The NEW Magic Mountain

[Do Work]

I found a copy in my email - my guess was only off by 100 CFM. That'll be a great system once it's all together.

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Total game changer for sure! Dependability is going to be the best part- can't even describe how infuriating diesels are to work with.

 

[Newpylong]

Why screw instead of Centac? Maintenance concerns? Or just have two available units in mind? Inquiring minds want to know And yes, there is no comparison between pressing a button vs getting the diesels to run and keeping them running! Big upgrade.

 

[Do Work]

Why screw instead of Centac? Maintenance concerns? Or just have two available units in mind? Inquiring minds want to know And yes, there is no comparison between pressing a button vs getting the diesels to run and keeping them running! Big upgrade.

Basically it's money. We found a great deal on some great units and they will work perfectly for us. Centac would have been nice, but two stage screws squish air into pipe just fine too.

Kinda cool that GMP came out with their upgrade offset program this year, I heard Bolton is also taking advantage.

 

[drjeff]

Basically it's money. We found a great deal on some great units and they will work perfectly for us. Centac would have been nice, but two stage screws squish air into pipe just fine too.

Kinda cool that GMP came out with their upgrade offset program this year, I heard Bolton is also taking advantage.

For all that GMP has done to help upgrade the snowmaking systems across most every VT resort the last few seasons with their incentives, they should receive some award from the VT Ski Areas Association in the near future!

 

[Newpylong]

Basically it's money. We found a great deal on some great units and they will work perfectly for us. Centac would have been nice, but two stage screws squish air into pipe just fine too.

Kinda cool that GMP came out with their upgrade offset program this year, I heard Bolton is also taking advantage.

That makes perfect sense.

 

[Do Work]

For all that GMP has done to help upgrade the snowmaking systems across most every VT resort the last few seasons with their incentives, they should receive some award from the VT Ski Areas Association in the near future!

Seriously. VT Efficiency too, lots of people don't realize just how massively they facilitate improvements like these. Those agencies do love working with hills like ours though, like when we swapped out all our snowmaking drives with state of the art VFDs- we were the first mountain in VT to do so to every stage of our water system. We literally went from worst to first in one project and it's cooperation across multiple agencies and crews that made it all possible.

Crazy to think of how far we've come in less than a single year. We are going to be so much more capable than in years past once this is all finished. I can't wait to turn it all on and max it out

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

I can't wait to turn it all on and max it out

Its always nice when a redesign ends up working perfectly and more efficient. We can't wait either!

 

[IceEidolon]

Given how well last year's snowmaking did with what y'all had and the weather you were dealt, I have to think this year will be all time - at least as far as man-made snow goes.

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[slatham]

Today's Alpine Update email:

LIFTS: The brand new haul cable for the mid-mountain Green Lift just arrived today as we continue to put that lift together for will be an exciting new way for beginners and intermediates to access Magic's great terrain on the lower half of the mountain we hope by the end of December. Both Red and Black Summit Lifts are in good shape and after a couple more minor maintenance projects should be ready for state inspection come November. The new "magic carpet" style lift for our new Nelson Family Learning Center will be delivered as soon as re-grading, drainage, and electrical work for the lift and beginner slope are completed this month. The new Nelson Family Learning Center will be a fun and relaxed way to learn to ski and ride for young and old alike. A new communication line is going in at the Tube Park handle tow and better lighting will be added for both tubing and the new terrain park area handle tow right next to it. In sum, there will be more lifts for more access to Magic's unbeatable terrain, especially for those new to the sport and less advanced skiers.

SNOWMAKING: Also critical to accessing more of Magic than in past years, is increasing our snowmaking coverage, firepower and efficiency. We are tackling that on multiple fronts. First, we are purchasing more low-energy, higher efficiency HKD tower guns to add to our fleet. Magic now has over 50 new guns in its arsenal since SKI MAGIC took over. Second, those guns need more pressure to operate, and besides increasing our pumping capacity last season, we are about to undertake replacement of 1500 feet of pipe coming out of the pump house into the base area to improve our pressures up top by as much as 20%! This will allow us to use the HKDs at the top to maximum effect for blowing snow more efficiently with less waste of energy and water, so we more quickly cover our terrain. Third, we are making an expensive switch from dirtier diesel compressed air to new cleaner electric compressed air. We are working with both Green Mountain Power and Efficiency Vermont to execute this project over the next few weeks so we are ready in mid November to blow snow more cleanly for our environment, but also more effectively and reliably, with less snowmaking down-time than the diesel compressors inevitably required. The final cog in the snowmaking wheel will come next year when the State of Vermont will approve Magic to expand the volume of our snowmaking pond. A major undertaking to say the least.. As soon as the new pipe work is done and the new compressors are in, we are committed to blowing more snow this season than ever before "this century" at Magic to provide a great mix of well-groomed terrain on both the east and west sides for all ability levels.

LODGE: The lodge is turning a "Magic red" on the outside and continues its makeover on the inside with a much more open, airy and vista-gazing design and feel for the upper lodge and Black Line Tavern. It's also a lot "greener" with the foam-barrier insulation project now completed at the roof level. There will be many good times ahead for our community at the lodge as we gather for apres ski fun, dinner, great live music and weddings. Look for a new, larger deck to be built next spring!

 

[urungus]

Thanks for the update ... can’t wait for the season to begin!! How is the yurt progressing?

