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More face shots today in one run than all others in my life combined. Multiple trips to the white room. Well over two feet deep at the base and almost three feet deep most places on the mountain with deeper drifts. Snow was rather heavy but the snow never turned over despite the warm temperatures.

Steep runs were required for completely untracked turns. Any pitch less than about twenty to twenty-five degrees resulted in tip dive, snow above the thighs, and a complete stop. Slightly tracked runs were amazing. No competition with untracked freshies every run, all day, open to close. We hit every wood shot including two mandatories, Red Line, Black Magic, and two times down a pillowy and sensational Magician (a.k.a. Master Magician). Suffice to say, today owned. Best day of the season and I think a top ten lifetime day.

Magic delivered on MLK Day with the most new snow in Vermont. And while some locations in New Hampshire received the same or more new snow, Magic offered up the best combination of cost, terrain, and lack of crowds on a holiday weekend. Magic is always a safe (and cheap!) location on a holiday weekend for crowd avoidance. So this storm could not have been better timed.

Having said that, this was my first time skiing Magic during which they had a lift line attendant checking tickets and organizing the lift line. The two line coral backup up to a ten chair wait at one point. Wow! There were no chairs going up empty at Magic today until very late in the afternoon. It seems like the word is finally getting out about Magic.

Magic received half a foot of fresh. Powder consistency was fairly high moisture content but still rather of powdery. Great snow for packing down and improving the already ample base. My observations are that Magic did not receive rain prior to the snow. The new snow fell on a bomber but rather crusty base. The new snow was definitely much needed. Base is good but great conditions on a good base is better. All trails were open and skiing very well!

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Lots of uncertainty about a storm and how much would fall in Vermont. Storm projections decidedly favored southern New England with storm totals rapidly diminishing to the north. With a rare drive to southern Vermont tipping the day trip meter at two and a half hours on dry pavement, I only wanted to make the drive if it was going to be worth the effort.

And it definitely was! Words can not describe but I will do my best. After a harrowing drive that lasted more than three hours and involved knuckles from a virtually unplowed I-91, I got to Magic at 8:45am and hooked up with Kingsley. Magic opens at 8am on the weekends which I totally dig but did not work in my favor today!

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Another successful AlpineZone.com Meet Up was staged for Magic Mountain in Southern Vermont for late March. Bob, Brian, and I met in the lodge and we ran into MrMagic on the slopes. The morning began with beautiful weather and good conditions though it was cloudy most of the day with clouds burning off to allow for decent views towards the afternoon. Magic Mountain had 100% of its terrain open with about somewhere between a quarter to a third left ungroomed.

We begin with a warm up run down Medium to Vertigo with nice packed powder opening up to some big arcs near the bottom. Next we skied Trick to Wand to Showoff; getting in Trick before it scraped up too much. Over on Talisman, a thin groomed track was run down the center with natural and bumps on either side. I liked skier’s right up top and skier’s left down low while Bob and Brian tended to stay on the rough groomed patch. I wanted to show the guys Broomstick which is a great narrow trail off the top of the mountain. However, Bob’s knee was recovering and needed a stress free day of skiing. Despite Broomstick looking flat, I feared Heart of Magician and Lucifer were likely bumped. I volunteered to inspect by way of Master Magician (a guys gotta have his fun ). I took Master skier’s right and I think I overheard a fellow skier mention the words sick and nuts in the same sentence but I wasn’t sure. Skier’s left was fantastic! I only hit three rocks but I scored nearly untouched snow which was by far the best on the mountain. Later I hit Master again skier’s right through the trees which was dust on crust and dust on ice. Not so good. I found out Broomstick was unfortunately not doable without hitting very user unfriendly bumps on Heart or Lucifer.

Before heading in for lunch, I noticed that Red Line began with lots of untouched snow from last week’s storm was starting to get ugly. A lot of base melted since last week and more sticks and rock were showing than I had expected. Pre-lunch was definitely go time for Red Line. I executed a really ugly set of jumps off the rock cliff, one of which had me spun around backwards with my arm around a tree but no harm no foul. I followed that masterpiece up by barely sticking the next five foot drop. It wasn’t my day on Red Line, that was for sure. Below the cliffs the bumps were sweet but conditions were thin. I wasn’t tempted to repeat and was glad to get that out of my system before too much more traffic took all the snow off the trail.

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Awesome day done up proper at Magic Mountain. All trails were open despite some thin cover. Action on the groomers got the morning off to a fine start. You could say I began my morning by turning a Trick. Lower sections of the mountain featured ripping groomed snow great for opening up the turns and picking up some speed. Magic is extremely underrated for their groomed terrain. All the groomers except Wizard were great in the morning and stayed great all day. Wizard featured frozen granular surfaces that were not enjoyable in the morning but finally corned up late in the afternoon.

While riding the lift, I spoke with a college kid racing in the Thompson Division (my former racing division when I attended UMass Lowell). The kid skis Stratton all the time due to his girl friend having a Condo at the mountain. He had never skied Magic before and he was raving about the mountain! Another convert, I love it! You just have to ski it on a good day to understand.

