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The NEW Magic Mountain

NYDB

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Hopefully over off season they can get the black up to snuff.. if they can get that loading as at least a consistent double chair then they will be in great shape for next year


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Agreed 100%

That's really all they need and still keep the slopes not crowded on the way down.

If you know on the weekends and holidays (when the mountain is 100% open) both chairs are spinning 8:30 am that's a huge difference for me (speaking as a 1st time seasons pass holder)
 

ShadyGrove

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The lines were long all over VT on Saturday. If you think that going to Mt. Snow, Stratton, or Bromley would have gotten you better runs, value, etc. you are kidding yourself.

Magic also deserves props for keeping the chair running until 5pm during the Spring.

That being said, once Black and/or Green get running, it's going to be awesome for both the operations and the customer.
 

NYDB

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The lines were long all over VT on Saturday. If you think that going to Mt. Snow, Stratton, or Bromley would have gotten you better runs, value, etc. you are kidding yourself.

Magic also deserves props for keeping the chair running until 5pm during the Spring.

That being said, once Black and/or Green get running, it's going to be awesome for both the operations and the customer.

Who said that?
 

Vaughn

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can't blame the people for trying to ski. and good for magic making money. they have a billboard on i91, and have been getting such good press and social media talk... will be there in one week

No of course no-one should be blamed here but Magic is developing the problem (a good one I suppose) of being too popular for capacity. I was there two weeks ago in the first heavy snowstorm and it was fantastic. Loved it. It was also empty. But I'm just not going to go skiing anywhere where I have to wait 30 minutes for a lift, a slow lift at that so I can't see going there on a weekend anytime soon. Hopefully the bumper March can fund restoration to full functionality of the second lift which would do a lot. I'd also recommend raising prices on Saturdays to better fund improvements.
 

bdfreetuna

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keep the faith
Once Magic has 2 lifts running it won't be a problem even on the busiest days.

Once Green is in action it won't even be part of the conversation.
 

BenedictGomez

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If you don't like lines, don't ski Saturday.

Hmmmmm.... well, there's an idea, let me think about that.....no, no I'll still ski on Saturday thank you very much.

But I tend to strategically choose where to ski on Saturday to best minimize or alleviate crowding. Live and learn.
 

cdskier

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Hmmmmm.... well, there's an idea, let me think about that.....no, no I'll still ski on Saturday thank you very much.

But I tend to strategically choose where to ski on Saturday to best minimize or alleviate crowding. Live and learn.

Yea. Not skiing Saturday is a great idea with the simple exception of that's when most of us are "forced" to ski due to work. I'd love to ski midweek and be able to skip the weekends, but with a regular job that just doesn't work out so well.
 

slatham

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Magic fully expected Black to be operating at least as a double this winter. Until the health issues hit George (RIP) there were reasonable expectations that Green would be running too.

In the scenario with both these lifts running I personally don't think there would have been lines this winter, even with no cap on sales (my assessment does not hold for future years with continued success).

The above Monday morning, arm-chair quarterbacking I think (as one myself) is spot on: Assuming Green in running, is the incremental cost of replacing Black offer a payback in terms of incremental ticket sales vs. the cost of a new drive/motor/whatever? On the other hand, how wise is it to put money into a lift that in my opinion has to be replaced in the next X number of years, and in the meantime - even with a new drive/motor - is at risk of having other issues?

I don't know, and none of you do either (well, ok, two of you do). But it is not an easy decision, and either one is a leap of faith. As if the New England weather wasn't enough of a ski area management headache!

But if you want to know the character of the operator, you just saw it. Lift problem? Communicate issue, limit sales, stay open late, open early, be present with your clientele.
 

Vaughn

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Paging Robin Hood

We need someone to creep in the Hermitage over the summer and swap out their lift motors.
 

IceEidolon

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You could probably run all three lifts off their bubble six's drive!