 

[slatham]

Thanks for the update ... can’t wait for the season to begin!! How is the yurt progressing?

That's a good question, maybe JamicaMan or Do Work will chime in on that. My GUESS is they have their hands full this fall (Green Lift, Carpet Lift, water pipe, new compressor(s), prepping Red & Black for inspection, and all the behind the scenes stuff us tourists have no clue about) and that it will be a spring install setting up for next summer.

 

[Do Work]

No yurt until next year, our plate is more than full right now. I can't wait to dial in Sunshine corner though, what a great place to have!

 

[djspookman]

No yurt until next year, our plate is more than full right now. I can't wait to dial in Sunshine corner though, what a great place to have!

Let us know, and we can help next year!

 

[urungus]

No yurt until next year

Aw darn. As John Cougar Mellencamp would say ... “yurts so good”

 

[slatham]

Check out Magic Facebook page for some shots of Volunteer Day and some NEW glades being cut. Rumor has it several new glades/trails on map for this season pushing Magic to over 50.

Meanwhile the mountain was a beehive of activity: the mountain goats were weedwacking the steeps (once done 100% of the mountain will be cut and ready for snow); TWO excavators were working on tubing area for new underground power and comms, lighting, and better configuration for the tubing lift; Red was being worked on presumably for an upcoming inspection; and the Magic Carpet lift line was in mid stage of being excavated.

Rumor has it the Carpet lift comes this week and the work on the all import snowmaking water lines in the base begins. Looks like Do Work will be welding away soon!

Amazing that all this work the new owners have done has been done in LESS than one year of ownership....

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

It's very impressive how much has been done in such a short amount of time! The "Wow" factor is going to be huge this winter. Looking forward to spending a few days there this year!

 

[Do Work]

Check out Magic Facebook page for some shots of Volunteer Day and some NEW glades being cut. Rumor has it several new glades/trails on map for this season pushing Magic to over 50.

Meanwhile the mountain was a beehive of activity: the mountain goats were weedwacking the steeps (once done 100% of the mountain will be cut and ready for snow); TWO excavators were working on tubing area for new underground power and comms, lighting, and better configuration for the tubing lift; Red was being worked on presumably for an upcoming inspection; and the Magic Carpet lift line was in mid stage of being excavated.

Rumor has it the Carpet lift comes this week and the work on the all import snowmaking water lines in the base begins. Looks like Do Work will be welding away soon!

Amazing that all this work the new owners have done has been done in LESS than one year of ownership....

All correct- we are now over 50 named runs, with MANY more tree runs all over. The new trail map will certainly share some nice flowing trees so that those who may not be super educated about our trees can still ski them top to bottom. It's all about inclusiveness! The mountain's silviculture program is really coming together and the benefits will be huge.

The tubing area got a complete redo this season including new and properly trenched/piped and buried lines for all electricity and comms. It also got 3 new light posts, to be adorned with super bright LEDs which will service both tubing and the new terrain park area which was the old learning handle tow lift. It also got a bunch of new drainage ditching and culverts, as well as new tubes (now including smaller kid tubes too!) and enough padding and bags for a third lane. The only thing left to do in either area is to regrade the ground a bit more to minimize the amount of snow needed to open, which will likely come next year (no time right now)

I have been welding like a maniac also- we've got new pipe welded in from the bottom of Carumba all the way to the East/West valve by the black chair, and the condo parking lot is being dug up as I type this to reroute the lines as efficiently as possible... I can promise you though- the sheer volume of poor construction, rotten pipe, hilariously constructed neck-downs, no-reason corners on pipe that create inefficiencies are mind blowing. While it's a real head scratched as to why they're all there and done in such a way, it's all coming out now, and will be no more than a bad memory in a relatively short time. Basically though, we should be looking at a 25-30% higher volume and pressure on all of our water lines to go along with the huge boost in air with the new compressors- which are now fully aftercooled also. Our old diesel units put out air that was around 110-115 degrees, whereas these put out air @ +3 degrees over ambient- which will provide a MASSIVE jump in marginal temp snowmaking abilities as well as overall production.

The Nelson Family Learning Center is getting very near completion. We have already received the lift itself. Final grading work on the upper section is being hammered out now, and the rest is just installation & electric. It's going to look AMAZING, and the decision to culvert and bury all the drainage has given a ton more room over there to work with as well as a very clean and spacious look. I am super excited to see that in action!

There are so many more simultaneous projects going on that it's hard to even know where to stop talking about them, I could be here all day yapping about it. Alas, I've got to get back into the pumphouse- lots to do and lots of routing pipe work do be done!

Really though- thanks for the kind words everyone, all our guys are working super hard over crazy hours and nothing is going easily but it's coming and these are the most important changes we could possibly be making. Every single day the mountain is looking better and better. I can't wait to show everyone the final result, and I have never been more optimistic about Magic's capabilities and it's bright future. Cheers to all of you for believing!

 

[KustyTheKlown]

hell yea, way to go

 

[bdfreetuna]

sounds pretty great especially the new woods and updated map

Hoping for a good snow season, I'll be swapping Saturdays for Thursdays

 

[IceEidolon]

If anyone doubts the difference aftercooled air makes, I felt a whole trail go from snow to rain (different Mtn) when our aftercoolers shut down. That's huge.

Also, as a relative novice in the trees I'm excited to try some of these new glades. This is shaping up to be a fantastic year, and I've really enjoyed the detailed updates.

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