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The NEW Magic Mountain

slatham

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Getting me excited...
Never been to Magic early in the season, what do they usually open first?
Not a usual year so need Do Work or Jamaica Man to chime in. My real question is do they open with just Green, or wait until both Red and Green can run?

In recent years the typical trails were: UMC/Medium/Wand/Show Off. Then Hocus Pocus. Magic Carpet "Through the Woods". Trick. (In the old days MC/Tick/Wand/Show Off).

I would expect Lower Magic Carpet to be in the early season mix too as they did significant repair this summer and testing this fall. Where it comes in on the priority list is a good question.

Of course a nice dump would help!
 

thetrailboss

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In case any of you are wondering, Magic sold 75% more season passes this year than average. They even beat Jay’s average. That’s pretty impressive!

“People want to be able to ski, and passholders can come and ski without a hard reservation,” he said. The southern Vermont resort usually sells about 1,000 season passes each year and this year sold 1,750. About 10% of Magic’s day pass skiers in a typical year are Vermonters, he said.

“If they’re from an impacted state that is forced to quarantine, it’s not really a manageable solution for them,” said Steve Wright, the resort’s general manager. Jay Peak usually sells about 1,600 season passes each year, but because half of its skiers usually come from Canada — and won’t this year, because the border is closed — those pass sales were down about 30% this year, he said.

 

hughconway

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In case any of you are wondering, Magic sold 75% more season passes this year than average. They even beat Jay’s average. That’s pretty impressive!

Very impressive. It's also what makes all of the 'they only need one summit chair' statements that much more absurd. With a double chair that'll have to be loaded single most of the time a 6' socially distanced lift line might reach half way up the mountain. I bet the claimed completion of the summit quad was a significant consideration in many of those new pass purchases.

Does anyone know if they got the drive motor installed/connected this past week as expected?
 

Newpylong

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There is still another double next to that one. There are only really lines when there are race events, which aren't happening this year. The quad will be nice for opening bell, but not needed.

The electric drive is operating.

I counter bet by and large purchases were not made with any "claimed completion" in mind.
 

skimagic

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There is still another double next to that one. There are only really lines when there are race events, which aren't happening this year. The quad will be nice for opening bell, but not needed.

The electric drive is operating.

I counter bet by and large purchases were not made with any "claimed completion" in mind.
The same claim was made last year -not having the new chair on line last season would piss people off leading to a loss in sales this year.

Riding the red chair is well worth a 10 minute wait. Its just like MRG, its part of the mountain experience in terms of snow quality and uncrowded slopes.

People are tired of the mega resort experience and want something authentic.
 

hughconway

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There is still another double next to that one. There are only really lines when there are race events, which aren't happening this year. The quad will be nice for opening bell, but not needed.

The electric drive is operating.

Glad to hear that the drive motor is online. That leaves a glimmer of hope that my prognostications will be incorrect and the chair will spin this year.

You're missing the point re: capacity and need of the new chair. You're talking about (conservatively) 50% more people on an average weekend due to the 75% increase in pass sales. That alone, would at least slightly increase crowding under 'normal' operations. So now that you've got more regulars/season pass holders than ever before, it stands to reason that lift lines will also increase. Social distancing and VT rules then cut lift capacity in HALF. So you've got 50% more skiers with 50% less lift capacity.

Given social distancing rules, the addition of the summit quad would at least put uphill capacity back near 100% of previous capabilities even while adhering to social distancing. One would imagine that would be important when running at ~150% of 'normal' capacity.
 

ne_skier

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The same claim was made last year -not having the new chair on line last season would piss people off leading to a loss in sales this year.

Riding the red chair is well worth a 10 minute wait. Its just like MRG, its part of the mountain experience in terms of snow quality and uncrowded slopes.

People are tired of the mega resort experience and want something authentic.
Even if Black's open this year, I'll probably be sticking to Red. Just a cooler lift in my opinion. Black should take the crowds off of it as well, so that's an added bonus
 

urungus

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You're missing the point re: capacity and need of the new chair. You're talking about (conservatively) 50% more people on an average weekend due to the 75% increase in pass sales. That alone, would at least slightly increase crowding under 'normal' operations.

Seriously doubt Magic will see a 50% rise in skier visits this year.

1) Not all skiers have season pass, so even under normal circumstances a 75% increase in pass holders would not lead to a corresponding increase in skier visits.

2) Some of the new season ticket buyers were buying individual tickets last year, so they can’t be counted as additional visitors (though they might visit more often)

3) Magic has lowered the daily ticket cap from 1500 to 1100 tickets.

4) All out of state season season ticket holders are now subject to quarantine which is likely to reduce their pass usage, not everyone will respect the quarantine but some will.

5) Base lodge restrictions, having to use your car as lodge, etc. is likely to reduce turnout from both casual skiers and season ticket holders.
 

ne_skier

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Seriously doubt Magic will see a 50% rise in skier visits this year.

