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Tonight Magic launched the new website and logo! The new logo pays homage to the original double M logo of the Hans Thorner years while symbolizing a new era at Magic.
The website now reflects that Magic is a skier’s mountain, centered on community and the Partnership. I will let the site do the talking……
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While we have been weathering the Halloween storm, the folks at Magic have been hard at work getting ramped up for season.
As many of you know, Matt Lillard accepted a phenomenal new job. We will all miss him greatly as he settles in at our new sister mountain in Alaska. We would like to thank Matt for his tireless dedication and wish him the best as the new General Manager of Eaglecrest Alaska!
Geoff Hathaway will be leading and implementing Magic’s new marketing plan. Many of you know Geoff and his family, as he is an avid member of the Magic skiing community. Geoff has an extensive full time career in marketing and PR and studied at Dartmouth. Geoff will be overseeing marketing from a macro perspective shaping and implementing Magic’s new era. Make sure to take a run with Geoff if you can keep up.
To further the effort of improved snow product, Magic has a new winch cat coming December 1st. The Prinoth BR350 is the big brother of everyone’s favorite purple Bombardier BR275. It will be replacing the Piston Bully Edge, which while a great machine, was never the right fit for Magic’s terrain.
The new cat has a winch so it will be able to work in tandem with the purple cat, packing a solid base layer down on steeper terrain. Having a uniform fleet (Both cats are BR models) will allow for many interchangeable parts and tools, streamlining maintenance.
Save Magic can’t wait to see our “new cats” in action. We congratulate Geoff in his expanded role at Magic.
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Work weekend #3 was a great success with crews spread out around the base and on the hill. While Slide of Hans got a haircut, a crew led by Matthias Werkmann finished up a new glade. Check out the pictures on MAGIC’S FACEBOOK SITE.
The Save Magic crew did a lot of sprucing up around the base of Red Chair. A great deal of painting and cleaning was performed. The Chair is the heart of Magic and we want her to look really good this opening day. Matthias wins the prize for hand scrubbing the entire drive-terminal, bullwheel and engine room!
Red has a busy schedule before December 15th. In a few weeks she will get a cable splice that will bring the bottom bullwheel forward and raise the counter weight. After this both red and black chairs will undergo a full load test with jugs of water simulating passenger weight. Both chairs have also undergone substantial NDT (Non-destructive Testing). This program provides the mountain with important data about the useful life of various lift parts, increasing lift reliability.
The best part about work weekend #3 was the opportunity to meet some of the expanded crew you will see at Magic this year. The mountain has a new dedicated lift mechanic with lots of training from one of those “Big” resorts! He is passionate about the lifts, the mountain and is very impressed Magic’s sense of community.
There will be a lot of announcements over the next month so stay tuned both here and on MAGIC’S FACEBOOK SITE.
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Does your season pass have blackout dates? Well then you need the Magic White-Out Pass! When your home hill asks you to stay away, come meet your new friendly neighbors over at Magic.
Whether you buy it as a second pass or simply want to avoid the Holiday Crowds elsewhere, the White-Out Pass is a great value at $249. It is valid Christmas/New Years Week, Martin Luther King Weekend and President’s Week.
Make the most of your holidays and breathe a sigh of relief when you pull up the access road. Holiday periods are actually fun and relaxing at Magic. Be warned, as we are fairly certain that once you taste the Magic, you will be upgrading to a full season pass.
Buy it now at Magic’s Pass Purchase Page
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We have spent all summer talking about the Red Chair, but have failed to mention another great way up. Magic has a very friendly skinning policy, more so than most ski areas in the East.
Now we all know the purists love their tech inserts, but I was lucky enough to grab a pair of Marker Barron’s a few seasons back. Long ago when Magic’s snow surface was not as reliable as it is today, we learned to be resourceful. I thought the A/T bindings would add variety on the days that skiing is confined to blue cruiser runs. In the east, those days happen.
My first skin was from Timberside to the top of the Red Chair. This was a whole new way to experience Magic. My crew created a fantastic adventure out of what would have been an average ski day with marginal conditions.
Four years later the majority of my touring is relegated to Magic as time is tight and I like to spend my weekends around the hill. I have found however that skins are quite versitile. Last season on most Saturdays, I made a habit of taking my mutt Lexi and her friends Piper and Baxter for a 4:00 lap. They love to run up and down and I manage to work off at least two beers in advance of hitting Goniff’s. Most importantly, I get one extra run and some time to reflect upon the great ski day I just had.
Southern Vermont had a windstorm last President’s Weekend and most mountains were without Power. Another great opportunity for the skins to help make lemonade out of lemons. Rumor has it they are also handy for a dawn patrol run powder run, if you can get up that early. In sum I have learned that touring can be whatever you want it to be. For those who are not ready to summit the Eiger, Magic is a great place to enjoy touring. Mix it in with your regular day or take a side country adventure. Do it because we are lucky to have a mountain that encourages going up hill as well as down.
