Magic: Good Friday 3-29-13

[legalskier]

I wish I had something better to report but it was a mixed bag today. Got on the red chair at 9 for several runs on the east side where the surface was frozen groomed. The trails generally are in good shape on that side. By 11 it had warmed up considerably and the sun came out- the surface became grabby, more so the lower on the mountain. We gradually made our way towards the west side. At lunchtime I applied some Zardoz which helped. After lunch the clouds returned and the surface firmed up slightly but it couldn't make up for the loss of snow Magic has sustained since last weekend. Except for Talisman, most of the trails on the west side presented with patches of grass, snow and/or rocks- some larger than others. Magician was closed, with an exposed pipe at the top along Upper Wizard. In fact, there were other exposed pipes at other places on the west side with no warning signs. Slide Of Hans had a tree blocking the bottom section,as well as a pipe, and someone had run a snowmobile straight up the trail leaving behind a nasty rut. Of the glades Twilight Zone was my favorite-it skied well all day despite the grass patches near the bottom. Red Line was in terrible shape- I was astonished when several people ventured onto it- but Black Line was in better shape.
Even though this report objectively may sound somewhat negative, I still enjoyed the day over all. The bumps in particular softened up nicely. Black Line & Twilight Zone were the best sustained bump runs even despite the grass patches. Magic is building a new tree park near the zip line along Little Dipper. Also enjoyed staying at the Upper Pass Inn, which has been freshened up nicely and has a new, competent and enthusiastic manager, Vince.


Talisman


Slide of Hans


Black Line


Twilight Zone


Timber Park

 

[jrmagic]

Yes there was snow loss since last week but I thought it skied pretty well with only Upper Magician closed. I hit pretty much every black/ double black and some tree runs as well. You had to pick your way on that one section of run out on Twilight Zone/Gonnif but the main part of Gonnif had tons of snow. They will make next weekend for sure. We shall see about the one after that. Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Looks all skiable to me. Except for the tree across Slide of Hans lol..

Magic had a pretty good season I guess... I had some great days there and hit it while it was good.. but I guess it is getting late in the season.

Good to see they have as much snow left as they do and only have Magician closed out of all of them. I'd rather avoid grass and rocks than not be able to ski it at all

 

[legalskier]

Looks all skiable to me.

I guess that depends on your def of skiable. Basically, the steeps with natural snow are losing it, while the flatter trails with snow making are holding up well, like Wand-



We watched someone ski this section- there was a loud scraping sound as he sideslipped over a granite rock. I cringed.


Another trail with a tree blocking it was Potter’s.

I'd rather avoid grass and rocks than not be able to ski it at all

I feel the same, but some readers might not see things the same way. I tried to be as objective as possible in this TR, as I’m cognizant that some AZers go there to ski these steeps. And as I mentioned, I did enjoy the day-