Magic Mountain, VT!!

Work at Magic on a new Green lift seems to proceeding as expected.  From the Magic website on July 26, 2018:

"The Green Lift contracting crew (Pfister Mountain Services) is now living in our "upgraded" bunkhouse and putting sheave trains on all the towers. Work will now be proceeding pretty quickly so we can have the new mid-mountain lift for fall foliage rides and events at Sunshine Corner. The Blackline Quad Lift is undergoing final state permitting and engineering design so that we can hopefully begin work on installation mid-to-late August. Also on the permitting front, the pond expansion project is also undergoing final permitting approval from the state."

Magic seems to be building up local interest in disc golf as a regular summer activity, meaning weekly fun.

Magic just can't catch a break.  It wasn't mentioned here, but they had a bit of an accident,  Apparently, the water line for the soda line sprang a leak or came loose after they closed up on a Sunday a few weeks back.  When they got there Monday morning, there was apparently extensive water damage in the BLT upstairs as well as down in the cafeteria kitchen below.  I heard the BLT (and/or the lodge) is closed for the time being until it is repaired.

It was in the Alpine Update from July 4:

Lodge flooded but Independence Celebration is a go for Saturday July 7th

You just never know what surprises are in store when you own a business. Well, this one occured overnight for a 12 hour period from Sunday night after closing the Black Line Tavern into Monday morning.​

We're calling it: "The Soda Fountain Flood".​

It started when the water inlet to the carbonator failed (soda gun). Pretty small device. But when it failed, water was released at 50 pounds of pressure from about 9pm until the office opened up on Monday. Truly amazing to see how much water came out and how much damage was done. Not just up at the Black Line Tavern, but down below it into the cafeteria and kitchen area, and even down to the main entry level door. A river runs through it, I guess.​

Needless to say, the Black Line Tavern will not be serving food for a couple/few weeks as damage is assessed, mitigated and then repaired. We will be able to serve cold beer and wine on the deck depending on weather for cocktail hours (5-8p) Thursday and Friday in a relaxed atmosphere outside, with access to facilities.​

And, importantly, everything is still a go for our biggest little Independence Day celebration on July 7th. The Hound Dogs truck will be in to do food service (as well as  the fried dough folks) and we will be serving up cold drinks, beers and wine starting at 5pm with music playing until our live band Goofyfoot takes the stage on the deck at 7:30 and plays until 11:30! The fireworks show put on by the town of Londonderry then lights up the sky at around 9:15. So come early. Eat, drink, play disc golf and cornhole, listen to great music outside, and enjoy a wonderful community atmosphere on what is forecasted to be a glorious day and night on the mountain. (Get here early to stake out your blankets/chairs on the lawn to listen/dance to Goofyfoot and then watch the fireworks.)

The "Soda Fountain Flood" of 2018 is just another obstacle to be overcome here at Magic, and we have a fantastic team of employees and vendors already getting after it to get the lodge back in shape as soon as possible. In the meantime, thank you for your patience. Magic is still open for disc golf daily (golf season passes are here) and deck drinks Thursday-Saturdays until we open back up the BLT kitchen, dining and full bar experience in a few weeks.​

Happy 4th of July to all and come celebrate America's Independence (always a day with special meaning here) on Saturday July 7th!​​

Overcome and Think Fun!​

- Geoff

SKI MAGIC LLC
Where skiing still has its soul.​  

From their twitter feed, it looks like the BLT is at least somewhat operational (they were posting about Friday night specials yesterday).

The BLT will be fine, insurance will cover that, and the green line should be up and running before the leaves turn.  Everything beyond that will be gravy.

Can the Black quad be installed in time for this season if work doesn't start until late August?  Do they have to replace towers?

That is the plan. Seems aggressive but probably not the end of the world if they can't get it done.

I believe they are replacing the towers.

Correct, they are replacing the lift line to the summit.  Work will start in August, if approved, but I doubt it will be finished by December.  I'll take the new green and the old red this season.

Whatever happened to Snoloco? ow can we talk about lifts without him?

mm

How hard is it to pull a permit in Vermont?

Waiting on the Permits

We have contractors lined up for both the pond expansion project and the new Quad lift project. But, as Steve Miller wrote, "time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future...."

As of mid-August, still no final state permit approvals, or even a date certain, on the snowmaking pond project (almost 2 years in the works) and the Quad lift (which is really only a short time in the process but is a pretty straightforward Act 250 permit as it's a replacement of an existing lift.) Planning becomes precarious as contractors will not hang around and wait until the last minute when permits are approved. They (we) need to know in advance an accurate time frame when they will be approved in order to determine whether the project can be done in time for the season and therefore whether to reserve manpower and subcontractors with signed contracts. Businesses need to plan and permitting delays are costly, especially for us small businesses. Our timetables have been lengthened and expenses increased with each permitting delay. But, we continue to work closely with the various state agencies to try and provide all necessary information to insure sound project engineering and environmentally-friendly execution of these projects which is important to every one.  The reality is that it increasingly looks like it will be difficult to execute either of these projects fully this fall in time for the new season if approvals slip further into September.
   

Saratogahalfday wrote

How hard is it to pull a permit in Vermont?

I’m not an expert but my understanding is that it is HARD- and can take a very, very long time. When I worked at Killington in 97/98 they already had folks out in the woods figuring out where the Pico interconnect trails & lifts had to go. I think they got the AT rerouted around the other side of Pico and apparently cut a trail but it’s 2018 and still no interconnect (which is ok with me). Vermont’s a funny place.

Government process moves real slow.

Like really really slow.