Just how good is Magic?

[mtl1076]

even though I was on the crappy Mountain Dew rentals...

We are working on fixing that too...the snowmaking and Green lift will come first though.

 

[bvibert]

We are working on fixing that too...the snowmaking and Green lift will come first though.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. They worked out fine, and were much better than the alternative.

Like 2knees said above, my other skis were NOT fun at all that day...

 

[Marc]

full time trails conditions tester.....sorry, position filled. I think that is the first item on my job description.:grin:

Perfectly understandable. We look forward to your visit. Plan on visiting a Tuesday in mid winter with your touring gear. I don't want to release too many details just yet, but we will have a touring program out to some fun areas on Tuesday afternoons. Free to anyone willing to earn it. Led by yours truly.

Awesome! Thanks for the heads up. I'll def. be down for that plus a couple friends.

 

[Marc]

Speaking of trail maps... one suggestion I have (that may actually put me over the edge for a Magic pass, serious) is for the resort offer topo maps right along side your "not to scale" trail maps. If there's one thing that irks me about ski resorts is the assumption that their clientele is too dumb to read a topo map.

Modern trail maps tell you absolutely nothing about how a trail is going to ski, and (although not the case with Magic) on resorts with multiple peaks, can be downright confusing and annoying when you have to traverse or side step something.


And I don't know what the legal ramifications would be, but I'd also love to see you sell topo maps of the surrounding area, if there are indeed goods to which one can tour or hike in close proximity to the resort. I think I could promise you I'd buy a pass there if you did those things (plus followed through with what you've talked about with the snow making).

 

[Greg]

If there's one thing that irks me about ski resorts is the assumption that their clientele is too dumb to read a topo map.

I'm going to venture to guess that yes, in fact most people are too dumb to read a topo map. I'd love to see mountains do this though too.

 

[tjf67]

I'm going to venture to guess that yes, in fact most people are too dumb to read a topo map. I'd love to see mountains do this though too.

Thats kinda harsh. I think most people could read them but have chosen not to or never shown how. You could always do a little digging and down load the topo map and overlay it yourself.


http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lon=-72.7653&lat=43.1967

 

[mtl1076]

It is a cool idea. I will at least look into getting a digital copy of the topo and overlaying the trails.

 

[Greg]

Thats kinda harsh.

Perhaps. I didn't mean to infer that anyone that doesn't know how to read one is inherently dumb. I was simply replying to Marc's post. I stand by my opinion that the average skier probably doesn't have a clue about what all those lines mean.

 

[kcyanks1]

Speaking of trail maps... one suggestion I have (that may actually put me over the edge for a Magic pass, serious) is for the resort offer topo maps right along side your "not to scale" trail maps. If there's one thing that irks me about ski resorts is the assumption that their clientele is too dumb to read a topo map.

Killington used to have their trail map as a topo map. MRG too, I think. I thought it was cool. You can always ignore the lines.

 

[snowman]

... but has the idea of a southern VT Superstar been considered? l?

I don't know if he means bumps or a 40 foot deep manmade base here. In lurking here I noticed a lot of disillusion from members over the appearence that the new Killington is going to bow out completely on late season skiing. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but, I'm on the assumption that the late season crowd at killington (that they apparently don't feel it's even worth opening for) would actually be a good day for Magic MID SEASON. Given also that Magic has older fixed grip chairs that suck about 1/10 the energy of the Superstar quad, they should also be able to turn a profit a lot easier on a late season day. I imagine a lot more members in here would be interested in passes if you announced an intention to blow the hell out of X trail all winter long in an attempt to keep it open till June 1 (or whenever the snow is all gone). Blowing the hell out of one trail all winter long might give you some mid season ability to open when the other mountains who blow a foot on one trail move to the next (the big dogs) get rained out as well. That would be my angle for this winter if I was owner of one of the ankle biter mountains. If you can't be the biggest in a certain business, or have the best of everything, you need to carve out a niche you CAN serve and serve it. ;-)

 

[Marc]

I don't know if he means bumps or a 40 foot deep manmade base here.

He means both.

 

[snowman]

He means both.

He means well I do request 1/2 be groomed though as my old knees can't take bumps all day in May

 

[mtl1076]

Our focus is on having some varied terrain open by mid december and more importantly Christmas week. I would love to say we can blow 40 feet of snow on one trail, but that is just not realistic in the near future.

That said, we will be pushing to stay open for as long as possible in the spring.

 

[Marc]

Our focus is on having some varied terrain open by mid december and more importantly Christmas week. I would love to say we can blow 40 feet of snow on one trail, but that is just not realistic in the near future.

That said, we will be pushing to stay open for as long as possible in the spring.

Fair enough. We'll give you a year.

