Magic Conditions

[NYSkiBlog]

Repair/replacement of snowmaking pipe to extend groomed terrain in expanded beginner area in 21/22

Greetings from Londonderry,

Our summer crew sends its best to our Magic faithful as we work on projects big and small to make your visits here this summer, fall and winter as fun and exciting as possible.

This is our last week of low Early Bird pricing on season passes before increases of up to $100 per pass take place from June 16th-October 15th. There are so many affordable options to choose from with the added option to "add-on" a discounted Indy Pass for just $189 as well if you select one of our unlimited passes. (Indy add-ons are sold separately on their website as of July 1 with proof of your Magic pass purchase.) So many have already purchased a Magic pass and we thank you for taking the "road less traveled" this winter!

Magic Season Pass Sale

And remember to include a new photo when you purchase so we can have your pass ready for mailing or pick-up.

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This summer is going to be a busy one at the mountain and the Black Line Tavern as Craig has been busy planning lots of music for you while Becca has created a great summer menu, with different dinner specials every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, plus our new Sunday brunch from 10-2. It all starts on July 1 with the big Independence day weekend which I mentioned in my last email.

The big news is we are just announcing that the "Dead of Summer Music Festival" will now take place at Magic on July 10th from 2-10pm. There will be 4 great bands playing their takes on the Grateful Dead live outdoors on a big covered stage in the base area terrain park--a natural amphitheater with seating up the park hill and great views of our mountain valley below! Tickets will be limited to under 500, and they are on sale now! It will be a fun, celebratory, family-friendly music festival to help get into our sultry summer vibes!! Thanks to primary sponsor TPW Real Estate as well as Fiddlehead Brewing for supporting this event.

Event/Band info and Festival Tickets are on sale now here

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There's been lots of progress on the repair and replacement of snowmaking pipe in the expanded beginner area above the carpet lift. Almost all the air and water pipe has been placed and welded through the area with its final connection the Lower Wizard line coming soon. Adding back those two secluded beginner trails with finely groomed conditions and island tree skiing for young kids and novice skier/riders will be perfect for young families. Pfister should be back soon with the refurbished sheave trains for key Quad tower so we will keep you posted as always on developments there.

While we are talking mountain operations, I want to announce that Travis Richmond is moving on after many years of devoted service to Magic Mountain and its skiers and riders. He's decided to leave the ski industry and move into the trucking business which he has always wanted to do since a teenager. So we are happy he's pursuing a passion of his, but sad that he will not be here every day as such a valuable member of our team and just an all around good human being. We are looking forward to having him be able to ski here now which he never got to do since he was always tending to our lifts, climbing a tower, or jumping into a groomer. This Thursday I presented him with a service award at his going away party for all his contributions since he first came to Magic back in 2012. Good luck Travis in your new endeavor!

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Magic was in the news with an interview I did with NYSkiBlog. You can read it here:

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Also in the news, there was a serious accident on Tuckerman's Ravine at Mount Washington over a week ago, and two off-duty Magic patrollers happened to be among the 1st responders there to help assist a seriously injured skier. I just want to extend our thanks to these two patrollers for aiding and assisting in a tough situation and we wish a full recovery for the injured man. This is why you see Magic Patrol, led by Andy Belcher, always training so hard both in-season and during the off-season--to be there for our fellow skiers and riders in their time of need.
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So much more to come between events here this summer and mountain projects/investments as we continue to "make better Magic" happen for you!

Stay well!

- Geoff

Geoff Hatheway
Magic Mountain. Where skiing still has its soul.

 

[NYSkiBlog]

Greetings from Londonderry,

Summer is here and we welcome you back to Magic!

At the same time, we are also welcoming America back after more than a year of strict Covid restrictions. Vermont and the Northeast are largely vaccinated and that's great for everyone's health, including the health of our economy and small businesses like ours. So thank you for supporting us! All we ask is that non-vaccinated people please wear a mask if you go inside the lodge to protect yourself and any other non-vaccinated people with whom you may come into contact. Once you are seated at a table, you can remove the mask while eating. There are zero restrictions for vaccinated people. One other request is that you please be patient while waiting for service. The tight job market is real and finding staff is extremely difficult in the service business. So please understand that it may take just a bit longer to be served at the Tavern this weekend, but we will do our best!

Our initial season pass sales period, which ended this month, did extremely well with sales up 30% over last year's record pace. As a reminder, we will be limiting total season pass sales to just a 5% increase over last season's total in order to help keep the Magic ski and ride experience less crowded and more enjoyable on the slopes than what skiing has typically become under mega-corporate control of the ski industry. Given that we are up 30% year-to-date, please be aware that although the Pre-Season sales period does run until October 15th before prices rise again, we may never get to our regular season prices after October 16th if sales continue to outpace last year significantly and pass inventory runs out. So plan ahead, and save a little money while you do it!

