What the heck is going on at Magic?

Smellytele said:

Not much positive here...

Dear Friends of Magic:

As is normal in Londonderry, we are getting natural snow storms soon followed by warm rainy days that melt all the snow. The surrounding areas are well into their snowmaking cycle and have even started skiing and riding. It is true that manmade snow is denser and survives a melt better than natural snow, but that said this year Magic Mountain is very short on funds and we could not have afforded even a limited loss. Since we had not turned on our guns we watched none of our limited money turn into mud. Another year I very much hope that base area snowmaking can start prior to Thanksgiving thereby having something for us to use on that weekend.
The mountain is looking very ready for winter. Because the trails are all mowed, it now takes little snow to cover the short grass and the little bit of natural snow we had did make the trails look white. The folks that hiked up and skied down reported a smooth ride down with no grass sticking up through the snow to help them estimate snow depth.
I’ve said this before but I’ll repeat, early season pass revenue plays the major role in funding pre-opening snowmaking. Throughout the note I’ve used the ‘we’ word meaning it to include myself, the mountain staff and you the customers. Magic is special in that its customers are every bit as interested and invested as are other mountain’s investors. As such you deserve and will get the level of detail that other mountains might reserve for the “insiders”.
A lot of this year’s season ticket revenue (that sold between March and July) was spent cleaning up costs for last year’s operations. That cleanup was necessitated by the extensive high interest rate loans taken out in the fall for mountain opening. We are not doing that this year. But if we are not going to take out loans for opening and I’ve invested all I can afford then snowmaking will depends upon how fast we can sell season passes. Comparing ticket sales this year with last year it seems that many are either not going to buy season passes or are putting off the purchase until Christmas week. If that is what customers are planning then we will have to be slow starting snowmaking. It might not be important, huge natural snowfalls could get us open without snow making, but all should recognize the risk that entails. Even with huge natural snowfalls between now and Christmas a bit of ‘buy season passes now’ would do wonders for fixing the Black Chair and getting compressors on order for west side snowmaking. If you are planning to arrive Christmas week and then buy your tickets and you can possibly buy sooner please do, you will be investing in December snowmaking and enhancing your Christmas week skiing and riding.


Think Snow!

- Tom B

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Wow. Pretty frank and sad. Sounds like the previous crew left the place worse than they found it. To start out in the red is hard.

It also sounds like people are NOT buying passes and they are having revenue issues.

Fingers crossed, but sad.

Smellytele said:

What is actually up with the Black Chair this year?
Last year Red the year before that the black. So is the red one going to be the one next year?

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Alpine Update 12/4/14

Hello fellow Magicians! The greatest time of year is almost upon us, holiday season? No even better, snow season! Some of us already have been busy on the work bench waxing and tuning, with the thought of flying down Talisman; or letting out our powder hoots and hollers with our best friends down Black Line in all of its majesty.

This off season has been busy to say the least. All over the mountain we have been going through a transitional period, and the team we have here at the mountain has melded together in a way that you can only find at Magic. Hard work has been at the forefront of each day, out on the hill and inside the offices.

Our mountain ops team has managed to tame the trails to a level unseen here for some time. The trails are all primed and ready for snow, mowed and clean just asking for a fresh blanket of white. Our glading project has been a labor love for a few seasons now and is coming to fruition. The woods here are clean and inviting for newcomers as well as the freeride team who has been growing into a dominant force across New England. The Red Chair saw many new upgrades from last season, from a rebuilt motor and a complete overhaul of the bull-wheel and drive train, to work on the shiv trains. Red is running well and ready to bring each of us to new memories with each ride to the top.

Black Chair too, also has undergone substantial repairs and maintenance. As part of its annual analysis, the State had some requirements that we are working through. Initially the state wanted us to replace all of the grips. We then hired a Vermont & New Hampshire professional engineer who specializes in ski lifts. He determined the problem was not the grips; it was how the chair was banging against and binding on the rub rail surrounding the lower drive terminal. With that information a variance is being sought to allow continued use of the grips and chair lift, conditioned upon the rub rail problem being fixed; which has been accomplished. Travis and Matt Cote, on several occasions in weather more suited to snowmaking than lift repair, cut down, reshaped, and remounted the rub rail. Many thanks go out to those two for the efforts they have put in this fall. As of Thursday 11/20 we had the lift operating at full speed with the state inspector present and all agree the binding problem had been fixed. The lift operates noticeably smoother. The next step entails the inspector and professional engineer riding the lift to confirm that the work satisfies their requirements and to determine if we need to replace the bull wheel liner, and the timing for that project. From there we will meet again with the Tramway Board to see if they will grant the required variance.
Our inside team has been doing a great job at the trade shows and would like to extend a big thanks to everyone who was able to make it out and say hi. Albany and Boston were great stops for Magic and we made many new friends across New England in our travels. The support we receive at these shows confirms that people believe in Magic, and in particular the style and spirit of our special mountain. We’ve locked in some really exciting new events for this season to make everyone’s experience each weekend full of fun, we look forward to seeing everyone in Vermont.

