Magic Mountain Conditions

Magic would be fun (and possibly crowded) on Wednesday, but I might go up Thursday for the $20 ticket. Might be stuck with the leftovers, but I haven't been to Magic in years and it'd be more of a recon mission.

Just to reiterate, it won't be crowded at Magic on Wednesday in the meaning that word has elsewhere. No doubt some of the locals who would otherwise be skiing at Okemo, Bromley, Stratton, Killington, etc. will go there for a powder because they know how good it will be. But that's not going to result in a crowd that requires corrals and line management.

Unfortunately, a prior commitment will keep me from being at Magic on Thursday. The $20 ticket is a great deal and even the leftovers should be quite tasty. If any of the regulars are there you can likely be directed to some fresh-ish scraps. Black Line is rarely skied out after a single day and will yield some great lines along the edges the next day. Especially far left on the other side of the lift towers. Wardrobe (trees between Talisman and Sorcerer) is so big that you will likely get fresh tracks in there as well. Hard to imagine it would be a bad day.

What's the deal with Magic's report?  They update in the morning saying they got 3 inches but expect 10.  Doesn't look like they are getting anymore.  Do they just not update it when things don't go in their favor?

Report from a friend with a ski house across the road is that Magic got pretty badly dry slotted by the storm. About 4-5" at the base as of 3:35pm, likely a few more inches than that up top. Radar looks like there's still something coming down, confirmed at 4:45pm by the same on the scene observer.

I'm guessing that they are waiting to see just how much they get out of it. The 10" prediction was based on the weather forecast at the time and certainly was not overstating what was expected. But there's no doubt the storm did not deliver along the southern spine of the Greens. Every time I checked the radar this afternoon it was this two pronged beast that kept sadistically dumping both east and west of S. VT.

GetAmped wrote

In the years I've skied there I would estimate a total of ten days when there was a line with more than a couple of minutes wait and those were during holiday periods that coincided with big snowfalls. Never on a non-holiday weekday powder day except for the initial lineup for first chair.

I LOVE Magic but I really dislike folks over selling the mountain. Magic does get lines on powder day weekends. Not often, but it does happen. Saying it never happens on a non-holiday weekend powder day is simply wrong.

http://www.thesnowway.com/2010/02/27/powder-crowds-at-magic

My report from that day estimates lines as long as 15 minutes at their peak. It happens. Granted that is the extremely rare exception. Mid-week powder day? Probably not going to be much of a line but I doubt the chair will be ski on all day long. This storm dumped big time on metro skiers which means they are amped to ski deep powder, they know it was a southern oriented system, and they're going to come out in droves with the travel bans lifted... even if the mountains barely or don't even get a foot total.

That said, in another thread, I listed Magic as one of the places I would definitely go tomorrow if I could get the day off. It'll be rocking for sure.

riverc0il wrote

...Saying it never happens on a non-holiday weekend powder day is simply wrong...

Which is why I didn't. I have been there for just about every weekday powder day for the last 3-4 years and I'll stand by my comment.

Unfortunately, this storm did not fully deliver, but it should still be some pretty good skiing tomorrow based on the reports from people up there already posting on that "other" forum.

magic was fun today. the top was windblown and a little icy but yet there was some decent lines in spots.
the lower half of the mountain was a lot of fun. the trails skied great without a lot of people on them. i think everyone was in the woods.got a couple of pics to post but the come in sideways

Looks like my reading comprehension gets a fail, my bad on that one.

Wednesday's powder day was pretty sweet. 6-8" of light fluff made for soft, quiet turns all day, especially on the lower angle terrain where it didn't immediately slough off the hardpack underneath.

But Radam's little video teaser will tell the story better:

Magic had a nice refill on Friday (1/30/15) with another 4-5" of fresh snow and almost no one on the mountain to ski it. Made it up there for the afternoon and got fresh tracks on just about every run. I have to confess that I am an addict: I just can't get enough of soft, quiet turns!

The Jr. Southern Vermont Freestyle Challenge will be held today with young rippers tearing up Red Line which means some fine entertainment while riding the chair. I expect there will be more people at the mountain due to the competition but that will not result in much in the way of lines or skiers on trails because it's going to be wicked cold with wind chills well into the negative double digits. Fortunately, the ride on Red is fairly sheltered from the wind but everyone will want to go with their arctic gear today.

Radam has posted his full edit from Wednesday's Powder Day: