VIRGIL, N.Y. — Greek Peak Mountain Resort in Virgil, located just south of Cortland, is projecting Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving, as the date it’ll begin the new ski season. It’s a start date that has launched seasons delivering an average of 100-110 ski days in previous years, Greek Peak said in its Nov. […]
VIRGIL, N.Y. — Greek Peak Mountain Resort in Virgil, located just south of Cortland, is projecting Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving, as the date it’ll begin the new ski season.
It’s a start date that has launched seasons delivering an average of 100-110 ski days in previous years, Greek Peak said in its Nov. 15 announcement.
Greek Peak said it fired up its new snow guns on Nov. 14, marking the first snow-making efforts of the new season. It also represented the first test of Greek Peak’s new snow-making infrastructure, including the installation of more than 9,000 feet of new water pipe and 5,000 feet of new air line.
Brand new snow-making lines will be ready to go on four trails: Stoic, Elysian Fields, Karyatis Way, and Mars Hill. Greek Peak says it has also installed a new midway pumphouse that has two new pumps boosting total water output from 750 gallons per minute up to 2,000 gallons per minute in that area of the mountain.
The upgrades “demonstrate the continued commitment by ownership to add to the exceptional ski experience Greek Peak offers its guests each year,” Wes Kryger, president of Greek Peak Mountain Resort, contended.
“Our five-year plan for snow-making upgrades is significant and well under way now,” Kryger said. “Our focus continues to be on the mountain, the resort amenities, and the overall guest experience.”
The snow-making process will take place on Elysian Fields, Stoic, Karyatis, Meadow, Platonic, Ligo, Lambi, Lower Platonic, Odyssey, Lower Pollux, and at the Tubing Center. To start the season, Visions quad chair and the Boardwalk will be available to guests.
“We go into each year with cautious optimism that Mother Nature will cooperate with us and help maximize the number of skiing days for our guests,” Kryger said. “To start on Thanksgiving weekend is certainly an encouraging start, and the new snow-making infrastructure helps the cause that much more.”
Greek Peak says it will have three new trails for skiers this year and some “greatly improved” glade skiing as part of its “mountain experience” this season. Electra, a natural-snow ski trail that hasn’t been active since the 1980s, returns as a nearly 2,000-foot-long trail with 300 feet of vertical that runs parallel with Zeus.
The Virgil ski resort also announced the replacement and upgrade project for chair 3 is on track for the coming ski season — with a projected completion date of early to mid-December. Chair 3 currently serves the Alpha slope of the mountain and will be upgraded to a triple-chair to “better serve the growing number of new skiers coming to the resort,” Greek Peak said.
“There has been a significant increase in the number of new skiers who came outside and took to the slopes to learn how to ski at Greek Peak over the past couple years,” Kryger said. “The replacement of Chair 3 enables us to serve more beginner-level skiers on Alpha and speaks volumes to our commitment to making Greek Peak a lifelong, family destination.”
