OppositeGeorge
Member
Date(s) Skied: 1/2/2008
Resort or Ski Area: Magic Mountain, Londonderry VT
Conditions: Heh heh. Chock full of... well, read the report. Seriously, Non-groomers: 5-6" of fresh light powder over more, older powder over tissue-paper ice over grass, dirt and ledges. Groomers: dusting over groomed fresh powder over PP (mixed man-made and natural AFAICT.)
Trip Report: Okay, just adding on to what most of you have probably already read in the other forum, if only so I can find this later.
About me: Improving "advanced," as in non-expert, skier; the only way I'm beating Hermann down the hill is if we're both on sleds and his throws a rod. 41 y.o. ASIA Level I instructor cert. 40 days last season, today was number 18 for this season.
Summary: Place was chock full of FREAKING AWESOME everywhere. Didn't run Witch, Red Line or any woods. Slide, Magician and Black Magic closed. All but two of my runs were on the skier's left and center of the mountain. Black Chair running. If you haven't been to Magic this year, get there -- the place is on an upswing and there is a palpable positive vibe. Get there this week b/c I don't think the base is there to last through difficult weather. Lift ride is long so get there early.
Pics: you want pics? Check these (not mine) out. Yes, believe it. Only with a couple days' more snow on top. The trails I ran weren't as wooded or narrow so the piles were smaller and there were more lines, but conditions otherwise were similar. Use your imagination.
Hell, read Philpug's full post on epicski. He sums it up accurately and succinctly (still working on that last one myself.) The vibe on Jan. 2 was similar to what he picked up on NYE, only with fewer people there on my visit.
Attendance: Overwhelming crowds -- the lower lot was full, and about every third chair had somebody on it. Actually had to wait behind two other people for the Black Chair once. :smile:
Every skier had the most ridiculous goofy smile as they ran and at least half of them were monster skiers -- well, better than me, anyway. After skiing with kids all weekend it was nice to be somewhere where my skills put me in the lower 50th percentile. And even most of the improving skiers seemed pretty fearless -- I'm not sure if it's the conditions or the resort itself but something was drawing in folks who were out to tackle the mountain.
The Details:
Temp was in the teens all day but little/no wind except at top and the hill and the conditions encouraged activity so it really didn't feel cold. But dammit, step off the lift and you're reaching for your neck gaiter 'til you're back in the lee.
One disappointing run: The groomed Sorcerer, which really was just fine for a typical NE firm groomed steep, but this season has me seriously spoiled. I mean, any other day at an area with runs like that and I'd have gotten a full day in working on racing stuff, and left pretty okay with that. But, given what they had to work with and the kind of skier the place attracts, I cannot figure out why they didn't just leave it alone.
Okay, enough of the negative energy. The rest was about as good as it gets in Southern Vermont, ever. All ungroomed runs were full of soft, dry-for-the-neighborhood powder -- seemingly bottomless in spots, esp. in Talisman. Groomers were perfect for carving/teaching/newbs and ints. Stuff was piling up nicely over time, and narrow traverses like Broomstick were scrape-y and bumpy by the end of the day but that's the way it goes in NE. Oh, maybe it'd be better to say "scrape-y and bumpy and still hella fun."
Let me repeat: This is about as good as it gets in Southern Vermont, ever.
Now, I want to be clear about what "powder" means here, exactly. Most ski areas would apply the term to any precipitation dryer than an Orange Slurpee and with grains smaller than an ice cube. But today was as close to the real deal as it gets in the neighborhood. Walked out of the club lodge in Weston VT in the a.m. to about 6-7" in the driveway that blew away when you lifted your foot. Obvious distinct flakes that sparkled when the sun hit them. I think the fact that temps dropped over the previous day's/overnight's storm and stayed down after was a big factor. So yeah, obviously this is still Southern VT and there was some moisture content but it didn't keep the snow from staying fluffy and loose. As stated above, there were plenty of spots where it was seemingly bottomless -- stick a pole in and it keeps going until your 41-year-old body says "no more bending over." And this is snow that ranged from brand-new to several days old, so in other words it wasn't packing down anywhere near to the extent things tend to around here. You could pretty much ski through any reasonable pile, if that's what you're into, with no fear of anything more than the slightest resistance at your tips.
Anyway, this wasn't the waist-deep talcum of Utah or anything, but it was damn fine. Real license-to-be-a-complete-idiot conditions -- not "fall and you die" but "fall and you land softly laughing hysterically." Philpug's comment of 12/31 applies for my experience of 1/2 as well: "Today was one of those days that I will remember as long as I will be skiing."
