1,000+ empoyees??? Is that correct? That seems huge.

Sad to see.

It always scares me when ski areas spend so much investment on summer, and hold off on winter needs. It makes me think when Sugarloaf spend all the money on golf and didnt invest in snowmaking. A bad move of the time.

Some of the jobs may not be GP employees, like hotel housekeeping and restaurant staff. Other businesses affected by the loss of winter tourists.

I always said the same thing, why are they bothering in summer investment when they have lackluster snowmaking and deteriorating on-mountain infrastructure.

I always said the same thing, why are they bothering in summer investment when they have lackluster snowmaking and deteriorating on-mountain infrastructure.

Lackluster snowmaking? In an average year, they rarely need to rely on their snowmaking as much as they did last year. They get a lot of lake effect from Cayuga lake. And the "notch" they are in is a magnet for snow. Go 3 miles west on NY-392 and there often is a lot less snow.

Could they have more fire-power? Yes. They currently pump at 3000 gpm. But as a comparison, SR only pumps at 8200 gpm from their source and 9000 gpm on-mountain. I'd love thicker lines and closer hydrants so a trail could just be flat out blasted, but they make it work. Their trails are very-well graded to open on the thinest cover necessary.

Last year they bought 5 of the new-designed Ratnik Snow Giant IIs to make more snow at warmer temperatures. It paid off I think. New Low-E guns would be nice, but unlike many areas, they aren't really pressed on compressors as they have so many fan guns.

From my best guess their arsenal is:
- 11 Ratnik Snow Giant II
- 3 really old-school A/W guns that look like shotguns
- 2 even older-school A/W guns that are very small, clearly vintage as they are only brought out on the coldest of nights
- 5 or so Ratnik Sky Giant II which are routinely moved among Fields, Stotic and Trojan
- 3 HKD Genesises
- 2 automatic TechnoAlpin guns, one located at the base, one located mid-mountain at bottom of Elysian Fields
- 8 or so Areco SuperSnows, two of which are automatic and mounted at the old tubing park
- 10 or so SMI Wizard Kids
- 1 SMI PoleCat Kid
- 2 diesel generators for fan guns to make snow on trails without power
- plus whatever they bought for the new tubing park.

Unlike other ski areas, Greek is very frugal and cost-effective with their snowmaking, and go out of their way to say "we've stopped snowmaking on X date because we've made enough to get through the season." They routinely are the first to open in the CNY area and for a matter of fact, they were THE ONLY ski area in CNY last year to fire up guns during the week before President's day vacation, which allowed them to stay open a week longer than other resorts nearby. The only reason they closed was because we had a week of highs in the 70s-80s which melted through the snowpack extremely fast.

In an average year, it doesn't matter too much, but last year, they showed the locals who's boss.

They may be able to open early if temps cooperate, but in doing so, they usually open with 1 'run' (2 trails; Fields & Stoic) plus the alpha slope with minimal snow. With no natural snow, it took months to open every trail that had snowmaking capability. Areas like Camelback, Blue, etc (Yes, I know they have to rely heavily on snowmaking due to little/no natural snow) can blow on 4-5 trails at a single time, allowing for more terrain to open much faster. Like you've said and I'm sure seen, I frequently see 3-4 hoses connected to try to blow snow on a trail without hydrants or few hydrants. While they're trying, it just isn't as efficient as it could be.

Adding high tech guns like the Ratniks are nice, but to me, it's like putting lipstick on a pig. Using a system put in over 30 years ago without any upgrades besides snowguns, isn't going to stack up when mother nature fails.

Ok 22 fan guns and 23 or so tower or ground guns. How fast do you think that will cover 220 acres? That amount of guns would be short changing Toggenburg. I would also hope management doesnt hope to include that lake effect snow in the snowmaking plans. If it comes good. If its early and deep beter. If it sits all season, its a lottery win. How long has it been since natural snow made a big difference in trail count and closing day for more than a weeks time at that place?

The place always annoyed me. Their trail map for 10 plus years has showed their coming soon future expansion. At least Killington stopped showing the inter connect when a delay became obvious. They showed pictures of the water park in the brochure 2 years before ground breaking. I found it miss leading. They desperately need a HSQ; the lifts are annoyingly slow. The 2 largest western NY areas: Bristol has 2 HSQ's and Holiday Valley has 3. To keep up with the competition they need one or two. I do agree their snow making has been OK and they have opened first many times and sometimes they are last to close. I would go there much much more if I could get up the hill faster. Pricing is weird... a season pass costs about the same as 5 lift tickets. Just my 2 cents.