Magic Season Pass Sale

(Reminder: As of July 1 Indy Pass Add-ons can be purchased for just $189 if you have an unlimited Magic Pass at indyskipass.com)
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Celebrating American Independence at Magic!

As a fiercely independent ski area, we go all out celebrating our country's Independence day as well. Here's the line-up:

July 2nd: Big Fireworks Show with the town of Londonderry at 9:30pm; Hot Rubber Monkey Band live outside from 7:30-11pm; BLT open for dining at 5pm (reservations required at BLT@magicmtn.com or 824-5645 x112), T-BAR opening at 5pm for food and bevies, with space for watching fireworks. Hound Dogs food truck from 7pm at base area. No outside alcohol is permitted on Magic property, including the parking lots. Thank you.

July 3rd: 11:00am Independence parade in downtown Londonderry and Magic will be in parade. BLT open for lunch and dinner.

July 4th: Sunday Brunch at BLT from 10-2pm, Dinner at 5pm-8pm (RSVP); Magic "Mini-Works" show at 9:30pm, with Sammy B playing 7-10pm. BLT will be closed on July 5th, but as always, Disc Golf is open every day.

Sharon will also have our Magic Merchants store open with some new merchandise on July 2nd from 7-9pm, July 3rd from 12-4pm and July 4th from 12-4pm.
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Craig and Denise are busy readying the Tavern for opening this Thursday July 1st. Dinner will be served on most Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays this summer and fall from 5-8:30pm with the bar opening at 4pm. In addition, we will have a new Brunch menu on Sundays from 10-2pm and we will serve lunch on Saturdays from 11:30-3pm. Also, the bar area/seating will be open for the first time since March 2020! Chef Becca's summer menu is definitely delicious and it will taste even better with our new air conditioning in the BLT! This will help for all those interested in holding large events, like weddings and rehearsal dinners here in our large space during the summer. With a new, larger deck planned for construction next spring, wedding dates are already starting to get booked for summer and fall of 2022!
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Ticket sales have been brisk for our "Dead of Summer II" Music Festival featuring 4 unique Dead cover bands on July 10th from 2-10pm out on the mountain. There will be plenty of vendors there including Nomad Chefs, Grateful Grillers, Shakin' It Trading Post and Wilcox Ice Cream. It will be a fun, celebratory, family-friendly music festival to help get into our sultry summer vibes!! Thanks to primary sponsor TPW Real Estate as well as Fiddlehead Brewing and Aqua Vitea Kombucha for supporting this event.

Event/Band info and Festival Tickets at pre-sale $30 prices are on sale now here. Price moves to $40 as of Midnight on July 7th thru July 10th

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We have found a new head lift manager who has great experience working at Stratton for many years, even on the Poma Quad Lift that is now here, and he and his family live right here in our community! We welcome Dan Diaz to our team and know he fits the "can do", "whatever it takes" spirit found in our dedicated operations crew. Travis has offered to come back and "show him the ropes" and help make the transition go smoothly. Thanks Travis and a big cheers to Dan for joining our independent, soulful venture!

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We look forward to celebrating Independence Weekend with you if you're in the area. Magic's back. America's back. Welcome back!

- Geoff

Geoff Hatheway
Magic Mountain. Where skiing still has its soul

 

[NYSkiBlog]

Aerial drone view of Dead of Summer II Music Festival last Saturday

Greetings from Londonderry,

Our Dead of Summer Music Festival was both a sell-out and a really fun day/evening of enjoying four unique takes on the Grateful Dead. For those that couldn't make it this year, we plan on expanding attendance next year beyond the 625 ticket limit (which we adjusted from the original 500 limit due to heavy demand), as we will have even more time to plan the event logistics and parking.

I want to thank especially Joe Levy of Whirlygig Music who came to Magic with the festival opportunity and four great Dead cover bands ready-to-go, plus Josh Hearne and Craig Moulton here of the Black Line Tavern who believed in it and pushed for us to take it on. They certainly delivered!

We learned a lot about putting on a longer and bigger-sized music festival, and Magic is certainly a great venue for it and we plan to do more in the future. The entire team here pitched in and worked well together, from the BLT staff, to Ops, to Patrol, to ticket office and retail, to make the event go very smoothly for our guests. All our patrons were respectful of each other, spreading good vibes, and keeping our beautiful mountain setting very clean. Thank you for being a part of a real family-friendly, musical community event! And finally, these are difficult to put on without additional financial support from sponsors. Thank you to TPW Real Estate and Farrell Distributing, with Fiddle head Brewing, for stepping up as primary sponsors, along with Aqua Vitae Kombucha as a secondary sponsor. Everyone's support of this Dead of Summer music festival made it one to remember and one to mark your calendars for next year!

