The NEW Magic Mountain

[Smellytele]

Incorrect. The other poster said that. I pointed out Green and Black.

thetrailboss said:
The Green Chair took over a decade to complete!

The Black Quad is now on year three or four for a number of reasons.

And (at least arguably) the issues with the Red Chair.

I cannot think of another ski area that has required multiple years to install a chairlift. The only one that perhaps might fall into this category is the Montana Snow Bowl.

 

[ne_skier]

Hard core Magic powder freaks are paying Pfister to delay completion due to worries about overcrowding and quick pow track out. Not sure how none of you figured this conspiracy out.

Hear me out though...once the powder does get tracked out and turns into eastern post-powder wet chunk, wouldn't it be nice to get a quick transition to moguls on trails steep enough for that to happen? Or do I just use the wrong skis...

In all seriousness though - I'll happily sacrifice one or two untracked powder runs if I don't have to wait upward of 30 minutes to ski anything at all.

 

[raisingarizona]

If you are part of tracking it out what difference does it make if it happens faster? I mean you'd technically be getting the same amount of runs in in the powder but then have more time for the bumps and pp later in the day and get.....way more runs in total for the day!

 

[ThatGuy]

In all seriousness though - I'll happily sacrifice one or two untracked powder runs if I don't have to wait upward of 30 minutes to ski anything at all.

Big facts…

 

[ThatGuy]

If you want untracked powder pop some skins on there’s plenty of great spots for that…if I’m at a ski area I care more about my lift wait to run ratio and as much as I love Magic on a busy day you’re lucky to get 10 runs in skiing 9-4

 

[ne_skier]

Averaged somewhere between 6 and 10 runs skiing 8:30 to 4 on Saturdays mid-season, including a quick lunch. Lines were usually about 20 minutes for red, but one of the busier days I timed it at well over a half hour...add a 12-15 minute lift ride and that individual wait alone is almost 10% of a full ski day

 

[IceEidolon]

As for multi year installation, there are retrofits, IE Mount Bohemia, that are staged over several years - though the intent is to completely replace one subsystem each year. That's not feasible with a new alignment like Black.

Speaking of, per the Alpine Update today Pfister is on site helping with Red right now with an agreed-on timeline for Black this summer. They want to do sheave work first, then haul rope replacement.

 

[hughconway]

Has anyone heard anything about how the red double chair made out with the flooding a few weeks ago? I saw several pictures of the base terminal looking like it was in the middle of a lake. On newer lifts this probably wouldn't be a big issue, but on the red double most of the critical equipment is located in a vault....below ground. If that vault was flooded the damage could be very bad.

On another note, work on the black quad is scheduled to start today.....

 

[ne_skier]

On another note, work on the black quad is scheduled to start today.....

Scheduled as in they are saying it's actually starting today, or this was a time they predicted they'd be starting earlier this year? If the former it's good news, although I heard them saying that Pfister's priority will be doing sheave maintenance on Red before dealing with Black

 

[NYDB]

Hmmm

 

[drjeff]

I hope for Magic's sake that this coming season is when the Black Quad finally spins and hauls folks up the hill. I think that anyone with a reasonable bit of skepticism based on everything around this saga will wait until the VT Tramway Board has issued the lift it's green license plate certifying it for operation and the grand opening pictures flood Magic's social media feeds before getting the celebratory champagne flutes out

 

[urungus]

Alpine/Flood update posted Monday

Our infrastructure outside took a bit of a hit. There are gaping holes on the driveway off the access road and a new stream. combined with a lot of rock debris has closed off Lot B. The road to Trailside Condos is closed with culverts clogged. Up on the mountain itself there are key areas like the bottom-to-summit work road and some trails which have significant damage (ex: Mystery, Wand). Many culverts, drain pipes and water bars have to be repaired and replaced. The base of Red and Green is a mud pit. Fortunately, the lodge and deck area came through with flying colors and the new snowmaking pond dam did its job! There is much added work to do as well as expense to clean up the mountain in the weeks ahead. Here are a few pictures around the mountain and some of the work currently underway by our intrepid operations crew to put it all back together. Hunter Excavating will also be helping in our work over the coming weeks.

Full article with many photos

Alpine Update | Magic Mountain Ski Area

magicmtn.com

 

[deadheadskier]

One thing Magic will appreciate when they do get the quad done is more young families will consider visiting the area. Last year I went with my then 7 year old son only. At the time, he wasn't quite comfortable riding the chair solo or with a stranger. Had the quad been available, I likely would have brought his 3 year old sister along as well. So, Magic would have received additional incremental income.

 

[slatham]

Per the CAM, bunch of trucks visible at base of Black Quad. Get’er done people…….

 

[ThatGuy]

 

[hughconway]

Scheduled as in they are saying it's actually starting today, or this was a time they predicted they'd be starting earlier this year? If the former it's good news, although I heard them saying that Pfister's priority will be doing sheave maintenance on Red before dealing with Black

I guess they were a couple of days late

I strongly suspect that focus has been re-directed to the black quad due to the flooding at the base terminal of the red double. As mentioned in my last post, if that vault was flooded (and I can't really imagine that it did not flood based on the pictures that have been shared) the most cost effective way forward *might* end up being complete replacement of the lift. No chance in hell that is happening (due to timing, budget, etc) so it is critical that the 'new' black quad gets state approval to carry passengers before the season starts otherwise they may have no way to carry customers to the summit. Again, this is just speculation on my part based on my existing knowledge of their operations and the information that has been shared publicly since the flood. This is NOT based on solid inside information like my usual posts.

 

[ne_skier]

I'd have to imagine that there's some sort of sump pump-type thing down there, or at least some way to pump water out of the vault. Doubt anything that happened was major if we didn't hear about it, that being said I've never been inside a vault to begin with.

For Magic, needless to say, the sooner they get Black done, the better. Not just to have it this winter - I speculate that there are a lot of people waiting to see the lift get finished before they commit to buying a season pass.

 

[Newpylong]

Red's vault has a sump pump.

 

[thetrailboss]

Red's vault has a sump pump.

I'd expect that if for some reason there was a problem that Magic would have told folks already. They are fairly transparent.

 

[slatham]

I'd expect that if for some reason there was a problem that Magic would have told folks already. They are fairly transparent.

I agree, and I’ve been over and had a few conversations about flood damage and nothing was mentioned about Red. It also *appeared* that the water that went 3/4 of the way up the valve house under Red flowed off and down to parking drop off area and did not reach the lift building itself.