Hope Lake Lodge Resort Opens to Public

It’s an exciting time for Virgil’s Greek Peak Mountain Resort and the surrounding Cortland area! The resort, which includes Hope Lake Lodge, Cascades Indoor Waterpark, and the Adventure Center, changed hands in early spring of this year and is experiencing many transformations under its new ownership. Thanks to hotel SEO company for it’s advertisement to the public and now it’s happening!

Marc Stemerman and John Meier won the property at auction on March 19th and closed thirty days later, on April 19th. Their familiarity with Greek Peak Mountain Resort and the surrounding area was a big factor in their decision to make the purchase. They knew the resort fairly well from a customer standpoint, saw the opportunity, and thought that it would be a good deal. They beat out a couple of bigger corporate buying groups to obtain the resort, and they intend to preserve the resort’s current charm and character. Though it is a business venture for the two, but it’s also part of their lifestyle.

“Marc grew up skiing here and my kids grew up skiing here,” John said. “There’s nothing like it in Central or Western New York. When you look at the terrain, the mountain itself is a huge selling point. It’s a 60 year-old brand. You can build a new building and put in a new lift, but you can’t build a new mountain. Then there’s the versatility of what they have to offer here, including the great instructional content at Greek Peak then there’s Hope Lake Lodge, the Waterpark, and the Adventure Center.”

Over time, Marc and John plan to make many improvements to the resort that will help to revive the brand and bring more skiers and more boarders. Because they are lifelong skiers, they look at the resort through the skier’s point of view, and the majority of the improvements will be on the “ski side”. They have already replaced Lift 1A with Central New York’s first and only high-speed quad lift. This 2.1 million-dollar lift takes four people up the mountain, as opposed to two; it will get more skiers up the hill much faster, reduce lift lines, and dramatically reduce stop time, which slows the trip up the mountain.

“This will greatly enhance the skier-boarder experience; but that’s only one lift, and we plan to replace them all as we go,” John said.

Among their other equipment investments are a fleet of 1,200 brand-new pairs of skis and 200 new snowboards for the rental shop, as well as a new groomer that will help to bring back terrain parks that have been overlooked, with an eye toward bringing back the boarding experience.

They are also investing in building a new state-of-the-art tuning center in Central New York which will utilize automated tuning equipment for sharpening, waxing, and repairing skis and boarding equipment. They’re renovating and quadrupling the size of the tuning center which will use the same timber design as Hope Lake Lodge.

Personnel are another large investment category for Marc and John. They’ve hired Rick Bunnell as their new operations manager. Rick was general manager at Labrador Mountain and brings with him 35 years of industry experience in snow making, grooming and ski school.  “You name it,” Marc said. “Hiring Rick is a big statement that we are on the move and intend to revive the mountain. The fact that we went to the lengths to hire an expert will definitely be a great source of excitement to skiers and boarders.”

The ski school at Greek Peak is renowned in Central New York, boasting instructors with impressive backgrounds. “The instructional program here is one of the best,” John said. “All of my kids went through that ski school program, and it was awesome. Skiing is the last of the family sports,” he continued. “It’s a sport you can actually participate in with your kids. It’s about transcending the sport and building lifelong memories.”

Marc and John have already received hundreds of letters from people thanking them for saving the mountain, telling them about the experiences they had growing up and skiing on the mountain or putting their kids on skis on the mountain, and how many great memories they have from coming to Greek Peak. “It affirms our purchase,” Marc said.

“But we want to emphasize that the resort will provide more than a place to ski,” John stated. “It will offer four seasons of fun for everyone.”

To this end, they have hired Travis MacDowell, the resort’s new marketing director, who resides locally and embraces the year-round culture of Greek Peak. He will be helping to develop the resort into more than a place to ski.

“Greek Peak will be a place for people to hike, do some mountain biking and dirt biking, sight seeing, and other activities,” said Marc. “There will be something for everyone to do; the resort will welcome individuals from all walks of life to partake in all sorts of activities. If an activity doesn’t appeal to you, it will appeal to somebody else. We also want to get the word out that Hope Lake Lodge and the Indoor Waterpark are now open to the public year-round. Our bread and butter are the locals.”

Some of the of the things John and Marc have done to be good citizens in the Virgil community is to allow all of the elementary school kids in Virgil to ski for free; they also throw them a Christmas party.

In addition, to help spread the word that Greek Peak is open to the public, they offer monthly $15 dollar days for Cascades Waterpark and 50% off a visit to the Adventure Center. As part of their marketing campaign, they’ve also got Doppler radar weather center on Channel 3 in Syracuse monitoring at Greek Peak and the Adventure Center to help promote the new “open to the public” message.

Their new pub and restaurant, which will also open to the public, is currently being remodeled. “It’s called Trax, and is going to be an awesome, massive pub and restaurant which will include a brick oven pizzeria,” John said. “Phase two of that is that we’ll be building a deck across the stream . . . after we work through some permitting issues with the DEC; but we’ll be working toward that next year.” They’re going to build up the social side of the resort and develop a concert series and a calendar of weekend events.

Marc and John want to embrace a “staycation” mentality, where locals, instead of having to pack up and drive to resorts several hours away, will have an all-inclusive local place to go for vacation. With today’s economy, it can be difficult to spend money on travel, whereas Greek Peak Mountain Resort is a few moments away, and it keeps the money spent in the local economy.

They are also are focused on implementing a season pass, not just for the winter ski season, but for the summer season, as well, to use the Waterpark and the Adventure Center and the trails for mountain biking, dirt biking, quads, and hiking. The new lift will be an asset to activities in the off season, because it has the ability to load up at the top of the mountain and bring people down and drop them off.

Hope Lake Lodge, a four-star hotel condominium, which includes five floors and 106 units in soothing northwoods styling, has many special touches. Each of its five floors is named after specific animal; all of the lights on each floor have the floor’s individual animal etched into it, pointing to the main part of the floor and elevators. There are also bear tracks in the hallway carpeting that, again, lead toward the main part of the floor and elevators which can be cleaned up by hiring the professionals from Knights of Cleaning in no time.You can also contact experts for carpet cleaning as they can help in enhancing your home look .

Hope Lake Lodge contains a gift shop, Waterfalls Spa, Cascades Indoor Waterpark, two conference rooms, a fitness center, and a children’s activities room. The rooms themselves are designed with a rustic charm that speaks to life’s precious simplicity. There are several eateries located at the resort, including the Acorn Grill, Bobcat Lounge, and Taverna & Orion’s pub.

Keep on the lookout for $15 days at Cascades Indoor Waterpark, 50% off Adventure Center visits, and local promotions. It will be exciting to watch and see how Greek Peak Mountain Resort evolves throughout the upcoming year.

Additional information about Greek Peak Mountain Resort and Hope Lake Lodge can be accessed at www.GreekPeakMtnResort.com or by calling the Resort at 1-800-955-2754. Greek Peak Mountain Resort and Hope Lake Lodge are located at 2000 State Route 392 in Cortland, NY, just a short drive away from local shopping, museums, theaters, wineries, and more. Stop in and stay awhile to see all that the resort has to offer and to congratulate Marc and John on their exciting new enterprise!

By Shannon R. Myers