The down side to all the awesomeness is that it wasn't apparent that there was any non-natural or firm base to speak of on the blacks and doubles. I don't know how much difficult weather these runs will take before degrading to difficult or even non-skiable. As long as this weather holds up we're golden, but right now it looks like it's going to be unseasonably warm starting Sunday so get there as soon as you can.
I am not going to go into deep detail on individual runs right now because I've already said enough. Ungroomed everywhere was CFOFA (look it up.) Ran these most of the day. Wizard groomed, nice, just a couple scrapes/firms/dirts on steeper parts. Greens and blues were, when groomed, perfect green and blue and great for teaching. Maybe a couple firm spots but all good for developing skills (didn't spend much time on these, honestly.) Witch looked kinda bumped up. Didn't see Red line. Didn't run either one. Ran rest of ungroomed trails and they had piles more than actual bumps, except in the rare tight spot. Didn't look in the woods. Couple scrapedowns/firms/dirt on steeper parts of groomers but far from what's usual in NE.
I totally totally bummed myself out by forgetting why in the old days we used to get up before dawn to make sure we got first chair. Low-speed lift + 1700' vert means LOOOONG ride to the top. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but Mr. Lazy Bones here has gotten real used to rolling in at 10-10:30 (today's ticket was stamped @ 10:43) and still running enough laps that he's done and out of the lot by 3:00. This will not happen at Magic -- I quit @ 3:20, but only because I had to get back to Westport CT to work @ 8pm. Otherwise, I'd have been up there 'til they kicked me off. Yes, I was getting a bit tired but I had at least two more runs in me -- two runs I really wanted to do on Talisman or Black Line or Heart of Magician. And if I'd been there @ first spin, I'd have had time for maybe another catch-up break and therefore even more runs.
Two other things about slow lifts that I'd forgotten -- not necessarily bad but different. First, I think you get more of a rest on the ride and therefore if you're the kind of skier who normally takes a run or two to really get warmed up and find your legs (e.g., me) it might be more like three or four runs here. The other difference -- longer rides means more cool-down time means more heat management tasks. Found myself zipping and unzipping, venting and unventing, taking off and putting on stuff all the way up the hill. On a faster lift prolly would've just sucked it up and powered through it.
Coverage/safety/operations: Uh, hello -- massive dump -- duh. Seriously, it was readily apparent that some of the runs, Lower Magician especially, were opened on this weekend's snow. Most other resorts, Plattekill and MRG excepted, probably would've left 'em closed, with the sticks poking out through the base and whatnot. And at the top of that run I was glad I'd brought my rock skis. But really appearances were deceiving and there was nothing but snow underfoot. In general, the only places I hit bottom and felt it were on small ledges hidden under the fresh snow on Black Line, and at a stream crossing on Heart. I assume under typical conditions they'd be more exposed and obvious. A very few sneaky snags -- that stream on Heart, a couple big deep holes on Broomstick and one other run (damned if I can remember which one,) but really nothing out of control for the kind of expert skier Magic seems to attract and all were easy to get around.
Yes, I am cutting Magic some slack because it is Magic and also because of the hugely improved vibe over last year (more on that below.) But there are some picky details that I'd probably be more upset about at other places, e.g. signage. Magic has revised some trail ratings this season; however not all the trail signs are in agreement with the map. One reason Sorcerer was a disappointment is it's still marked as a double-black on the trail sign -- yes, it looked mowed down from the top but "Surely," I thought, "it couldn't be that way all the way down..." Well, yeah, actually it kinda could. Really, this is the kind of problem about 2 minutes with a can of paint or handsaw can solve. The same applied at a couple other spots but I didn't take notes good enough to remember where exactly. And Lower Magician, though green on the map, thanks to the lack of grooming was anything but (I'd say an upper blue, probably.) Not sure if the only green access to this run, from Hocus Pocus, was open but if it was, I hope they posted a temporary "more difficult" sign at the entrance given the conditions.
And there are other little things that maybe might be more difficult to solve but could improve the experience. Not a big deal, really, but the small, mostly skateable for advanced skiers, traverse uphill from the Black Chair to the Magician/Wizard area was getting to be a drag by the end of the day. This problem will not go away with the Red Chair running as the steepest part uphill is after the Wizard junction. I'm not an expert on earth moving (or on VT paperwork) but if that could be solved with a bulldozer rental I say go for it.