Season passes will be on sale, so if you have not done so, please stop by the office and make your pass purchase or you can easily do so online at www.magicmtn.com/order. The new pass printer is here, we will be printing out everyone’s passes beginning 12/13/14. If you would like to use last year’s pass picture e-mail kmara@magicmtn.com. Pre-printing it will alleviate having to wait in line and missing precious early season turns. Snowmaking is just around the corner and all the revenues this time of year are helpful in order to give our snow-makers as much “fire power” as possible early on. The goal is to fire up the guns in early December and blow snow at every opportunity with an eye toward opening on December 20th. Order your season passes online ASAP to make the effort count!

In closing, we cannot wait to kick of the 2014-15 season. Magic holds something special to all of us old and new to the mountain. Together again with your family of winter warriors, knowing that you have chosen a place once thought lost to the growing fold of corporate skiing fluff, we make our journey to Magic for love, challenge and exhilaration not found anywhere else. Being a part of this mountain and its family is unique, the memories made and the memories to come are what make us Magic.

That settles the December panic. And you can't blame them on the snowmaking front. No point in blowing it early to have to start from scratch. Hell Killington waited things out this year. I actually feel great about buying a season pass at Magic despite what my online banking shows.

Awesome Tin. can't wait to make some turns. I'm glad they updated & addressed the Black chair.

RustyGroomer said:

Awesome Tin. can't wait to make some turns. I'm glad they updated & addressed the Black chair.

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Any pet friendly lodging up there? We want to be able to take the new family member up to enjoy it.

Tin said:

Any pet friendly lodging up there? We want to be able to take the new family member up to enjoy it.

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i believe the upperpass lodge, right across the parking lot is pet (dog at least) friendly.

Tin said:

That settles the December panic. And you can't blame them on the snowmaking front. No point in blowing it early to have to start from scratch. Hell Killington waited things out this year. I actually feel great about buying a season pass at Magic despite what my online banking shows.

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How many passes did you buy this year you high-roller?


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What a bummer. Sounds like Magic needs to get taken over by some Hedge fund manager that loves to ski like what happened with Taos.

Savemeasammy said:

How many passes did you buy this year you high-roller?


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Just got a season pass for me. Not sure if I should grab one for Erika or not based on her work schedule.

I'm not going to lie, the news is not glowing. I will continue to support them though because it would be a travesty to close a mountain like that. I hope everyone else feels the same.

Tin said:

Any pet friendly lodging up there? We want to be able to take the new family member up to enjoy it.

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gmcunni is correct! Vince has a pug who loves to play with my guys. Super dog friendly. Walk to lift/bar. Tell him Greg from the condos sent you. Upper Pass Lodge. Let me know when you come.

Reefer That posting was a little better at showing what was going on. The one i posted was just depressing.

Smellytele said:

Reefer That posting was a little better at showing what was going on. The one i posted was just depressing.

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True, but it was simply vocalizing what has been the situation nearly every year in the past. The fact that they are not taking out high interest loans, and thereby mortgaging th rest of the season, to blow early season snow is a good sign for long term planning and not crashing from one crisis to the next. The fact of the matter is, most skiers over the holiday week are pass holders. While it is important to keep pass holders happy, it is ultimately not a terribly profitable week for the mountain absent some serious natural snow.

skithetrees said:

True, but it was simply vocalizing what has been the situation nearly every year in the past.

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Yup. It was not put out there the best way but this is my feeling. Anyway, updates aside. I can say I have seen the hard work all off-season & the mountain is in fantastic shape. Thanksgiving morning.... yes, I know it's gone. Just dream w/me here for a moment.

RustyGroomer said:

gmcunni is correct! Vince has a pug who loves to play with my guys. Super dog friendly. Walk to lift/bar. Tell him Greg from the condos sent you. Upper Pass Lodge. Let me know when you come.

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Thanks Greg! I say we organize a mini summit for March. Great for supporting the mountain and meeting other AZers.

Tin said:

Thanks Greg! I say we organize a mini summit for March. Great for supporting the mountain and meeting other AZers.

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+1 Definitely interested in this

Let's see how many possible people we can get, get a count, and go from there.

I would come up and ski Magic with you AZers.

crank said:

I would come up and ski Magic with you AZers.

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Happy to help with all of this. Make it happen. Oh' & Tin & others. Check groupon. Upper Pass had deals on there last year. Not sure about this year.

I will post something in the trips forums.