The NEW Magic Mountain

[RustyGroomer]

This am was something else.

 

[RustyGroomer]

always fun to shred with JRMagic...

 

[Slidebrook87]

Went to Magic today for the first time in 3 years. I was really impressed by the mountain as a whole, especially the terrain. It seemed to be well managed and there were some great natural runs and glades. Definitely can’t be beat for southern Vermont. At around 11:00 the lines for Red were 20 minutes or so, but after the rain started it was a ghost town. No lines at all after 12:30-1:00 ish.

 

[JoeB-Z]

Oh gosh they were good. I had a weird ski day as I had a 14 hour work day before and I'm no youngster. So after scooting the dog out I returned to bed. Noon OMG. And I live a solid 45 minutes away. The initial state roads to Springfield were very funky. So I got there at 1:45, got my tickets. In line at 2. Lines evaporated. Skied 6 runs before last chair. Conditions were fabulous. Whole west side had just softish, incredibly consistent surfaces on the groomed. Warmed up on Wizard. Lovely. Then Talisman, Sorcerer, Talisman, a really fast run on Trick to Showoff to make last chair. That backfired as Showoff had heavy loose snow and a really dense fog. But I made that chair. So then Talisman. Nothing wrong with Sorcerer but I like to explore all the lines on Talisman. The steep pitch at the end was magical. I have sworn off double black diamonds as I age. I was very tempted to take a stab at Goniff or Twilight, but maybe tomorrow. I am really thinking about a Pitch Black run tomorrow for the bucket list. I saw four ski patrollers on Red Line. They skied the last pitch a bit defensively as I do. But solid. Back to conditions. It will firm up tonight and there will be a fabulous period at some point. The woods will be for the talented.

 

[JoeB-Z]

Oh gosh they were good. I had a weird ski day as I had a 14 hour work day before and I'm no youngster. So after scooting the dog out I returned to bed. Noon OMG. And I live a solid 45 minutes away. The initial state roads to Springfield were very funky. So I got there at 1:45, got my tickets. In line at 2. Lines evaporated. Skied 6 runs before last chair. Conditions were fabulous. Whole west side had just softish, incredibly consistent surfaces on the groomed. Warmed up on Wizard. Lovely. Then Talisman, Sorcerer, Talisman, a really fast run on Trick to Showoff to make last chair. That backfired as Showoff had heavy loose snow and a really dense fog. But I made that chair. So then Talisman. Nothing wrong with Sorcerer but I like to explore all the lines on Talisman. The steep pitch at the end was magical. I have sworn off double black diamonds as I age. I was very tempted to take a stab at Goniff or Twilight, but maybe tomorrow. I am really thinking about a Pitch Black run tomorrow for the bucket list. I saw four ski patrollers on Red Line. They skied the last pitch a bit defensively as I do. But solid. Back to conditions. It will firm up tonight and there will be a fabulous period at some point. The woods will be for the talented.

Wrong. It never softened up. Sorceror was never groomed and it was a uniform icy but sort of skiable surface. Talisman was a bit better. Not fun. Wizard was really the best run I found. Actually Showoff was OK and softened a bit but lapping Green had no appeal.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i just got a facebook flashback pop up on my phone.

8 years ago today i left nyc at 4 AM, skied magic all day, then drove to woodstock to meet a friend at levon helm's barn to see marco benevento, joe russo, and gene ween perform their own set, and then all guest with larry campbell and the midnight ramble band. then i drove back to nyc.

that was a great long day.

 

[ThatGuy]

8 years ago today i left nyc at 4 AM, skied magic all day, then drove to woodstock.

that was a great long day.

You have some serious endurance, sounds like a great show though.

 

[urungus]

Excerpt from yesterday’s Alpine Update:

The Quad Chair work continues. Currently, Pfister Mountain Services is in search of additional sheave assemblies/wheels to accommodate the newly revised engineering specifications for several towers. These are no longer manufactured by Poma so it is literally a hunt for parts. While frustrating for us to have to deal with these highly unusual last-minute engineering specs revisions, we are focused on the long-term benefits of a safe and reliable, high-capacity lift to the summit for Magic's sustainability. Pfister has committed to do all he can to complete this lift as soon as possible this spring.

 

[urungus]

Confessions from the Red Chair ...

 

[jimmywilson69]

that is hilarious!