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We hope to see you around this summer enjoying our fabulous disc golf course, more music, and the friendly confines of the Black Line Tavern for food, brews and views! Until then, stay well and enjoy life to the fullest.

- Geoff

Geoff Hatheway
Magic Mountain. Where skiing still has its soul.

 

[MC2]

Aerial drone view of Dead of Summer II Music Festival last Saturday

Greetings from Londonderry,

Our Dead of Summer Music Festival was both a sell-out and a really fun day/evening of enjoying four unique takes on the Grateful Dead. .

Damn, this looked like fun

 

[marcski]

Damn, this looked like fun

My buddy went said it was great. He said a few of the bands were really good.

 

[NYSkiBlog]

Summer Nights are Magic at the Black LineTavern

Greetings from Londonderry,

While there has been more than enough rain this summer which has made work difficult on the mountain, we've also had plenty of beautiful evenings here like last Saturday as we enjoyed our Saturday Sessions music, beer and food out on the deck. It was also a fun weekend as Magic hosted its first-ever professional disc golf tournament! Congratulations to all the players and staff who put on an excellent 2-day showcase of disc golf talent on our beautiful mountain-style course layout!

Disc Golf players gather for registration Saturday Sessions featured Winter Animals

This Saturday is going to be extra special as we have the Vermont Roots Roadshow kick-off concert here at Magic with 5 down-home Vermont bands and artists playing under the tent from 4-10pm. Reservations are already filling up for the BLT deck tables as well as indoors at the Tavern. It's a free show and we will have a beer garden near the tent along with our take-out window open there for food. Kona Big Wave from Hawaii will be our Saturday Session beer special all day. As a reminder, there is no outside alcohol allowed on the property and alcoholic beverages can only be consumed in our permitted areas from the tent area over to the deck and then over to the firepit. Hillside seating is available to watch and enjoy the music but BYOB is not allowed. Thank you. More information is available on our events calendar page.

Tonight at the Tavern the Friday Fish Taco special is Caribbean Tilapia filet with a pineapple glaze and corn-bean salsa over shredded cabbage.. On Saturday night, Chef Becca's Meat & Taters special is Shepard's Pie! (Same-day reservations should be made via phone at 824-5645 x112). And don't forget Sunday Brunch and Bloodies from 10-2pm!

Check out the BLT menu online
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Pass sales are limited this year and we are already at 75% of our goal, so we encourage folks to get them before the October 16th deadline when passes go up in price, and may no longer be available. We don't want you to miss out on our welcoming, soulful, less crowded ski experience!

Magic Season Pass Sale

Fast-growing Indy Passes are also on sale with 2 days at over 70 independent ski areas for just $279 thru 8/31 when prices will go up to $299. And, if you buy an unlimited Magic season pass, the add-on Indy Pass price drops to just $189.

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The Lift Operations crew has been busy with Red Lift NDT and line work while the Quad engineer is drawing up the new sheave specs needed for the manufacturing of these critical parts for towers 6 and 7. Red's new haul rope has been ordered with expected delivery at the end of October. The crew has also been busy on Vertigo cutting back the trail sides there for the installation of new hydrants to bring snowmaking back to that trail for the first time in decades this winter. Lots to do over the next few months which has been made more difficult with all the rain that has inhibited outside work and kept the mountain ground extremely wet and hard to navigate.
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Weddings are already being booked for next year where our newly air-conditioned large Tavern space plus a new deck planned for next spring will really make big events here even better. Winter Mountain Rentals on Mondays-Wednesdays are also in high demand, so be sure to reach out to Kerry at the office, sales@magicmtn.com, to plan your family or company events!
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Please note with the concert on Saturday, that Sharon will have the Magic Merchants shop open in the afternoon from 3-6pm. She has some new summer gear!
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Hope to see you this weekend for Vermont Roots and stay well!

- Geoff

Geoff Hatheway
Magic Mountain. Where skiing still has its soul.

 

[NYSkiBlog]

New front and back seat Polaris joins the fleet!

Greetings from Londonderry,

Hope every one is drying out from Henri (the not-so-much hurricane) which still managed to add more days of rainfall to our very wet summer making mountain and lift work extra difficult. Somehow we have managed nice days whenever we have music events, so next summer we will plan more so we can enjoy more sunshine!

