Magic Mountain 2022-2023 Season

snowphoenix

Wednesday 12/28/22

https://newenglandskiconditions.com/viewreport.php?reportid=2888

Magic Mountain was in much better shape than I was expecting today. There was still a good amount of snow left over from the big storm a couple weeks ago and most trails open were natural snow only. Wand and Showoff did have recent snowmaking; Wand had some golf balls while Showoff still had whales and some soft gun powder. Most of the other blues on the East Side were ungroomed and had moguls to some degree, with Up Your Sleeve being my favorite of these trails. Patrol opened the West Side for the first time since the r**nstorm with Talisman and Sorcerer (accessed via Upper Wizard), both of which had nice bumps. On the natural terrain one had to be vigilant and look out for ice patches, water bars and bare spots (cover was quite thin, after all), but the risk of hitting rocks wasn’t too high (apart from at the sharp turn on Upper Wizard).

The weather was fine, with temps rising from the mid-20s to the mid-30s, no wind, and a brief snow flurry at the summit around noon. Both doubles were running with almost no lines, apart from when the Green Chair was stopped for a few minutes and accumulated a few chairs’ worth of a wait.

I really enjoy the experience Magic offers – low crowds, fun terrain, cool vintage lifts, classic narrow New England trails, and an absence of the bustle of larger resorts. I found myself wishing the day would never end and I would love to return later this season when more terrain is open.

Looking up the Red Chair

Riding up the Green Chair

Wand

Trudy's Run

Riding up the Red Chair

White Out

Up Your Sleeve

Riding up the Red Chair

Glade next to Enchanted Forest

Medium

Showoff

Pixie Dust

Upper Magic Carpet

Seance

White Kitten

Riding up the Red Chair

Woods between Vertigo and Lower Magic Carpet

Upper Wizard

Talisman

Sorcerer

Incomplete Black Line Quad

ciscokid

Wow what a set of nice pictures!

Like you went to Sams school of pictured trip reports

NewEnglandSkier13

Looks like a fun time!

NELSAP

Great pictures, and good timing - I'm heading over there tomorrow the 30th. Some of the snow will melt by then but looks like conditions aren't too bad.

Dougmccarthy

Nice report and pictures. I see the replacement haul rope for the Black is still in the same spot it was on Thanksgiving.

DrJeff

Dougmccarthy;c-58688 wroteNice report and pictures. I see the replacement haul rope for the Black is still in the same spot it was on Thanksgiving.

With the issues they've been having lately with their pump, and now temporary pump, from their newly expanded snowmaking pond and upgraded pumping station, my guess is that new haul rope for the Black won't be moving at all, let alone de-spooled and place onto the towers to haul chairs until sometime after this season is over (hopefully)

snowphoenix

Thursday 12/29/22

https://newenglandskiconditions.com/viewreport.php?reportid=2889

I was originally planning to ski at Bolton Valley today, but decided to go to Magic again in order to spend more time with the friends I skied with yesterday. The weather definitely gave the impression of spring -- sunny, no wind and temperatures climbing into the 40s (hence no snowmaking today). Areas with sun exposure softened into packed powder/spring snow, while shaded areas remained as loose granular or a thick rain crust over wet powder. Cover was getting quite thin on several trails, notably White Out since its groom last night had removed some snow and pulled some small rocks into what remained. Like yesterday, you really had to look where you were going as there were all sorts of hazards to avoid. A silver lining of the low snow depth was that a lot of the water bars became fun jumps as they were covered but not fully filled in.

A few new trails opened in the afternoon including Witch, Black Line (from Witch down), Heart Of Magician/Lower Magician (via Link) and eventually Red Line. I was one of the first people to go down Witch; it had some good powder on the upper part but the lower part had the same firm bumps as elsewhere on the West Side. I opted not to ski Red Line as there were a couple rocky sections I could see from the lift.

Both doubles were running as well as the beginner carpet and the terrain park handle tow. Judging by the number of cars in the parking lot, today was busier than yesterday but I only waited in line a couple of times. It was another fun day at Magic and I hope their thin snowpack survives the next few days' weather.

Riding up the Red Chair

Riding up the Red Chair

Witch

Witch, the Black Line Quad and Bromley in the background

Black Line

Heart Of Magician

Mystery

Up Your Sleeve

Vertigo

The mountain seen from the parking lot

slatham

Great pics. Yesterday was a great day for sure, with some good coverage on steeps like Witch/Blackline, Talisman, and ROTD Sorcerer. Unfortunately just 24 hours later today showed significant snow loss. Hopefully things improve by next weekend but this warm spell is ugly.

Pic is of sorcerer, 12/29.

NELSAP

Magic Mountain 2/25/23
Conditions-groomed packed powder, bit firm but edgeable on natural terrain
Temperatures: teens, light snow in afternoon produced an inch before I left
Trails: ~30

Had a really nice day yesterday at Magic on the Indy Pass. The weather until this past week has been pretty awful, but it's amazing what a relatively small storm of 4" late last week made all the difference.

