What the heck is going on at Magic?

[RustyGroomer]

Chainsaws are worthless. Never used one on the hill. Unless you're a tree guy, hired by the mountain, by all means. Other than that, hand saws, pruners, loppers, & simply hands. I seriously think I'm screwed for both those dates. For sure #1.

I'll be up on the mountain for several days before the season starts for sure though. Can't wait.

 

[Sorcerer]

And just like magic!

Magic Volunteer Day #1 - Saturday, September 26
http://www.magicmtn.com/event.php?day=26&month=09&year=2015

Magic Volunteer Day #2 - Saturday, October 17
http://www.magicmtn.com/event.php?day=17&month=10&year=2015

Nice to see some events finally getting on the calendar. Is this the new ownership to be doing it?

 

[slatham]

Ha, the guy with the chain saw is my brother, and I'm the other guy. Deep in Asland I believe it's called from 2 years ago. What an awesome line......

Last year I bought a new hand saw from the hardware shop in Londonderry. 6-8" blade that folds back into the handle. THIS IS THE WAY TO GO. NO CHAIN SAWS. So much easier and productive ( not to mention safer!) especially when you consider we're never really cutting much beyond a 4" tree trunk. I even used it this summer for a quick solo mission into a creek bed runout that I thought from last winter was just not clear enough.

From the recent pick up in activity on the web site and facebook I'd say the new owners are getting involved already.

Hope I can make one of the days. Rusty, you gotta pull it off and get up there!

 

[slatham]

Ha, the guy with the chain saw is my brother, and I'm the other guy. Deep in Asland I believe it's called from 2 years ago. What an awesome line......

Last year I bought a new hand saw from the hardware shop in Londonderry. 6-8" blade that folds back into the handle. THIS IS THE WAY TO GO. NO CHAIN SAWS. So much easier and productive ( not to mention safer!) especially when you consider we're never really cutting much beyond a 4" tree trunk. I even used it this summer for a quick solo mission into a creek bed runout that I thought from last winter was just not clear enough.

From the recent pick up in activity on the web site and facebook I'd say the new owners are getting involved already.

Hope I can make one of the days. Rusty, you gotta pull it off and get up there!

 

[makimono]

Ha, the guy with the chain saw is my brother, and I'm the other guy. Deep in Asland I believe it's called from 2 years ago. What an awesome line......

I think I might have been with you guys in there...was that the day we rode tractor up?

I agree with no chainsaws

My weapons of choice are a folding razor tooth saw and a Woodsman's Pal, the brush hook on the Woodsman's Pal mows thru all that magic marker thick moose maple, you hardly have to bend down just reach hook and twist. And the little Corona chews thru stuff that wouldn't think it had any right chewing thru.

 

[Do Work]

I think I might have been with you guys in there...was that the day we rode tractor up?

I agree with no chainsaws

My weapons of choice are a folding razor tooth saw and a Woodsman's Pal, the brush hook on the Woodsman's Pal mows thru all that magic marker thick moose maple, you hardly have to bend down just reach hook and twist. And the little Corona chews thru stuff that wouldn't think it had any right chewing thru.

Those woodsman's pals are cool. Love the instruction manual... "how to split heads". That's some GNAR points for real!

I roll with my Cold Steel two handed broadhead, ratcheting fiskers loppers and a Fanno hand saw. Any chainsaw work would be done by arborists long before the masses show up. Most of the hand work is literally just culling moose hobble aka striped maples. Once that rat tree of an invasive species is pulled out it's good to go.

 

[makimono]

might come in handy you never know...those VT hippies can get pretty violent I hear haha

I love the Two Hander machete, it's awesome for trimming those evergreens a couple feet higher up, would be eye pokers come winter.

 

[Do Work]

Oh and we may be adding a 3rd work day on 10/10 aka Colombus day wknd just to make sure the trees are fkn perfect this season

 

[gmcunni]

Oh and we may be adding a 3rd work day on 10/10 aka Colombus day wknd just to make sure the trees are fkn perfect this season

"we", are you employed at Magic?

 

[Newpylong]

Chainsaws are worthless. Never used one on the hill. Unless you're a tree guy, hired by the mountain, by all means. Other than that, hand saws, pruners, loppers, & simply hands. I seriously think I'm screwed for both those dates. For sure #1.

I'll be up on the mountain for several days before the season starts for sure though. Can't wait.

