Magic Mountain, VT, 3.21.15: Surprise Sunshine

Today's forecast for Londonderry, VT: 39 degrees with a sloppy mix of rain and snow. Today's actual weather at Magic: 39 degrees with bright sunshine.

I'm tired, so this is going to be kind of a sloppy TR--my apologies. I'll try to hit all the important info about how the mountain's looking.



With high temps in the teens predicted for tomorrow, I figured skiing in the rain today would be my best bet for some soft snow this weekend. I slept in a bit and got on the Red Chair for my first run at 11am right as things were softening up. We had unexpected bright sunshine until after 2pm and thin cloud cover after that until the lift closed.

In my opinion, Talisman > Bail Out > Heart of Magician was the run of the day. Talisman was flat with plenty of soft snow to push around but never soupy. We're right on the edge of spring skiing in that there's no slush even at the base. Heart of Magician had small bumps that got softer each run. We picked up about an inch of snow last night, which worked its way into the stiffer ungroomed surfaces as the day got warmer and people skied on them.



I'd been keeping an eye on Red Line all day. It was hard to tell what was underneath that 1" of dust from last night, but it looked skiable. Patrol dropped the rope somewhere around 2pm and I skied it for my last run at about 3:30. I didn't stop once from the top of the lift to the deck of the tavern--it was that good. Sketchy looking from the lift for sure, with plenty of rocks and stumps poking through and speckles of lift gak at every tower, but 100% manageable. Depending on the weather it might not last till next weekend, though, at least not officially.

Cruisers still had spots of corduroy when I quit. Broomstick was closed, likely due to hardpack conditions--it and the stuff it accesses had plenty of base.

A band of what looked high school students (I think they were high school students?) played a nice classic rock set in the bar. Two lead singers, one male, one female, traded off vocals. Both were top notch singers and overall the band sounded better than 90% of cover bands you'd hear in bars. If anybody knows these kids, give them a serious high five.

Sparknotes: there's tons of base on everything but the gnarliest terrain, with no bare spots on any of the lower angle stuff. We've got a long spring ahead of us.

miker92 wrote

I'd been keeping an eye on Red Line all day. (...) I skied it for my last run at about 3:30. I didn't stop once from the top of the lift to the deck of the tavern

You skied Red Line for your final run top to bottom without stopping? That's a manly feat. Post the helmet-cam video!

miker92 wrote

Awesome, nice shot + TR.  Like a true homer.

The sun! What a concept.  We saw none of that at Whiteface.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

You skied Red Line for your final run top to bottom without stopping? That's a manly feat. Post the helmet-cam video!

Alas, no helmet cam footage. I didn't bother charging and configuring it with the rain expected. It comes out terrible in flat light.