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JamaicaMan

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We've already put well over 6 figures into the Black Chair and the reliability has not been as promised. Very disappointing return to say the least. Not a lot of real good options short term from a business stand point. We want a reliable 2nd lift to the top for these busy Saturdays--BTW, why don't folks come Sundays? Lol. Lots less traffic and no work excuse. We will explore our options for the offseason. Shorter term new drive, com line etc that gets us a few more years out of Black or a bigger investment that avoids the sink hole but has a much longer term payout. Short term is riskier from a performance standpoint; the long term option carries the risk of not getting the larger investment back. Not easy decisions for a small, independent mountain...


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JamaicaMan

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Also love the opinion that magic is becoming too popular for its capacity...that is pretty much every major resort on a Saturday holiday or Saturday after snowfall like this March. 45 min-hour long lines and crowded slopes. (And no one remembers all the other average Saturdays when we only need a single lift because no one shows up despite pretty decent conditions.) But a 30 minute line at Magic if a lift goes down on a snowfilled Saturday is somehow horrific. These big resorts oversell all the time. We make every attempt not to do that, always watching ticket sales and the lift lines. No one does that....and no resort, even us, can anticipate ahead of time when a lift will go down for mechanical or other undetermined reasons.


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prsboogie

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JM thanks for the honest up front postings. I wish others would take a page from your book and do the same. I hope to see a green lift next year, it will allow me to get the wife to ski magic and not be petrified!! I want to get my family there in the worst way.

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JamaicaMan

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JM thanks for the honest up front postings. I wish others would take a page from your book and do the same. I hope to see a green lift next year, it will allow me to get the wife to ski magic and not be petrified!! I want to get my family there in the worst way.

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Yes on Green Lift getting finished for next season
 

NYDB

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I really appreciate the GM coming on here to discuss. That really sucks you've invested that much in black to little effect. Personally, I've only seen bad lines the last couple of weeks. We were up over the Christmas/New Years holiday and the snow was great and there were little lines. If the natural snow was more spread out through the season I think the crowds would be less 'surgey'.

And as far as people not coming on Sunday, maybe the Magic crowd skews very religious and everyone is at church.

Chester Telegraph said:
“Redundancy, reliability and consistency are the key,” he says. And to achieve that, SKI MAGIC is working to bring the Black Line triple chairlift back into service after being down for two years. With two bottom-to-top lifts, there are no lines, no crowds, according to Hatheway. But more important, if one lift needs to stop, people can still get to the top.
In future years, a third lift – the Green Line – which was begun early in the past decade, but never completed, will make a mountain that is known for challenging terrain more family- and beginner-friendly as it moves skiers halfway up the mountain to an area where there are less challenging runs.

Sounds like maybe a contractor let you down or the lift wasn't in as good as shape as you thought since it seemed to be your number 1 priority going into this. Although you only had 100 different priorities I'm sure. Anyway, I've seen enough this year to buy passes for my family of 4 again for 18/19. Green would be cool but I'd prefer a reliable Black. There are easy enough trails off the summit lift for my 5 year old.
 

Vaughn

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Also love the opinion that magic is becoming too popular for its capacity...that is pretty much every major resort on a Saturday holiday or Saturday after snowfall like this March. 45 min-hour long lines and crowded slopes. (And no one remembers all the other average Saturdays when we only need a single lift because no one shows up despite pretty decent conditions.) But a 30 minute line at Magic if a lift goes down on a snowfilled Saturday is somehow horrific. These big resorts oversell all the time. We make every attempt not to do that, always watching ticket sales and the lift lines. No one does that....and no resort, even us, can anticipate ahead of time when a lift will go down for mechanical or other undetermined reasons.


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I appreciate my post might have seem like a personal dis on what you've achieved over there or something but it wasn't meant as such - I'm not interested in waiting in line for 30 minutes at any mountain and plan my trips accordingly. That's why I like terrible, cold and icy Cannon (terrible place, no-one go there) and haven't been to Snow or Stratton in 20 years.

What you have done is very cool and I plan to ski there again several times next year - just not on a Saturday post snowfall, that's all.
 
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