Magic Mountain

[Marc]

And certainly, I'd be willing to go to some length to attend an AZ gathering at Magic.


Provided the natural snow fall is gracing our fair NE hills...

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

For the area it's in, Magic's terrain is in it's own league. I've never skied in the Catskills, but I have trouble believeing that they have anything that'll hold a acandle to Magic terain. Redline, Master Magician, Slide of Hans, the glades, Lucifer, never mind the stuff off the map are a huge challenge.

I'll be polite: the ownership/management has been a serious chalenge. I was always taught: If you can't say something good about someone,you should remain silent.

Here's what I have to say about the Magic Management:...

"Ski it while you can"

 

[bvibert]

I'll be polite: the ownership/management has been a serious chalenge. I was always taught: If you can't say something good about someone,you should remain silent.

Here's what I have to say about the Magic Management:...

"Ski it while you can"

Well, thats not very encouraging!

Do you have any details about the sale, has it gone through??

 

[loafer89]

For the area it's in, Magic's terrain is in it's own league. I've never skied in the Catskills, but I have trouble believeing that they have anything that'll hold a acandle to Magic terain. Redline, Master Magician, Slide of Hans, the glades, Lucifer, never mind the stuff off the map are a huge challenge.

I'll be polite: the ownership/management has been a serious chalenge. I was always taught: If you can't say something good about someone,you should remain silent.

Here's what I have to say about the Magic Management:...

"Ski it while you can"

Hunter has some terrain that is quite steep and does compare to Magic and the vertical drop is roughly the same.;-)

 

[JimG.]

Hunter has some terrain that is quite steep and does compare to Magic and the vertical drop is roughly the same.;-)

Plattekill too...especially the off the map stuff.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

As far as I know the sale has not gone through. There are some issues hanging it up. Hopefully, this will go through soon so things can move forward.

With around 1600' vertical, 33 and 1/3 trails and many acres between trails for glades or trails, it has some great potential. The trails are old school, narrow, twisting, lot of natural terrain features...very esthetically pleasing.

It's a great place. Hopefully, it will get new owners that can give it the TLS it deserves.

 

[bvibert]

It's a great place. Hopefully, it will get new owners that can give it the TLS it deserves.

Lets hope so! :beer:

 

[thetrailboss]

I want to commend folks for a great conversation on Magic. :beer: Some good points, memories, and observations and no :flame: fights that have recently occurred in other forums, who, regrettably, have had to pull the plug on Magic threads because of a few "bad apples" with an agenda. This thread has a lot of substance, polite discussion, and great info that some of us in the NELSAP room desired to read.

This level of civility speaks to the quality of the folks in here (and this is certainly not to say that NELSAP is not civil...it's just that they've had a hard time with trolls). I cringed when I initially saw this thread, thinking it may lead to :uzi: but it has been very substantive thanks to you all. Awesome. :beer:

 

[2knees]

damn i had no idea it was such a touchy subject. Reading some of that, its hard to believe there was a time when magic actually expanded over to timberside. while not challenging it was a cool little area. The traverse back and forth was absolutely brutal though.

 

[loafer89]

I want to commend folks for a great conversation on Magic. :beer: Some good points, memories, and observations and no :flame: fights that have recently occurred in other forums, who, regrettably, have had to pull the plug on Magic threads because of a few "bad apples" with an agenda. This thread has a lot of substance, polite discussion, and great info that some of us in the NELSAP room desired to read.

This level of civility speaks to the quality of the folks in here (and this is certainly not to say that NELSAP is not civil...it's just that they've had a hard time with trolls). I cringed when I initially saw this thread, thinking it may lead to :uzi: but it has been very substantive thanks to you all. Awesome. :beer:

I am a New Yorker born and breed, so I do not know anything about:smash: :argue: :uzi: :flame: :evil: being uncivil.:wink:

Seriously, I wish all the best for Magic, I really got a good impression of the place.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

There is nothing in Southern New England that compares to a powder day at Magic. In the five seasons that I patrolled there, I was fortunate to have quite a few. The narrow trails and glades were cut to hold snow (Master Magician being an exception, unfortunately.) A good storm at Stratton is amazing at Magic. Combine that with the challanging terrain and the low skier traffic, it's a great experience. Many people are pasionate about the place, with very good reason.