And this all leads up to the core problem of critiquing Magic: I'm conflicted pointing these things out because on the one hand I don't mind hiking or sacrificing a bit for awesomeness and maybe a less-than-user-friendly reputation keeps the crowds down. Don't mind? -- Hell, call me a masochist but actually I might love it. I loves me some Magic and I loves me some Plattekill. I loves me some MRG too, but not as much because of the huge wait for a seat. Obviously not a problem when you have a place to yourself.
On the other hand, we are all familiar with this resort's historic difficulties. In order to succeed, management needs to get more asses in seats, and the tiniest bit of pampering seems to make a big difference to the bulk of SNE skiers. Despite the mountain's reputation, there is plenty off the top that is readily doable by low intermediates and advanced beginners. And being able to ski off the top is a huge boost to these folks' egos, but they tend to be not so good at the climbing/traversing stuff -- it's awkward and tiring. So these skiers might easily see areas where some climbing work is necessary as being too much trouble for the reward. There is also a slight uphill from the Black Chair to the other side -- slight, as in, maybe not readily obvious but you can't get over it from the lift without excellent skating and gliding skills, or stepping. At least this will go away when Red gets back on line.
And if they ever get to the stage where they can afford it and get the crowds I say leave the summit lifts alone, low speed and all, and drop the cash instead on a halfway-up chair serving the network of greens and blues on skier's right (w/upper terminal somewhere near Wand/Medium intersection.) Maybe even add a midstation to one of the summit lifts so experts could run laps without the lower-mountain runout and corresponding extra lift time. But now we might be getting into pipe dream territory.
So back to the vibe -- no doubt the incredible conditions had something to do with it but everybody there -- guests and employees alike -- was cheerful and seemed happy to be there. This is a huge change from last year and the previous year's visits, when I'd have described the staff as disengaged or even surly. And I'm far from a regular so I can't go into deep detail on physical plant changes but the lodge -- restrooms included -- seemed somehow brighter, definitely cleaner. For all I know they just put in bigger light bulbs but I suspect a lot more's been done that casual visitors like me would barely notice but that all contribute to a better experience. Attention to grooming seems to have improved as well. My previous two visits left me feeling like I'd just seen a resort on its way down -- today I feel like Magic is back on its way up. I get the impression that the user-friendliness thing is on the minds of management this season too and that gives me hope. This is a huge relief, and things should only get better next year with the planned snowmaking improvement. Hopefully Marketing will be able to get the message out and Magic will see the rebound it so sorely deserves.
Resort or Ski Area: Magic Mountain, Londonderry VT
Conditions: Heh heh. Chock full of... well, read the report. Seriously, Non-groomers: 5-6" of fresh light powder over more, older powder over tissue-paper ice over grass, dirt and ledges. Groomers: dusting over groomed fresh powder over PP (mixed man-made and natural AFAICT.)
Trip Report: Okay, just adding on to what most of you have probably already read in the other forum, if only so I can find this later.
About me: Improving "advanced," as in non-expert, skier; the only way I'm beating Hermann down the hill is if we're both on sleds and his throws a rod. 41 y.o. ASIA Level I instructor cert. 40 days last season, today was number 18 for this season.
Summary: Place was chock full of FREAKING AWESOME everywhere. Didn't run Witch, Red Line or any woods. Slide, Magician and Black Magic closed. All but two of my runs were on the skier's left and center of the mountain. Black Chair running. If you haven't been to Magic this year, get there -- the place is on an upswing and there is a palpable positive vibe. Get there this week b/c I don't think the base is there to last through difficult weather. Lift ride is long so get there early.
Pics: you want pics? Check these (not mine) out. Yes, believe it. Only with a couple days' more snow on top. The trails I ran weren't as wooded or narrow so the piles were smaller and there were more lines, but conditions otherwise were similar. Use your imagination.
Hell, read Philpug's full post on epicski. He sums it up accurately and succinctly (still working on that last one myself.) The vibe on Jan. 2 was similar to what he picked up on NYE, only with fewer people there on my visit.
Attendance: Overwhelming crowds -- the lower lot was full, and about every third chair had somebody on it. Actually had to wait behind two other people for the Black Chair once. :smile:
Every skier had the most ridiculous goofy smile as they ran and at least half of them were monster skiers -- well, better than me, anyway. After skiing with kids all weekend it was nice to be somewhere where my skills put me in the lower 50th percentile. And even most of the improving skiers seemed pretty fearless -- I'm not sure if it's the conditions or the resort itself but something was drawing in folks who were out to tackle the mountain.
The Details:
Temp was in the teens all day but little/no wind except at top and the hill and the conditions encouraged activity so it really didn't feel cold. But dammit, step off the lift and you're reaching for your neck gaiter 'til you're back in the lee.