:dunce:

 

[snowman]

So you're going to play the same game as the big boys I guess...which ends them ALL up rained out almost every year. I'd love to see just one ski area vary from "business as usual" and bank snow so that you KNOW they will have atleast one trail you can ski without wrecking your skis. Think of the business you might do over Christmas if you're THE ONLY AREA OPEN. I think that model will become more and more the one eastern resorts need to look at in the years to come. I know a lot of skiers look to trail counts to make their choices but I bet there are a lot of people out there (like me) who would prefer their pass resort be open during warm spells (I actually like skiing corn snow best...at any time of the year), as opposed to not being able to enjoy the typical eastern mid winter warm spell because the area is closed. How many guns do you have the ability to run at once? You have 5500 feet for one lift direction and 3600 feet for the other. Even if you took the 3600 foot one, made sure you had 36 hydrants on that line and expanded your snowmaking capacity by 36 guns (not a massive expenditure), you could have the best of both worlds....blow the hell out of that one and play business as usual thruout the rest of the resort with your existing capacity. I bet after you discover the 36 gun run saves your ass time and time again you would look at doing the summit with the same and have the money to do so.

 

[snowman]

I might also point out this exact strategy is why I was looking with envy at webcams of people skiing in Virginia and North Carolina time and time again this year when nothing was open in the Northeast.

 

[2knees]

I might also point out this exact strategy is why I was looking with envy at webcams of people skiing in Virginia and North Carolina time and time again this year when nothing was open in the Northeast.

what?

 

[JimG.]

So you're going to play the same game as the big boys I guess...which ends them ALL up rained out almost every year. I'd love to see just one ski area vary from "business as usual" and bank snow so that you KNOW they will have atleast one trail you can ski without wrecking your skis. Think of the business you might do over Christmas if you're THE ONLY AREA OPEN. I think that model will become more and more the one eastern resorts need to look at in the years to come. I know a lot of skiers look to trail counts to make their choices but I bet there are a lot of people out there (like me) who would prefer their pass resort be open during warm spells (I actually like skiing corn snow best...at any time of the year), as opposed to not being able to enjoy the typical eastern mid winter warm spell because the area is closed. How many guns do you have the ability to run at once? You have 5500 feet for one lift direction and 3600 feet for the other. Even if you took the 3600 foot one, made sure you had 36 hydrants on that line and expanded your snowmaking capacity by 36 guns (not a massive expenditure), you could have the best of both worlds....blow the hell out of that one and play business as usual thruout the rest of the resort with your existing capacity. I bet after you discover the 36 gun run saves your ass time and time again you would look at doing the summit with the same and have the money to do so.

Good plan...but first you need a mountain.

I'd love to see someone do this too...again the number of other skiers who would take advantage is just too small to make it profitable IMO. And remember, even though experts can ski anywhere, the majority of any ski area's business and profit come from novices and below who come to learn to ski, take lessons, and rent.

I used to teach...when I was a line instructor I would guess that 80% of the lessons I taught were beginners. Not because I was a line instructor, but because that was 80% of the skiers who took lessons. I didn't teach many advanced and above lessons until I became a seasonal program coach.

While a 40 foot deep pile running top to bottom on Lucifer might make you and I drool, the majority of the ski business will simply look and drive away because there isn't any terrain for them. They're going to open a representative amount of terrain first, stoke the profit jones, then consider ideas like yours last.

 

[JimG.]

I might also point out this exact strategy is why I was looking with envy at webcams of people skiing in Virginia and North Carolina time and time again this year when nothing was open in the Northeast.

Hunter was open from Thanksgiving weekend on with one off weekend due to the warmth. That's about the best anyone can hope for given the weather.

 

[snowman]

Good plan...but first you need a mountain.

I knew that was coming. :flame: It is exactly what I would do if I owned a mountain like Magic though. I've been in business long enough to know you don't get anywhere as a little fella copying the big boys. You need an angle to set yourself apart. The angle of: "You're welcome to ski our trails even though they have no cover and feel free to get lost and injured in the woods" is not a good angle IMHO, and will be an even worse one when it's the lead story on Fox First News. As well, the only people who are going to come out during the warm spells and late season are the upper end skiers, so it doesn't really matter what the rating is of the trail you cover. My main point is that there are A LOT of upper end skiers in New England, and if you're the only game in town, as in the only place open, or the only place open where you know you won't be skiing on gravel (and you're only looking to keep a double chair busy) I think a plan like this would be the way to go. With all the choices in the new england market a mountain like Magic needs to make some sort of a statement or they'll never get anywhere. I think Mount Snow is already gearing up for this exact project anyway (on top of having modern infrastructure) so they may be the run away winner in that region this year.

I used to teach skiing too. I'd say beginers made up 99% of the lessons at the resort I worked at. A lesson came free with a lift ticket/rental package.