Arrived just before 9 - got one of the last spots at the lot closest to the lodge. Quick pickup for the Indy Pass redemption. No lift line to start - by late morning it was up to 10 min.

Riding the double during the day, I had some terrific conversations with other passionate skiers - some of the best conversations all winter. Not unexpectedly, everyone loves Magic and quite a few were there on the Indy Pass and love the Indy pass as well.

Conditions were excellent considering the way this winter has gone. The last snowfall had some sleet in it which was a good thing to help the base. I barely saw any ice. The snow depth on non-snowmaking trails was certainly thin, but not rocky, icy or bare. The snow was super easy to carve, it gave way just enough and was quite pleasant to ski.

Upper Wizard to Talisman was the run of the day for me - Talisman was steep, groomed and fast. Snowmaking was in progress on Lower Talisman and Lower Wizard. I stuck mostly on all the East Side trails and had a blast.

Enchanted Forest

Red Chair

Upper Wizard

Top of Talisman

skizilla

Does magic use RFID cards for ticket or still old wickets. Do you have to reserve indy pass there or just go to ticket office.

NELSAP

skizilla;c-59746 wroteDoes magic use RFID cards for ticket or still old wickets. Do you have to reserve indy pass there or just go to ticket office.

Old school tickets. You do need to reserve by the day before. My two redemptions were on Saturdays of holiday weeks and I had no issues reserving.

skizilla

With indy if you know you are never going to si a place again that season can you give your other ticket to a friend same day.

NELSAP

skizilla;c-59754 wroteWith indy if you know you are never going to si a place again that season can you give your other ticket to a friend same day.

You can't. Just one ticket redeemed per day, per account. That means you can't ski 2 or more areas in one day as well. In my opinion, Indy is the best ski deal in the country, especially if you like to ski different areas each season.

skizilla

Definitely just would like to pass off a ticket to a friend since some areas like jay or burke i might hit once but not again. between berkshire east and catamount I have already paid it off i think

skelley19

I didn't realize you couldn't hit two separate areas in the same day. I thought @conrad or one of the other Indy pass holders that did extended trip reports did that during some trips last year. Maybe they did an Indy Pass mountain and another non-Indy mountain in the same day?

Either way its an amazing deal and I am very glad I got one this year. More than paid for with single days at Saddleback, Cannon, Pats and Waterville so far. I got 2 days in at Jay but with our lodging the tickets were almost free so I saved the Indy redemptions for a hopeful late season trip. I know I'll get back to Saddleback, Pats and WV and hoping to get at least a day in at B.East, Magic and Catamount.

conrad

Yes, I did ski more than one ski area in one day, but one of them would have been non-Indy. I'm a little iffy on the practice, though. I did it, but in the back of my mind I'm feeling like it would be better to just do one ski area per day and just enjoy it to the fullest and not hurry around.

riverc0il

skelley19;c-59762 wroteI didn't realize you couldn't hit two separate areas in the same day. I thought @conrad or one of the other Indy pass holders that did extended trip reports did that during some trips last year. Maybe they did an Indy Pass mountain and another non-Indy mountain in the same day?

One redemption per day on the Indy Pass, you cannot use it at two different areas on the same day. Their system will reject the second redemption request. If someone did a double on the Indy, they definitely did not use the Indy Pass for both visits.

ski_it

You can't technically & nontechnically pass off a pass to a friend because they ask for a photo ID. I think all places, & all happened to have had reservations, have allowed us to have one person pick up multiple tickets if they had their IDs in hand. Except Powder day one, required us to take a new photo of each person.
Rivercoil is right. Yes we skied more than one ski area in one day last season, but the 2nd was non-Indy.

skelley19

I dropped my wife and oldest daughter off at Waterville this past weekend while I went to park and she was able to get all of our passes without my ID. I assume that is because we are all on the same account. When I was by myself at Cannon and Pats they asked if any of my other family members were with me. At Saddleback, we all had to be present as they had to take pics for the RFID cards as they have a new card system from previous seasons.

ski_itJR

ski_it;c-59776 wroteYou can't technically & nontechnically pass off a pass to a friend because they ask for a photo ID. I think all places, & all happened to have had reservations, have allowed us to have one person pick up multiple tickets if they had their IDs in hand. Except Powder day one, required us to take a new photo of each person.
Rivercoil is right. Yes we skied more than one ski area in one day last season, but the 2nd was non-Indy.

This year I have been redeeming my Indy pass at cannon, waterville, pats, Jay, etc. Sadly without you ski_it :(.

At all of them they asked if I was redeeming for others on my pass. I asked if I could pick up for them and a few said because I was the lead on the account I could get your passes without you being there. So it seems to be a per mountain thing I guess.