One disappointing run: The groomed Sorcerer, which really was just fine for a typical NE firm groomed steep, but this season has me seriously spoiled. I mean, any other day at an area with runs like that and I'd have gotten a full day in working on racing stuff, and left pretty okay with that. But, given what they had to work with and the kind of skier the place attracts, I cannot figure out why they didn't just leave it alone.
Okay, enough of the negative energy. The rest was about as good as it gets in Southern Vermont, ever. All ungroomed runs were full of soft, dry-for-the-neighborhood powder -- seemingly bottomless in spots, esp. in Talisman. Groomers were perfect for carving/teaching/newbs and ints. Stuff was piling up nicely over time, and narrow traverses like Broomstick were scrape-y and bumpy by the end of the day but that's the way it goes in NE. Oh, maybe it'd be better to say "scrape-y and bumpy and still hella fun."
Let me repeat: This is about as good as it gets in Southern Vermont, ever.
Now, I want to be clear about what "powder" means here, exactly. Most ski areas would apply the term to any precipitation dryer than an Orange Slurpee and with grains smaller than an ice cube. But today was as close to the real deal as it gets in the neighborhood. Walked out of the club lodge in Weston VT in the a.m. to about 6-7" in the driveway that blew away when you lifted your foot. Obvious distinct flakes that sparkled when the sun hit them. I think the fact that temps dropped over the previous day's/overnight's storm and stayed down after was a big factor. So yeah, obviously this is still Southern VT and there was some moisture content but it didn't keep the snow from staying fluffy and loose. As stated above, there were plenty of spots where it was seemingly bottomless -- stick a pole in and it keeps going until your 41-year-old body says "no more bending over." And this is snow that ranged from brand-new to several days old, so in other words it wasn't packing down anywhere near to the extent things tend to around here. You could pretty much ski through any reasonable pile, if that's what you're into, with no fear of anything more than the slightest resistance at your tips.
Anyway, this wasn't the waist-deep talcum of Utah or anything, but it was damn fine. Real license-to-be-a-complete-idiot conditions -- not "fall and you die" but "fall and you land softly laughing hysterically." Philpug's comment of 12/31 applies for my experience of 1/2 as well: "Today was one of those days that I will remember as long as I will be skiing."
The down side to all the awesomeness is that it wasn't apparent that there was any non-natural or firm base to speak of on the blacks and doubles. I don't know how much difficult weather these runs will take before degrading to difficult or even non-skiable. As long as this weather holds up we're golden, but right now it looks like it's going to be unseasonably warm starting Sunday so get there as soon as you can.
I am not going to go into deep detail on individual runs right now because I've already said enough. Ungroomed everywhere was CFOFA (look it up.) Ran these most of the day. Wizard groomed, nice, just a couple scrapes/firms/dirts on steeper parts. Greens and blues were, when groomed, perfect green and blue and great for teaching. Maybe a couple firm spots but all good for developing skills (didn't spend much time on these, honestly.) Witch looked kinda bumped up. Didn't see Red line. Didn't run either one. Ran rest of ungroomed trails and they had piles more than actual bumps, except in the rare tight spot. Didn't look in the woods. Couple scrapedowns/firms/dirt on steeper parts of groomers but far from what's usual in NE.
I totally totally bummed myself out by forgetting why in the old days we used to get up before dawn to make sure we got first chair. Low-speed lift + 1700' vert means LOOOONG ride to the top. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but Mr. Lazy Bones here has gotten real used to rolling in at 10-10:30 (today's ticket was stamped @ 10:43) and still running enough laps that he's done and out of the lot by 3:00. This will not happen at Magic -- I quit @ 3:20, but only because I had to get back to Westport CT to work @ 8pm. Otherwise, I'd have been up there 'til they kicked me off. Yes, I was getting a bit tired but I had at least two more runs in me -- two runs I really wanted to do on Talisman or Black Line or Heart of Magician. And if I'd been there @ first spin, I'd have had time for maybe another catch-up break and therefore even more runs.
Two other things about slow lifts that I'd forgotten -- not necessarily bad but different. First, I think you get more of a rest on the ride and therefore if you're the kind of skier who normally takes a run or two to really get warmed up and find your legs (e.g., me) it might be more like three or four runs here. The other difference -- longer rides means more cool-down time means more heat management tasks. Found myself zipping and unzipping, venting and unventing, taking off and putting on stuff all the way up the hill. On a faster lift prolly would've just sucked it up and powered through it.
