The Indy Pass Blog

Swain Mountain Jamming

Posted on by Robert

There’s always this looming feeling of dread for skiers and riders as we enter the month of March. The sun may be shining and the weather warmer but that means the snow will soon melt and our season will be over. You want to make every weekend count.

Swain base area

Swain hosted its spring carnival last Saturday but it could have easily been mistaken for a mid-winter day. A bit of lake effect dusted the mountain the night before and the temperatures were in the mid teens. Swain is one of the mountains I grew up riding so I was excited to get back and see what was new.

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Tagged: Indy Pass, Swain, Western NY4 Comments

Greek Peak: A Rock in Central NY

Posted on by Brownski

I set three alarms, one for 5 AM, then one for 5:05 and one for 5:10. I only needed the first one and I didn’t even get any guff from Danger Boy when I went to shake him awake. He got dressed and moved to the back Subaru’s back seat where I had a pillow and a pile of fleece blankets waiting for him.

Our bags, skis, a cooler of drinks, snacks and a thermos of hot coffee were already in the car. We were on the road by 5:10. My planning and preparations had paid off. Getting my son up that early was a lot to ask so I let him sleep all the way to Virgil. We made our way out Route 17 in the dark.

We pulled into Greek’s parking lot at 8:30. It was snowing lightly under a gray overcast. My son moved to the front seat to boot up while I went to redeem our Indy Passes.

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Tagged: Central NY, Greek Peak, Indy Pass23 Comments

Magic MLK Weekend 2021

Posted on by MyNameIsAugustWest

MLK weekend seems to be the point where the season really takes off at Magic. This year was no different. The snow report measured 7-10″ on Saturday and we had at least that much at our house not too far away. Unfortunately, it was mank, but great for base-building. Still, the “hordes” came out for a chance at a face shot. That wasn’t happening on Saturday.

I know my assignment is to give more than a trip report and to try to capture the “essence” of the area. Magic is a place that normally has more essence than most, but this season is far from normal. I will say that the skiers have been thankful for the work the staff has done and they complied with Magic’s operating rules. If somebody let their mask slip off their nose, a staff member was quick to politely ask that they correct it.

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Tagged: Indy Pass, Magic, VT10 Comments