The Vermont Roots Roadshow was a fun community event with good ol' Vermont-based bands performing their original music! A great turn-out and we were happy to provide a free concert so that as many could attend as possible around the deck and Magic hillside.

Vermont Roots Roadshow

We have more live music this weekend with our Saturday Sessions sponsored in part by Muelemans' Craft Beer Store and Farrell Distributing. Matt Chace will be playing on the BLT deck from 6-9pm with Goose Island IPA on special all day from lunch until dinner! Then the following Labor Day weekend we welcome Kevin Shields for Saturday Sessions and The Roadies from 5-8pm on Sunday for the Londonderry Fireworks Spectacular with the fireworks going off at 8pm! More information on upcoming events, like the Magic Mile uphill run up Red Line to benefit Dana Farber Cancer Institute for Innovative Cancer research and our Friends of Magic Work Days, are available on our events calendar page. Please note that the Tavern will be closed this Friday August 27th for a private event but is open Thursday at 4pm, Saturday at 11:30am and Sunday from 10-2pm for Becca's Brunch!

Sunday of Labor day Fireworks Show Magic Mile for Cancer Research

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We are now up to 78% sold on our total available season pass inventory in order to keep our ski experience as uncrowded and relaxed as possible here. The current pre-season sales period ends October 15th at midnight--not sure we will even make it to the "regular" season pass rates on October 16th, but we shall see...There are lots of attractive options to get some affordable skiing in here, even if you have one of those "mega" corporate resort passes that think 45-minute lines for "high-speed" lift service should be standard operating procedure for the ski industry. Think different!

Magic Season Pass Sale

The affordable Indy Pass is also on sale with 2 days at over 74 independent ski areas for just $279 thru 8/31 when prices will go up to $299. And, if you buy an unlimited Magic season pass, the add-on Indy Pass price drops to just $189.

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All East Side intermediate and beginner trails are all tightly mowed now as we get the ground ready for any amount of snowfall come winter time! We will begin the steeper terrain by our own weed-whacking "mountain goats" beginning in September. Line work continues on Red as we await the new haul cable in late October--also new drive shaft and upper bullwheel bearings will be done at that time. Green Chair has its new tension system and ram out for fabrication and repair, and we hope to have those back in the next couple of weeks to prep that chair for inspection. And, Pfister Mountain Services has new engineered drawings in hand to fabricate the new sheave for Tower 13 and will soon have drawings from the engineer for fabricating new sheaves for Towers 6 and 7. A specialized track crane arrives after Labor Day in order get to, and reach up to the cross arm of, Tower 13 for removal and installation of the newly fabricated sheave. It's a tough spot on the mountain to access and that particular vehicle has been very hard to come by. So the pace of progress on the Quad will pick up dramatically in September!
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We just booked another Wedding this week for next summer as well as another Monday in January for our winter Mountain Rentals . Be sure to reach out to Kerry at the office, sales@magicmtn.com, to plan your family or company events!
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Sharon will have the Magic Merchants shop open for Labor day Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon, so come on by and check out all the great summer and winter wear!
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We hope to see you here in the coming days enjoying the summer weather by playing disc golf, hiking, chilling at nearby Lowell Lake, and heading out for fine food and cold beverages at the Black Line Tavern and other restaurants in the area, like the Red Slate, New American Grill and Jake's in Londonderry, plus Hapgood's and SeeSaw's in Peru to name a few. There's so much to enjoy in our mountain towns! And the best side is outside!

Be well!

- Geoff

Geoff Hatheway
Magic Mountain. Where skiing still has its soul.

 

[tirolski]

Yer season pass link is dead.
This one might work.

Passes | Magic Mountain Ski Area

magicmtn.com

 

[NYSkiBlog]

Yesterday's view. Today's warm-up lost the white...

Greetings from Londonderry,

Here at the mountain, our crew is doing everything possible to get Magic ready for you on opening day December 18. As you've probably seen, there's not a whole lotta good snowmaking weather in southern Vermont yet. Today is in the 50's and temps at night are still very marginal. But cold temps will come and we are ready to get the guns fired up. Currently the snowmaking crew has patched a bunch of holes in pipes and is looking at Friday and/or Saturday night for a possible system start if we can get a decent 12-hour window.

