Every year when we re-up our Indy Pass, Magic Mountain is high on my list of destinations. Every visit has been magic. Our fondness for the place lined up nicely with last week’s weather and our patrol schedule.
We made plans; my son logged in and made reservations Thursday night. Friday night we got our gear together and set our alarms- not all that early though. We weren’t on a mission for first chair or anything — just a relaxed day at a great hill.
When Junior and I pulled into the parking lot on Saturday at 9 AM, the place was hopping. We knew it would be busy, given the fresh snow and Presidents’ week.
It was also Magic’s Winterfest which added a free ride competition on the upper mountain, a DJ and a torchlight parade later on.
We parked in Lot B and took our time getting booted up in the lodge. Getting our Indy Pass redemptions sorted out was a smooth process.
Once outside, we opted for the Red chair (no hill trudge required). As we rode up, we discussed our plans and decided a warm up was in order. At the top we headed skiers’ right, zipped through the Enchanted Forest and took our first run down a blue rated Trick. The snow was fantastic. After another ride up Red we got into some low angle trees on that side, not sure if it was a named glade or not.
Over to the Black Chair quad where we used the singles line to beat the crowd. Junior went first and I got the chair right behind him. Under the lift, the Winter Fest Free Ride competition was happening on the Black Line so we had entertainment for the second half of the ride up.
Our first run on the west side was Talisman and it was game on from there. Talisman was awesome, soft snow everywhere, bumped up in spots but not others.
Our next cycle through the singles line I was directed into a group of three but an employee on his break slipped in ahead of our group so I jumped on with him and chatted about being a liftie, tuning skis and what it was like working at Magic. Our next run was Slide of Hans and it was as gnarly as I remembered it. I really like that trail.
Once the morning crowd dissipated a little, we stopped using the singles line. On our second or third ride up, I struck up a conversation with the guy next to me who turned out to be one of the TGR Magic regulars, Gonif. We talked about Magic and Plattekill and ski patrol stuff and got some more local beta and took our next run down The Wardrobe glade.
Wardrobe was pretty steep and tight at the top but the boot deep fresh snow was great and it eased into some really sublime low angle stuff down below. I admit I still find some of the steeper trees at Magic intimidating but I fell in love with Wardrobe.
It went on like that, one gnarly exploration after another. On our next ride we somehow ended up sharing a chair with a Double Chair Podcast fan. I’m not sure if it was my voice or the sticker on my helmet but out of nowhere, the guy said “Hey, are you Brownski?” Another cool chairlift conversation. He was from New Jersey.
Later on when I suggested to Junior that maybe we have more listeners than we thought, he just said “Maybe… but I bet that would never happen at Okemo.” It was a good point. Magic Mountain is just our kind of place. The Plattekill – Magic – NYSkiBlog correlation is pretty strong.
As the day wore on and our knees wore down we mixed in some mellower terrain on the east side. Even the greens had formed bumps by then, gloriously soft little bumps. We went inside for a short break and some calories, then went looking for more trees to explore. I lost track of runs and trails skied. Once the free ride comp was over we got into that area and it was pretty fun too.
So that was our day at Magic — pure Indy fun. The deck outside the Black Line Tavern filled up with folks celebrating Winterfest in style and the party overflowed to an open air bar near the Green chair. Music filled the base area. Everybody was happy. While we didn’t stick around for the torchlight parade or fireworks, I’m sure that was tons of fun too.
NYSkiBlog is joining with The Indy Pass to bring exposure to independent mountains.
This piece is part of our effort. For more information visit the Indy Pass website.
Magic
On the list for sure
Gotta get there soon
Love the fact that it all comes back to our home Platty
Great read
Ride soon!
hard to beat magic when conditions are right.
good stuff fellas.
I was at Whiteface that Saturday, no wrong answers with such great snow. I made it to Magic on Monday to hunt the leftovers. The coverage was thinning out after a busy holiday weekend but it was nice to ski some of the signature terrain that hasn’t been open on previous visits. I really enjoyed the trees skiers right off the top of Talisman.
One of the best when conditions are right. Where are the snack shack and the house in the pic at the bottom?
Just a point of nitpickiness. The picture labeled Slide of Hans is actually the bottom of Trick. Slide of Hans is way more narrow and gnarly as you noted. Sorry I missed you, but I was super sick on Saturday.
-MNIAW on TGR
Great article and photos. Glades look fabulous.
MNIAW, yes. You are correct. We fixed the caption. Hope we can ski together some time.
Magic, it’s in the name.
James, the snack shack is lookers’ left of the green chair just above where Lower Magic Carpet empties into the base area. Looks like a fun spot right?
That doesn’t sound like Magic, that sounds like Heaven.
Thanks!!
Change for a nickel, found at Magic. Great looking day.