger Boy had been skeptical about driving so far to ski but he said several times during the day how much he liked Greek and how glad he was that we were there. It really was a great day.
When I realized I most likely wouldn’t be skiing Vermont this year I was annoyed, but I never felt like it would ruin my season. New York has a lot of good skiing to offer. We have big mountains and small. Greek should be on any New York skier’s list of destinations.
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Were people not wearing masks? How could you see that people were smiling?
Chair 2 (if they open it) seems to open around 10:30 on weekends. On weekdays 11am. But this seems to change. Best to call 800-365-7669 for lift operating times each morning.
Also, you shouldn’t be broadcasting in a public blog that you were skiing closed trails and averting ski patrol.
Glad to hear you enjoyed my home mountain. As you alluded to, Greek skis differently in each of the areas we have; Chair 1 and the Quad, chair 2 area and then chair 4 and chair 5. All with their own vibes. Enjoy the rest of your season!
Harvey, since you are editing, perhaps change “then” to “than” in the paragraph under the photo of chair 5
What a great write up on my home mountain! I started skiing there in second grade and your description made me smile. The only missing icon to Greek Peak is the A-Frame lodge being the coolest place to stop and warm up to a huge stone fireplace, hot chocolate and homemade donuts! They thought they would open it for over flow and craft beer, but its only open for bathroom, fireplace and your own snack on weekends. Glad you enjoyed skiing and hope you And your son come back!
Thank you for the help with the edit. Typo fixed.
Glad you had fun!
Nice write-up. I was bummed I had to cancel my trip to Greek Peak over the holidays. Just wasn’t enough snow to justify the travel time. Looking to rebook again in March.
Looking forward to checking out Greek Peak. Have the Indy again this year. It is truly a bargain even with all that’s going on. Thank for the the skinny. PEACE
Awesome. Just skied there today for the first time. Nice stuff. Needs a dump to show it’s true potential.
How does one make it from Rockland County to Greek Peak in 2 hours and 20 minutes?
Thanks for all the comments and well wishes folks. Great Abyss, I do have a little bit of a lead foot some times so you made me question myself for a moment but 5:10 to 8:30 is in fact 3 hours and 20 minutes, which is just right for my front door to Greek with a pit stop in Roscoe.
Cool place, cool trip, cool Dad!
“We were on the road by 6:10”
“We pulled into Greek’s parking lot at 8:30”
The story changes 🙂
Nice trip report. Greek Peak is a nice local ski hill. Nothing huge about it, but rarely do we have lift lines and they recently invested in snowmaking and grooming which has been quite noticeable. When it has rained and freezes back up and we are expecting ice and death cookies, it seems to be really nice carveable conditions. Almost always exceeds my expectations. Glad I got a pass this year. I almost didn’t.
I LOVE the A Frame lodge and it holds so much history.
I see it now GA. That was my mistake. -Harv
BrownSki, so good to see you a week ago. Really nice in fact.
As I mentioned to you, this story was read to me by Alicia – it was pretty cool for her to read as we were heading to Greek Peak to ski and to hopefully film a bit. Your suggestions to hit those woods, well let’s say, we didn’t expect this. It was beyond, way beyond our expectations.
In any event, thank you for your great and entertaining writing. It really helped us get out of our creative slump. Look out for our edit “Anything But Ordinary”. We hope you find it fun.
Best,
Ray
Really enjoy skiing at Greek Peak and being a retired ski Patrol leader I know what I am writing about .
If Greek Peak has a newsletter or maybe a monthly membership mail led or emailed to Employees (full & part time, Season Passholders, Ski Patrollers, Board of Directors and very interested parties. Like myself.
I know it is only the first of June, but it is a great time now to start thinking and praying for Very Cold Weather and lots of Natural Snow not Manmade, because it is too expensive to make.
Hope you all are having a Great Summer.
I really think that what skiers and snowboarders think & say about Greek Peak is great. Just got to get people so Ski & Snowboard slower and safer. Everyone will be better for it.
I am a retired Greek Peak Ski Patrol Leader and think that Greek Peak is one of the best small or medium size ski areas in the northeast. At 952 feet of Vertical and lots of Green Trails and Slopes up to its double black diamonds. there is a lot to Ski & Snowboard.
One key thing is to always wear a Helmet, especially to go to the ski area.
We had a relative mild Summer, so let’s hope we get a little more severe Winter. but I hope the State takes better care of the New York State, believe me I know.
Greek Peak is one of the best ski areas or resorts in Central New York as well as its Ski Patrols.