Successful test in new beginner area

Contractor work on both Red Lift and Black Lift have seen some delays--story of our life here it seems--but while frustrating, we keep focused on pushing to get this work done and our team will help as haul rope, fabricated sheave parts and contractors finally get here. The new 2 mile-long haul rope for Red Lift is being shipped by truck today and is set to arrive tomorrow (Friday) and we have a huge crane operator lined up to unload the 35,000 pound spool. Pfister is still waiting on a backing plate to install the drive which is also supposed to arrive Friday. Pfister Mountain Services has been clearing up work at other mountains so they can finally be here 100% through final installation of the Black Quad this ski season. The big skidder vehicle with boom they purchased to reach the tower arms will be undergoing repairs to the boom as Pfister picked up the part for that earlier this week. There is some final fabricating of parts needed to assemble the sheaves and then Pfister's crew can get them to Towers 13, 6, 7 for installation. The tower arm for 13 is also going to be modified in this process with a new plate. These are not projects that Magic can do "in-house" and we must rely on the qualified fabricators, lift contractors and engineers to do this work. Realistically, Red Lift work (new drive/haul rope/load-testing) will be completed first for opening day with the Quad to follow as soon as possible to help capacity on our big holiday and peak season weekends.

Today, our crew finished pouring the concrete for the counterweight footings at both bottom and top of the handle tow lift in the expanded beginner area. With temps in the 50s, it was a good day to pour. With blankets covering them, the concrete will cure over the next week and then Dan and Russ will be able to string the surface lift's haul rope and have the electrician hook up power, so that lift addition will be ready for opening day with new snowmaking on the two beginner trails there.

Concrete pours for the new handle tow lift in the expanded beginner area

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This last weekend we welcomed most of winter staff to the base lodge for our big employee orientation. We have many returning vets and some new faces to welcome you to Magic this winter. They are a fantastic bunch of people and we continue to look to fill a few more spots in rentals, parking/van driver, lessons and mountain ops.

Ski Patrol also had a big turn out for training sessions all weekend with a National Ski Patrol awards celebration last Saturday. Peter Thorner, son of Magic founder Hans Thorner, was honored by both NSP and Magic with lifetime achievement awards as former director of Ski Patrol and many headline-grabbling air crash rescues on the mountain in the 60s and 70s. Congratulations Peter! Military veteran awards were also handed out to our patrollers who had previously served our nation as well as awards for our off-duty patrollers who aided in a Mt Washington rescue last spring. Congratulations to all! Director Andy Belcher has certainly helped bring together a wonderful and well-trained group of patrollers to aid our guests this winter. If you're interested in joining this group, please reach out to Andy here at the mountain as we also have a young patrollers program as well.

Peter Thorner (seated) getting his NSP award. Honoring Mt Washington rescuers (L) & military vets (center)
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We have a ton of great events planned for you this winter and we are getting those up on the calendar including a brand new ticketed show being announced for December 30th: The Lizards - Phish Tribute - live at the BLT. Tickets are limited and on sale now here

Also registration is now open for the first in our famous trilogy of open-to-all extreme ski/ride competitions. $1500 cash purse is on the line for the TUCK IT! radar-gunned speed event comp on New Year's Eve day! It's the only pure mph speed comp in the East for fastest skier and boarder Register here

Many more fun on-snow and at-Tavern events are in the works for this ski season.

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Currently we have more private mountain rental requests than we have available Mondays, so we are sold out for this ski season! But, now is not too late to start making reservations for next season. Same goes for summer weddings here at the mountain. Those dates are filling up quickly so if you're thinking of mountain weddings or rehearsal dinners, in the coming months, please reach out to Kerry Mara here at the mountain or info@magicmtn.com

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Magic passes, pre-season discounted lift tickets and Indy reservations can now be purchased/made through our daily lift tickets page. Plan ahead to both save and secure your spot at Magic, especially for weekends and holidays, given our industry-leading ticket sales limits to keep the ski experience as uncrowded as possible.

Get Passes/Discounted Tickets/Indy Reservations here


Teton Gravity Research has received great reviews on its recently released short-film "In Pursuit of Soul". Check out Magic and other Indy resorts as the movie currently airs for free exclusively on TGRtv.. Here's an excerpt from TGR's time at Magic and what they say about our ski area, with our own little video snippet.
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We will be introducing our Freedom 4-Pack product on Black Friday after Thanksgiving. It will go live on our season pass page of the Magic website with limited quantities available of these discounted ticket vouchers that will be good any day this season except for Saturday/Sunday of MLK weekend and Saturday/Sunday of Presidents Weekend. These are transferable ticket vouchers to family / friends, and make great gifts for the holidays.
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Thank you to all who plan to be here this winter! Everything we do here is centered squarely on our skiers and riders making more magical memories with each other. That will be our success.

Stay well and see you soon. Think snow!
- Geoff

Geoff Hatheway
Magic Mountain. Where skiing still has its soul.

 

[tirolski]

Stay well and see you soon. Think snow!

Magic Mountain. Where skiing still has its soul.

Are you sure you didn’t help him write? ?