The NEW Magic Mountain

[RH29]

It's a nice ride. Did it twice today. As I thought a bit faster than Red. Very smooth, Runs nice like Red.

Red was 13.5-14 minutes on the last day I went there according to ski tracks. Magic is advertising 11 minutes for Black, so I'd assume about a two minute time savings overall. Adds up to an extra two or so runs over the course of a full day, plus time saved in lift lines - I'll take it!

 

[ne_skier]

Makes you wonder why they chose that - I typically associate the speed a lift runs with loading/unloading circumstances (chair capacity, if it's a beginner lift, etc) and you'd figure a double with simpler loading circumstances (not right under the bullwheel) would run faster than a quad with under-bullwheel loading but who knows. Some time I'll stopwatch all 3 out of curiosity, my Ski Tracks is all over the place on ride times.

 

[JoeB-Z]

Makes you wonder why they chose that - I typically associate the speed a lift runs with loading/unloading circumstances (chair capacity, if it's a beginner lift, etc) and you'd figure a double with simpler loading circumstances (not right under the bullwheel) would run faster than a quad with under-bullwheel loading but who knows. Some time I'll stopwatch all 3 out of curiosity, my Ski Tracks is all over the place on ride times.

You need to figure in the chair pitch. It is larger on Black than Red. So It loads at close to the same time as Red. But people better have their act together.

 

[doublediamond]

Slingshot loading like on Red is harder for most people than bullwheel loading on Black

 

[MG Skier]

Slingshot loading like on Red is harder for most people than bullwheel loading on Black

Rode Black today. Nice to check out the Blackline trail before committing!

 

[ne_skier]

Will be interesting to see if my theory of having a working Black Chair actually improving the Black Line trail plays out. More people riding the lift -> more people skiing the trail, which means you'll likely find developed moguls over hard-to-navigate chunk, and having more attention on the trail will "encourage" Magic to keep the upper part especially free of vegetation going forward.

 

[Newpylong]

And, making snow on Witch to Black potentially.

 

[MG Skier]

Yes please!

 

[Hillwalker95]

How is it skiing? Was at Berkshire East today - pretty icy and cover getting thin

 

[RH29]

How is it skiing? Was at Berkshire East today - pretty icy and cover getting thin

Anything in particular that was in rough shape? Debating whether or not to go tomorrow

 

[ne_skier]

Groomers firm in the morning, icy by the afternoon. Ungroomed frozen. Talisman has tons of snow on it but it isn’t really pushed out to the edges, probably about 3 groomers wide, runout’s pretty bumpy too. Will probably ski better without the race setup.
Real story of the day is of course the Black lift - zero lines on a pretty full day. Fun opening celebration and it’s a great ride up-very fast indeed. Clocked Red at 14 mins as a comparison.

 

[letitsnow1]

They were making snow on talisman runout to lower wizard. Looks like spring skiing next weekend

 

[MG Skier]

Yeah, need cold and snow on a repeated loop.

 

[slatham]

Finally got over this afternoon to ride Black Line Quad. Great lift, smooth, quicker than red, nice padded seats, great views, etc. Having a beer in the BLT later I thought of how different and better Magic is vs 7 years ago as I watched the night terrain park, 2 groomers up on the mountain , snowmaking on Lower Talisman and Wizard, 2 summit lifts and 3 chairs in total. Vibrant winter fest crowd. Yes it’s taken longer, many bumps, some self inflicted perhaps. But where the mountain is right now is light years away from the pre-Ski Magic Ltd years.

 

[hughconway]

Wow. It may be way behind schedule and over budget, but they finally did it. I'm sure it would have been a far less frustrating experience for Magic skiers if there wasn't such misleading & poor communication over the course of the install, but this is definitely a huge step forward for Magic and they deserve credit for sticking with it and finally getting that quad spinning. I don't see any major lift installs in Magic's immediate future, so if they actually get that upper tow rope installed at their beginner area this summer, you may never hear from me again!

 

[ne_skier]

Fair to say they're done with lifts for the time being for sure. They'll probably finally get that rope tow in seeing as it's on the map already and they shouldn't need Pfister's help. Would be awesome if they got a little double chair to throw in over there (McCauley in NY looks to be parting ways with theirs this summer ) and made the most out of that beginner area but needless to say management deserves a couple of years to let the good times roll with regards to lift projects any bigger than that handle tow or a coat of paint on Red.
My predictions for this offseason are the handle tow, keeping the bushes down (Hallows!!!), and probably the biggest would be repairing the existing flood damage, particularly on the West Side. Some awfully chopped-up parts on Middle Wizard and HOM, also some culvert work to be done on the runout (assuming all those ditches/ruts are where culverts were and are no longer, or where there are culverts but insufficient cover over them).

 

[MG Skier]

Yeah, Lower Wiz definitely had significant damage. I saw it on Tuesday when I thought Tali was open. I think it was near the potter entrance in between the 1st and 2nd “headwall”.

 

[ne_skier]

Bottom of Potter is pretty washed out and was only a narrow snow path last it was open. Other major trouble spot on Wizard was at the Slide of Hans exit, where the only way across was on a snow-covered wood pallet. Rest of it is just some big divots that could be fixed with more snow, but would require the very rare snowmaking event on Middle Wizard. Don't believe HOM/Bailout even have snowmaking to fix its giant bare running water spot

 

[Newpylong]

They do not. Wizard, Talisman and Sorcerer are it over there w/snowmaking.

 

[letitsnow1]

The waterbars on mystery have gotten pretty big too