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A great deal has gone on since our last post most noticeably Hurricane Irene. Magic was very fortunate to escape substantial damage. Lower Mystery required a fair amount of repair along with some washed out snowmaking pipe. Compared to many neighboring areas and towns Magic was reasonably unscathed. Please make an effort this season to inject some money into the local economy when possible. Save Magic made a modest donation to one of the rebuilding efforts and we encourage you to do the same.
On a positive note, season passes are now on sale and early purchase pricing ends 10/10/11. Please visit the mountain’s website to purchase yours now! College students, college passes are only $149.00. If you don’t buy a Magic Season Pass at that price, perhaps college wasn’t the right decision.
Photos:Tom Walsh
Today the new wood seats were installed on the Red Chair and boy does the lift look great. A new valve house was also installed near the Red Chair base. When you look at what a difference all of the small improvements have made collectively, one must consider how amazing the mountain would be with an additional One Million dollars of pure capital improvement.
This summer’s improvements will mean more reliable and increased snowmaking, grooming and lifts. We encourage you to come on up this winter and experience the change first hand. Experience a ski area that emphasizes community and skiing. Consider being one of the next 40 shareholders and help launch the Magic Partnership.
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All the chairs are painted and the summit bullwheel is almost complete. We could not have done it with out all your help so thank you! The hard working crew from Tower Dogs will be off to the Berkshires to go paint some other lifts but back to do some touch up once all seats and footrests are in place.
The good folks at Bensonwood over in NH have begun building our new seats. Dave from Bensonwood reported “177 new seats were cut, sweat was dripped, beer was drank. Yahoo! Gotta paint and stain them tomorrow and Thursday night now.. getting them all ready so we can install them on old Red Sept 17th!!”
Now its time to mark your calendars with some important dates:
Volunteer Days will be:
Saturday September 24
Saturday October 8th
Saturday October 22nd
Season Pass sales start 9/1/11
Early purchase ends 10/10/11
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The paint is going on and you made it happen! I think it is safe to say the Red Chair will be worthy of its name this upcoming season! Dull has not been an adjective used to describe the red chair’s new look. I say the brighter the better! The chair is now a symbol of what can be accomplished when management and skiers communicate well and work together to accomplish their goals.
While the tower dogs worked hard on painting the chair, the mountain ops crew finished up summer snowmaking repairs! Look for added snowmaking on three west side runs! Once a large section of Wizard’s pipe was replaced, the crew moved over to Blackline and Witch. In addition, the pipe on Sorcerer was evaluated for repairs and should be online for the 2012-13 season.
The crew has now shifted focus to getting the Black Chair fully functional for this season! When the Red Chair painting is done the boys will move over to the Red Chair to install the new wooden seats, footrest protectors and apply numbers. This will be followed by annual maintenance and a full load test on both chairs! Happy 40th birthday old red!
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Save Magic finally got an up close and personal look at the fine work the folks at tower dogs have been performing. We are happy to report that all 177 chairs have been primed and prepared. Painting should start tomorrow or Wednesday this week!
To restore each chair, the painters have removed all rust and several layers of red paint with both with a grinder and a brush. The metal is then prepared with marine grade (boat) primer, the dull red/brown color shown in the photos.
Surface rust had begun to form where the chair frame meets the hanger arm. Over time this could have been a problem forcing Magic to replace the chairs. 
The rust has now been removed and as you can see by the picture here, the frame is completely sealed and protected from the elements.
In addition to the paint job, the chairs are getting new wood seats and rubber footrest covers. We have enough pledged to cover the above costs but have decided it would be best to stain the new wood so it lasts longer. If you have any extra wood stain in your garage that you don’t need and you are able to drop it at the mountain in the next few weeks, we would really appreciate it. The color doesn’t matter as the wood will be covered by the pads. Even half an old can will go a long way.
We want this project to be funded entirely by donation so the mountain can use last year’s funds on this year’s snowmaking and grooming. So far we have the entire cost pledged. We have close to 80% of the funds collected. If you are part of the 20% who have not paid, please let us know if you still want your chair in the next week. We have a waiting list and will start to re-assign chairs August 11th. If you would like to be on the waiting list please email us.
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If you ever happen to have a chairlift or amusement park ride that needs a repaint we can’t speak highly enough about the hard working folks from Tower Dogs lift painting! If you think it takes a long time to ride up, imagine grinding and priming it in 100 degree heat.
Over ¾ of the chairs have been prepped and are ready for painting. We have learned that the hard part is in the preparation. The two workers average about 12 chairs a day. Once they are all primed the Safety Red will be applied. We promise pictures as soon as the red paint starts flowing.
The new snowmaking pipe on Wizard was tested this week and passed. The crew made final tweaks and will be moving on to the crew is going to move on to Witch and Blackline.
Look forward to a big party celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Red Chair. She is going to look great this season.
In other news, Everyone’s favorite snowboard instructor, Slash, turns 25 this week, so if you see him, give him a big hug.