 

[ne_skier]

The Quad Chair work continues. Currently, Pfister Mountain Services is in search of additional sheave assemblies/wheels to accommodate the newly revised engineering specifications for several towers. These are no longer manufactured by Poma so it is literally a hunt for parts.

The sheaves in question were manufactured between 1983 and 1987 if I recall correctly. Black Line is an '86. Although the terminal model, Alpha, is very common in the US (Stratton has 2, Bromley has 1, Okemo has 7, Killington has 3) I'm not sure how common these sheaves are, it really depends on the quantity and diameter. Then again, Pfister knows more than I do.

 

[ThatGuy]

Cold one out there today.

 

[Newpylong]

The sheaves in question were manufactured between 1983 and 1987 if I recall correctly. Black Line is an '86. Although the terminal model, Alpha, is very common in the US (Stratton has 2, Bromley has 1, Okemo has 7, Killington has 3) I'm not sure how common these sheaves are, it really depends on the quantity and diameter. Then again, Pfister knows more than I do.

Yes he does, and he has a considerable boneyard as well. He bids on lift removals and keep what's salvageable. Skytrans also has one, even bigger. I would assume most sheave trains of this vintage are still in service (and ones on the ground are part of a lift with future intentions) so this is a tough find.

 

[ne_skier]

Yes he does, and he has a considerable boneyard as well. He bids on lift removals and keep what's salvageable. Skytrans also has one, even bigger. I would assume most sheave trains of this vintage are still in service (and ones on the ground are part of a lift with future intentions) so this is a tough find.

Pretty rare to see an Alpha get removed for any reason other than capacity, and they are often resold if so. Those things are tanks

 

[machski]

Pretty rare to see an Alpha get removed for any reason other than capacity, and they are often resold if so. Those things are tanks

Sunapee has the former Sunbowl Poma Alpha on the ground but just looked and appears to be a '98. Plus, Vail owns it now so doubt they would share. I know LiftBlog has it on the news roundup for this week, asking if any resorts can help out Magic.

 

[Hastur]

Yes he does, and he has a considerable boneyard as well. He bids on lift removals and keep what's salvageable. Skytrans also has one, even bigger. I would assume most sheave trains of this vintage are still in service (and ones on the ground are part of a lift with future intentions) so this is a tough find.

Can they be custom fabricated? Magic has plenty of time now at this point.

 

[drjeff]

Wonder if West Mtn NY has any lying around. The old alpha that came out of the Hermitage prior to them installing their bubble 6 went to West and is now their (much shorter) Summit Triple.

Originally the parts of the Alpha that didn't get used in West's Summit lift were going to be incorporated into the replacement of their Northwest Triple, which ended up being a completely new installation, not a hybrid type installation with some recycled pieces and some new pieces.

Guessing they're aware of, and looked into this option already

 

[Newpylong]

Can they be custom fabricated? Magic has plenty of time now at this point.

Not realistically, no. They'll find something, eventually.

 

[ne_skier]

Sunapee has the former Sunbowl Poma Alpha on the ground but just looked and appears to be a '98. Plus, Vail owns it now so doubt they would share. I know LiftBlog has it on the news roundup for this week, asking if any resorts can help out Magic.

Wonder if West Mtn NY has any lying around. The old alpha that came out of the Hermitage prior to them installing their bubble 6 went to West and is now their (much shorter) Summit Triple.

Did some research on my go-to websites and here's what I found:
-Sunapee's former Sunbowl Quad was installed in that position in 1998, however, it was relocated from Okemo where it was likely installed as the Solitude Quad in 1987, replaced in 1994, relocated to be the South Face Quad, and replaced once more in 1997 and moved to Sunapee a year later. Being a 1987 install it does have the spoked sheaves, however according to multiple sources they are keeping the line gear, chairs, and terminals for a future North Peak replacement, so they might be unwilling to choke up parts.
-West Mountain did actually list the leftover parts from the old Barnstormer lift (1985 install, but it may have been sold to Catamount for their new Glade lift. I'm not sure however, and if I were Magic I'd definitely look into that, it could end up being their solution.

 

[Keelhauled]

Based on the earlier update quoted upthread, it sounds like they have more significant problems than just individual sheaves. They mentioned "changing out some sheave assembly wheel combinations at a few towers and a major overhaul of tower 13 cross arm and uphill sheave assembly." If I read between the lines (and I could be way off base) it sounds like they might be searching for particular depression/combination assemblies.