1) Not all skiers have season pass, so even under normal circumstances a 75% increase in pass holders would not lead to a corresponding increase in skier visits.

2) Some of the new season ticket buyers were buying individual tickets last year, so they can’t be counted as additional visitors (though they might visit more often)

3) Magic has lowered the daily ticket cap from 1500 to 1100 tickets.

4) All out of state season season ticket holders are now subject to quarantine which is likely to reduce their pass usage, not everyone will respect the quarantine but some will.

5) Base lodge restrictions, having to use your car as lodge, etc. is likely to reduce turnout from both casual skiers and season ticket holders.
I'd expect just about every ski area in VT to see a drastic decrease in day ticket sales, as non-dedicated skiers who may go say once a month at most won't find it worthwhile to risk Covid, not go into a base lodge, and for some states, sacrifice 1-2 weeks of time to go. This year's gonna be not only for the very dedicated, but the very dedicated people who can go despite their occupation etc
 

KustyTheKlown

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Seriously doubt Magic will see a 50% rise in skier visits this year.

1) Not all skiers have season pass, so even under normal circumstances a 75% increase in pass holders would not lead to a corresponding increase in skier visits.

2) Some of the new season ticket buyers were buying individual tickets last year, so they can’t be counted as additional visitors (though they might visit more often)

3) Magic has lowered the daily ticket cap from 1500 to 1100 tickets.

4) All out of state season season ticket holders are now subject to quarantine which is likely to reduce their pass usage, not everyone will respect the quarantine but some will.

5) Base lodge restrictions, having to use your car as lodge, etc. is likely to reduce turnout from both casual skiers and season ticket holders.

i'm #2. always have been a magic quad pack holder, but the Sunday pass was super appealing to me this year. assuming weather and conditions hold up, its really nice to ski at magic on Sundays when i'm a relatively speedy 4 hours drive home. i always like skiing up north on Saturday, driving to central or southern vermont cheap lodging Saturday night, skiing south on Sunday, and getting home by 6:30/7 PM. the magic pass is perfect for that and i only need to ski about 4-5 sundays for it to make sense. add in my indy pass and my late season quad pack from last year and I've got a lot of fully magic weekends on tap - hopefully every weekend from mid-march thru end of april
 

cdskier

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I'd expect just about every ski area in VT to see a drastic decrease in day ticket sales, as non-dedicated skiers who may go say once a month at most won't find it worthwhile to risk Covid, not go into a base lodge, and for some states, sacrifice 1-2 weeks of time to go. This year's gonna be not only for the very dedicated, but the very dedicated people who can go despite their occupation etc

Don't forget about the lack of discounted day tickets and the higher day ticket prices in general at most resorts...that will limit day tickets sales as well.
 

JoeB-Z

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There is still another double next to that one. There are only really lines when there are race events, which aren't happening this year. The quad will be nice for opening bell, but not needed.

The electric drive is operating.

I counter bet by and large purchases were not made with any "claimed completion" in mind.
Let's get this straight. Magic will open with Green. I think they also want multiple ways down. Jamaicaman is hyper competent at managing what arises and will stick 100% to the rules. I think the Vermont out of state quarantine rules are not going away. Crowds will be fairly thin, and if they are not, Vermont may well be checking plates in the parking lots. At least putting flyers on cars.

Joe
 

ne_skier

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Let's get this straight. Magic will open with Green. I think they also want multiple ways down. Jamaicaman is hyper competent at managing what arises and will stick 100% to the rules. I think the Vermont out of state quarantine rules are not going away. Crowds will be fairly thin, and if they are not, Vermont may well be checking plates in the parking lots. At least putting flyers on cars.

Joe
Apparently VT law enforcement will be sifting through the lodging and ski resort affidavits as well just to make sure nobody's flying under the radar
 

ne_skier

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Where did you hear that / what does that actually mean?
Hotel owner told us. Apparently somebody will be sifting through the affidavits and searching for any obvious violations. I doubt she's lying, as she as well as virtually every other hotel in the state that's in a ski town will see severe losses due to a lack of clientele. They don't really have any incentive to chase away guests from a business standpoint
 

cdskier

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Hotel owner told us. Apparently somebody will be sifting through the affidavits and searching for any obvious violations. I doubt she's lying, as she as well as virtually every other hotel in the state that's in a ski town will see severe losses due to a lack of clientele. They don't really have any incentive to chase away guests from a business standpoint

How exactly would someone find any obvious violations by simply looking at a signed affidavit? These affidavits have very little information on them (name, date, signature, some contact info, and a checkbox that says "I agree I met the requirements and followed the rules" essentially). Unless someone signs it as "Mickey Mouse" or fills in 212-555-1234 as their phone number...there's nothing to point out whether someone was truthful or not.
 
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