Depends on what type of work there is to do. If you have big growth down you're going to be hacking away with your hand saw all day on one cut. There's a time and place for both.

 

[slatham]

Well if this is any sign of the new management, they are responsive! They have already added a note to each of the calendar dates: NO CHAINSAWS! They even removed the picture of me and my bro.

Also added a 3rd day with "possible" pig roast?

And yes Makimono that was a day where the uphill transport was a rather treacherous tractor ride with frequent bailouts for water bars.

Now if they fire up Red for the volunteer days THAT would really send a pre-season message!

 

[slatham]

Newpylong, I think the way this should work is that any large, chainsaw required downed trees be reported back to (a now responsive?) management who will send a Magic crew up to deal with it later in the fall. Given resources constraints, I could imagine that crew may not be employees but a select, small group of "temporary" employees (ie guys with known chainsaw skills vs random volunteers). But that's just IMHO.

 

[RustyGroomer]

Depends on what type of work there is to do. If you have big growth down you're going to be hacking away with your hand saw all day on one cut. There's a time and place for both.

Not for volunteers. You need a better hand saw. I cannot begin to tell you how much has been accomplished with them & hard work tossing logs around.

 

[Do Work]

"we", are you employed at Magic?

No, I meant "we" in the editorial sense. "We' as in the group of volunteers that does this every year.

Newpylong, I think the way this should work is that any large, chainsaw required downed trees be reported back to (a now responsive?) management who will send a Magic crew up to deal with it later in the fall. Given resources constraints, I could imagine that crew may not be employees but a select, small group of "temporary" employees (ie guys with known chainsaw skills vs random volunteers). But that's just IMHO.

Actually you've got it a little backwards but you're mostly right. If it's a new cut that needs hot saw work as Voodoo was, (the run next to Redline) we generally go through it with a very small group of volunteer arborists and tree workers, cut up what needs to be removed into manageable pieces and is then left there for the bigger groups of volunteers to drag off into piles on an official work day. It really helps maximize the productivity of the pro guys and that kind of hand work is best left to large groups.

If there's anything else big that needs to be chainsawed (not very common actually) it's noted, flagged and dealt with later on as you described. It just isn't safe to have chainsaws running on big group days, even if you did happen to be a qualified professional.


As always though, the emphasis on these work days is on doing as little as possible to make it skiable. You can always thin more down the line if it's too tight, but you can't put it back once it's gone and we really don't want to run into erosion issues. The natural spacing on the mountain is almost always 100% perfect and I'd say 99% of the work we do is picking up deadfall, branches and removing the invasive and aggressive moose maples. That's really it. Rare are the downed trees of significant size, but we do have a system to deal with them.

 

[slatham]

Yeah, I often get things backward! Thanks for the low down Do Work. I hope we have the chance to meet at one of the volunteer days.

 

[Newpylong]

Not for volunteers. You need a better hand saw. I cannot begin to tell you how much has been accomplished with them & hard work tossing logs around.

Next time you guys head up to cut up some 24" hardwood or pine by hand please PM me so I can bring a chair and popcorn.

Volunteer labor with chains is used many places, you just need to make sure you know them and they have the proper gear and how to use their saws.

For the small stuff no doubt, loppers and handsaws are the way to go!

 

[RustyGroomer]

Next time you guys head up to cut up some 24" hardwood or pine by hand please PM me so I can bring a chair and popcorn.

I'll be sure let you know anytime I cut anything over 12". Don't expect a to hear from me.

 

[RustyGroomer]

Next time you guys head up to cut up some 24" hardwood or pine by hand please PM me so I can bring a chair and popcorn.

Furthermore. Same goes to you next time you climb, then proceed to walk all over a mountain in steep terrain with a 5 gallon gas can & chainsaw large enough to cut 24". Are we logging? Jesus, 24".

 

[Mapnut]

Just wondering, how much control does the area have over who cuts what where? I'm sure they don't want things opened up too much.

 

[makimono]

Just wondering, how much control does the area have over who cuts what where? I'm sure they don't want things opened up too much.

At the Magic volunteer days groups are usually sent to specific area and usually have someone experienced with them like a Do Work or a Rusty Groomer.

And really very little standing timber is cut down, most of what's cut is the moose maple that grows like bamboo and the occasional widow maker. They're definitely not sending groups out to hack lines willy nilly. As unglamorous as it sounds most of what we do is dragging blow down out of the ski lines. But that pays big dividends in the winter.