Magic is a natural snow area. It's not just that it does not have extensive snowmaking, but that the narrow trails are made to hold the snow and would be difficult to run pipes on and blow snow on without dumping most of it in the woods. Trails like Redline and Master would not be the same if they wer modified for snowmaking. (Heck, you can;t even get a groom up or down Redline now. A lot of people don't want to see that change.

The old lifts help keep the skier density down, which on a natural snow mountain helps keep the skiing good for longer after the storm. All of these things contribute to Magics character.

The facts are that it's a select few of us that enjoy the unique experiences that we have a places like Magic, or MRG, or Saddleback. The bulk of the skiing/riding public demands consistent conditions, snowmaking, grooming and detachable lifts. All of these would have a huge impact on the elements of Magic that so many of us hold near and dear. I think most of us realize that infrastructure improvements such as lifts and snowmaking are inevitable, if the area is to remain viable.

We can reamin hopefull that the sale goes through and the new onwers have the resourses (read: $$$) and the motivation to make the necessary improvements (hopefully while retaining the character) and take care of the maintainance and customer service issues that have driven away so many customers in the last few years.

 

[smootharc]

Perhaps a weird thought...

...but can anyone envision Magic as a skier owned cooperative like MRG ?

A lot closer to the Northeast's skier base that MRG.

 

[loafer89]

I agree that it is nice to have places with slower lifts and less skier traffic, but as for Saddleback, the time has come to replace the T-bars, even double chairs would be better.
I doubt that too many people would be upset with that change. I know it would get me back there to ski more often than not.

At least Magic has Chairlifts and not T-bars.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

I'm actually a big fan of T-bars. The Kennebago, for me, is a huge plus for Saddleback. The line speed is pretty quick, never a wind hold, provides a deterent to certain elements, reminds me of my youth.

I realize they're not for everyone. I happen to like it. A lot.

"45 years of tradition...unimpeded by progress."

 

[bvibert]

...but can anyone envision Magic as a skier owned cooperative like MRG ?

A lot closer to the Northeast's skier base that MRG.

That thought had crossed my mind as well..

 

[awf170]

I agree that it is nice to have places with slower lifts and less skier traffic, but as for Saddleback, the time has come to replace the T-bars, even double chairs would be better.
I doubt that too many people would be upset with that change. I know it would get me back there to ski more often than not.

At least Magic has Chairlifts and not T-bars.

Keep the T-bar. T-bars are the best. I wish Sugarloaf still had a summit t-bar instead of that stupid timberline chair. If Saddlebacks summit lift was a chair I bet it would be on wind hold 50% of the season.

 

[smootharc]

Most definitely a T-Bar fan....

....for abovementioned reasons, including the nostalgia thing.

Some areas have chair lifts above older t-bars, which hang out awaiting chairlift down times.

 

[loafer89]

I like T-bars as well, and agree that a chairlift could complement the T-bar lift in the Kennebago area. Last weekend, the T-bar line was melting out and downright dangerous in spots, but the trails it serviced still had alot of snow on them, so that could be a problem in low snow years like this year.

I do not see the T-bars at Saddleback lasting too much longer if the place wants to become a destination resort, which it looks like they want to be with the new begginer quad, new lodge and now a hotel.

The Bateau T-bar is a good lift at Sugarloaf and comes in handy for windy days when the Spillway/Superquad lifts cannot run. Sorry Austin, but I will take the Timberline chair over a T-bar any day.

I did plenty of skiing in Europe mainly on T-bars alone, but for most new skiers/boarders they are not the lift of choice.

 

[2knees]

There is nothing in Southern New England that compares to a powder day at Magic. In the five seasons that I patrolled there, I was fortunate to have quite a few.

So true. I've been lucky to have had 2 in the last 3 years. Opening day in 03 and the tuesday after they opened this year. This year, even though the storm was on saturday, i believe, the place was still highly untracked. Oh and there were a whopping 4 cars in the parking lot. I didnt think it was even open except for the red chair spinning. And absolutely nothing was groomed except a swath down video boulevard and a path down the blue/green run, forget its name, but it runs along the east side.

on a side note, anyone remember the old pomas at okemo that went up the annoying bunny run outside the lodge? You could load them up and shoot yourself about 5 feet in the air. They were a blast.

 

[riverc0il]

boss, slamming another forum isn't exactly civil discourse. things got out of hand on SJ because a slew of new posters, likely some trolls and a few idiots mixed in, got out of hand. this thread would quickly go the same way under similar circumstances unless mods stepped in. the train wreck on SJ was not due to the regular posters.