Coverage/safety/operations: Uh, hello -- massive dump -- duh. Seriously, it was readily apparent that some of the runs, Lower Magician especially, were opened on this weekend's snow. Most other resorts, Plattekill and MRG excepted, probably would've left 'em closed, with the sticks poking out through the base and whatnot. And at the top of that run I was glad I'd brought my rock skis. But really appearances were deceiving and there was nothing but snow underfoot. In general, the only places I hit bottom and felt it were on small ledges hidden under the fresh snow on Black Line, and at a stream crossing on Heart. I assume under typical conditions they'd be more exposed and obvious. A very few sneaky snags -- that stream on Heart, a couple big deep holes on Broomstick and one other run (damned if I can remember which one,) but really nothing out of control for the kind of expert skier Magic seems to attract and all were easy to get around.
Yes, I am cutting Magic some slack because it is Magic and also because of the hugely improved vibe over last year (more on that below.) But there are some picky details that I'd probably be more upset about at other places, e.g. signage. Magic has revised some trail ratings this season; however not all the trail signs are in agreement with the map. One reason Sorcerer was a disappointment is it's still marked as a double-black on the trail sign -- yes, it looked mowed down from the top but "Surely," I thought, "it couldn't be that way all the way down..." Well, yeah, actually it kinda could. Really, this is the kind of problem about 2 minutes with a can of paint or handsaw can solve. The same applied at a couple other spots but I didn't take notes good enough to remember where exactly. And Lower Magician, though green on the map, thanks to the lack of grooming was anything but (I'd say an upper blue, probably.) Not sure if the only green access to this run, from Hocus Pocus, was open but if it was, I hope they posted a temporary "more difficult" sign at the entrance given the conditions.
And there are other little things that maybe might be more difficult to solve but could improve the experience. Not a big deal, really, but the small, mostly skateable for advanced skiers, traverse uphill from the Black Chair to the Magician/Wizard area was getting to be a drag by the end of the day. This problem will not go away with the Red Chair running as the steepest part uphill is after the Wizard junction. I'm not an expert on earth moving (or on VT paperwork) but if that could be solved with a bulldozer rental I say go for it.
And this all leads up to the core problem of critiquing Magic: I'm conflicted pointing these things out because on the one hand I don't mind hiking or sacrificing a bit for awesomeness and maybe a less-than-user-friendly reputation keeps the crowds down. Don't mind? -- Hell, call me a masochist but actually I might love it. I loves me some Magic and I loves me some Plattekill. I loves me some MRG too, but not as much because of the huge wait for a seat. Obviously not a problem when you have a place to yourself.
On the other hand, we are all familiar with this resort's historic difficulties. In order to succeed, management needs to get more asses in seats, and the tiniest bit of pampering seems to make a big difference to the bulk of SNE skiers. Despite the mountain's reputation, there is plenty off the top that is readily doable by low intermediates and advanced beginners. And being able to ski off the top is a huge boost to these folks' egos, but they tend to be not so good at the climbing/traversing stuff -- it's awkward and tiring. So these skiers might easily see areas where some climbing work is necessary as being too much trouble for the reward. There is also a slight uphill from the Black Chair to the other side -- slight, as in, maybe not readily obvious but you can't get over it from the lift without excellent skating and gliding skills, or stepping. At least this will go away when Red gets back on line.
And if they ever get to the stage where they can afford it and get the crowds I say leave the summit lifts alone, low speed and all, and drop the cash instead on a halfway-up chair serving the network of greens and blues on skier's right (w/upper terminal somewhere near Wand/Medium intersection.) Maybe even add a midstation to one of the summit lifts so experts could run laps without the lower-mountain runout and corresponding extra lift time. But now we might be getting into pipe dream territory.
So back to the vibe -- no doubt the incredible conditions had something to do with it but everybody there -- guests and employees alike -- was cheerful and seemed happy to be there. This is a huge change from last year and the previous year's visits, when I'd have described the staff as disengaged or even surly. And I'm far from a regular so I can't go into deep detail on physical plant changes but the lodge -- restrooms included -- seemed somehow brighter, definitely cleaner. For all I know they just put in bigger light bulbs but I suspect a lot more's been done that casual visitors like me would barely notice but that all contribute to a better experience. Attention to grooming seems to have improved as well. My previous two visits left me feeling like I'd just seen a resort on its way down -- today I feel like Magic is back on its way up. I get the impression that the user-friendliness thing is on the minds of management this season too and that gives me hope. This is a huge relief, and things should only get better next year with the planned snowmaking improvement. Hopefully Marketing will be able to get the message out and Magic will see the rebound it so sorely deserves.
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