For natural snow, things started out very hard with frozen granular surfaces. My legs were not moving quick enough as I was tired and undernourished. Essentially, I was making it look like amateur day on Talisman, Sorcerer, Twilight Zone, Heart of Magician, and Goniff. Talisman and Heart were pretty nice at lower elevations but I did not care much for the unforgiving frozen bumps of Sorcerer. Goniff was significantly better Twilight Zone which is rarely the case.

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One week after a legendary blizzard slammed into Southern New England, I ventured forth towards Magic Mountain to sample Southern Vermont’s finest and most challenging terrain. Originally, I planned on driving to Magic the morning of the now infamous Blizzard of 2005; however, Salem Massachusetts received three feet of powder which left me snowed in. Nothing can be worse for a powder lover than being stranded at home by the magical substance said powder lover desires most.

Unfortunately, the snow from the previous week’s storm fell on uncovered trails lacking any base what so ever. Even more unfortunately was that after one week’s time, most of the powder had blown off the mountain and what little consolidation that occurred still left trails incredibly thin covered. However, Magic Mountain opened 100% of it’s legendary terrain for those skilled or desperate enough or both to attempt to brave their rocky trails.

I managed to safely scrape down every Black Diamond trail at Magic Mountain with exception of Red Line and Master Magician. You needed a death wish to ski Master Magician and you needed your head checked to ski Red Line. Not so much for lack of cover, you could bang out either easily enough, but rather because stuff was lurking underneath and a fall would be serious business.

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A late start this morning resulted in first turns being delayed until 10:30 A.M. One of my ski buddies volunteers on the Magic Mountain Ski Patrol. The Patrol needed an assist with camera operations during their rescue clinic, so my buddy arranged for me to receive a comp in exchange for camera duties. Most folks are unaware that these volunteers put in many hours of training every year for what they hope will never happen. Be sure to thank your patrolers for their hard work and dedication.

The morning was cold and the snow fairly unforgiving. Warm up runs were taken on Talisman and Trick. Both were groomed and getting skied off quick down the center. Next run I took Twilight Zone which had sensational snow and bumps except at the end of the trail which was thin and rocky. While Magic’s base is respectable, the mountain needs more snow.

Sorcerer was the Run of the Day, but I only had time to ski it once, unfortunately. Soft and edgable packed powder bumps exposed to the sun. Very nice! I later assisted in sweep by taking Broomstick which was a little thin and not much fun to Lucifer. The latter featured scraped bumps in the center and occasional untouched crunchy powder on skier’s far right. Red Line and Master Magician were both open but very thinly covered and looking rather firm and unpleasant.

Only took seven runs today due to assisting with patrol but they were quality runs all things considered.

With the 2002-2003 Ski Season winding down, I returned to Magic Mountain to pay my final respects to Southern Vermont’s finest ski area for the season. I met Mr. Otter mid-way through the afternoon. We explored many aspects of Magic Mountain including a jaunt over to neighboring and defunct Timberside (which now primarily is utilized as a Snow Mobile mountain). The remains of an old double chairlift remain near the summit. A narrow ribbon of white allowed passage back to Magic Mountain proper after the side show. Coverage at Magic Mountain was very good for mid-March.

Photo Gallery

Standing at the entrance of Master Magician is like standing before the alter — you have two choices: “I Do” or “I Do Not.” Prior to making this decision, you reflect upon your vows: “Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish every sweet turn?” “Do you swear to find the most perfect line and commit yourself to the steepest fall line possible?” “Do you pledge to respect the snow and your fellow skiers above all else?” “Do you take this mountain, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?” You calmly state the words: “I Do.”

In the back of your mind, you hear the declaration: “I now pronounce you Skier and Mountain.”

Magic Mountain once proclaimed Master Magician as the steepest in-bounds trail in Vermont. This declaration went unchallenged for many years. While there may currently be a handful of steeper trails in Vermont; including sections of Magic Mountain’s own lift line trails Red Line and Black Line, Master Magician remains a true challenge and a classic in the annals of New England Skiing.

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February 5th brought three feet of snow to parts of Western Massachusetts and Southern Vermont. I had been planning a trip to Magic Mountain in Southern Vermont for some time now; the big dump made the decision on where to ski that weekend rather easy. Magic Mountain is most well known for its challenging terrain, lack of snow making, and lack of grooming. It is a Skiers Mountain without any Resort atmosphere or amenities. Some may consider these reasons to avoid the Magic Mountain. But for me, they only add to the appeal.

The alarm clock went off at 4:30AM and I jumped out of bed. Two and a half feet of snow fell during the previous 24 hours and my back still hurt from shoveling the previous evening. After a shower and breakfast, I went out to finish cleaning up the drive way. I was ready to roll at 6:30AM, but was hesitant to go because of the road conditions. I watched the news for an hour and a half before I was satisfied that the drive would be safe. I left home around 7:30AM; I had originally planned to leave two hours earlier so I could get first tracks.

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