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.
The Groomers were all in excellent condition. I would wager Magic Mountain has some of the best Groomers on a Sunday afternoon when the more popular mountains are scraped apart. Skier's Right was mostly groomed with exception of the glades and the sides of some trails. Groomed on Skier's Left was limited with Wizard being the only option and a poor option at that.
While the snow quality of the Groomers was exceptional throughout the day, snow quality on the natural snow was thin cover and variable. At best you needed rock skis and at worst you were receiving core shots for tackling Magic Mountain's Black Diamond terrain. Props to Magic Mountain for keeping it real with the entire Mountain open, but there were very few mortals tackling the more demanding terrain (myself included).
I began the day warming up on Groomers Skier's Right then hit up Broomstick to Heart of Magician. Broomstick was dastardly thin but the snow was packed which made for a work out without fear of base damage. Pausing halfway down to look up Master Magician invoked a quick chuckle before turning left into Heart of Magician. I tried venturing into the little bit of remaining untracked there was, but quickly learned there was much lurking beneath the surface. As a result, I stuck to the more variable Chowder snow in which I still snagged some tree and rock, but could at least see it coming and wouldn't let it get the better of me. Every kind of Geological Treat was present including but not limited to rocks, stones, sticks, stumps, roots, waterbars, grass, dirt, etc. Everything seemed in abundance except snow! But there was just enough in most places to keep it worth while. Most of the time.
On the left side of the mountain, Slide of Hans was not worth ducking into with an extreme amount of rock shining through. Sorcerer was probably the best trail with occasional decent shots involving a few quick turns. Talisman was horrendously thin up top but delightful down low. Wizard was groomed but not edgable and generally crap. Under the lift lines, Witch was ridiculously thin with tons of rock showing whereas Lucifer was less thin but equally mean.
Best trails were definitely the glade runs. Twilight Zone was excellent up top and gradually thinned out down low with the exit being slightly unfriendly. Upper sections of Goniff Glade had the best snow on the mountain but got very bad halfway down. Every trail that featured some decent snow invariably had a spot just below the good snow that made a repeat of the trail unappetizing. I packed it in around 2:30PM having sampled all the trails I dared to sample and not desiring any repeat runs due to the cover. It was a good and challenging day of skiing for sure and only my fifth time of the season on natural snow, but oh my do we need more snow soon! The base has been laid down, but if we're to ski into March and dare I ask even beyond, we're gonna need a few more feet and quickly!