Skiing Magic Mountain
Saturday, February 28th, 2026
Runs: 10
Distance: 14.15 miles
Elevation: 14,951 feet
Max Speed: 31.5 mph
Avg. Speed: 12.3 mph
Moving Time: 1 hour, 9 minutes, 58 seconds
Total Time: 4 hours, 24 minutes, 16 seconds
It's the weekend, and time to get back to THE Magic Mountain! Gen and I were planning on going and we extended the invite to our usual suspects, so Sarah would be meeting us there! I was a concert the night before and spent the night in a bed other than my own, so I was moving slowly on minimal sleep, but Gen and I met at the Lincoln MBTA stop to carpool just before 6:00am and slowly made our way to Londonderry. We stopped at the Leominster Cumberland Farms for breakfast, and then again at the Winchendon one for a bathroom break, where we ran into Sarah! How fun! The rest of our drive was slow and beautiful. We eventually made it to magic around 8:45am, and it was BUSY. Apparently there was a big race going on all day on Show Off, which clogged the parking lots and especially jammed the ticket line. Sarah and I got to reload our RFID's online - all we had to do was check-in at a kiosk. Poor Gen had to wait, and she didn't get an RFID - they apparently were running wildly low, so they were handing out wicket tickets! I was so jealous! We booted in a pop-up tent/lodge situation and eventually got onto snow! Sarah and I were ahead of Gen, so we did our first lap just the two of us, making it onto the chair around 9:40am (we were SLOW today!).
Snow Report
2/28 6:30am: Good morning and welcome to the weekend! It's going to be a fantastic springlike ski day today, with all 53 trails open and temps in the low 40's. Might it be time to get out the corn Horn? Come get some soft turns in and hang out on the deck or at the T-BAR for some great spring vibes, despite still being the last day of February. More snow and colder temps are on the way starting tomorrow, but today will be a ton of fun in the sun!
Hitting the many groomed trails early while the snow is still a bit firm, and switching up to some natural trails as the day warms up should be a great plan of attack for today. Trails like Black Line and Magician will be awesome once they have a few hours of sun to soften up. There is thin cover out there so be aware and use caution on the steeps.
There is a CISC race today on Show Off.
All 5 lifts will spin today from 8:30-4:00, with the Abracadabra Handle Tow continuing to operate for night laps from 4-7 with access to the terrain park.
The Vermont Speciality Foods Day will be taking place on the deck from 11-3. Stop on by and sample some of Vermont's finest products including Cabot Cheese, Chimera Meats, and Farmhouse Chocolates. Thanks to the Vermont Ski Area Association for sponsoring the event!
We've got a great lineup of evening entertainment as well, with Pati Mac singing apres music in the tavern from 3-6 and the Moon Hollow Band taking the main stage starting at 7.
Uphill travel opne 9am-3:30pm.
Runs 1-3
Run 1: Red Double - Upper Wizard - Lower Wizard
[1.79 mi; 8:11; 1,516 ft; 31.5 mph max; 13.1 mph avg]
Run 2: Black Quad - Enchanted Forest Woods - Upper Magic Carpet - Lower Magic Carpet
[1.52 mi; 7:02; 1,480 ft; 29.4 mph max; 13.0 mph avg]
Run 3: Black Quad - Upper Magic Carpet - Wand - Hocus Pocus
[1.44 mi; 6:16; 1,493 ft; 26.1 mph max; 13.8 mph avg]
It was going to be a wildly warm day today, so I didn't even wear a shell to start (by wildly warm, I mean temps in the mid-30s). Sarah and I got on the red chair, which wasn't open last time we were here, and started with Upper Wizard and Lower Wizard, which were marked with "expert only" signs, even though it's listed as a blue (with a small black section) on the trail map. We were both thrown off by the snow condition on the upper stretch (and the whole run, in fairness). It was like soft, semi wet snow on top of a harder crust beneath. It was weird to ski, especially since we've had such a strong winter. Every turn on Wizard had some ice and bumps, but nothing too treacherous. It's a really fun trail!
We scooped Gen up and all three of us got onto the Black Quad and followed the "easiest way down" - Upper Magic Carpet to Lower Magic Carpet, which was LOVELY! I also hit the woods between Upper Magic Carpet and Enchanted Forest, which were fine. I also also was starting to remember how to ski, which was more important!
Run #3 brought us back up the Black Quad, still following greens from Upper Magic Carpet to Wand (past the Sunshine Corner), all the way to Hocus Pocus, which was truly just a lovely run. The chairs at Magic are SLOW, but they do a great job at controlling the on-mountain crowds.
Runs 4-6
Run 4: Red Double - White Out - Up Your Sleeve - Lower Magic Carpet - Vertigo - Lower Magic Carpet
[1.28 mi; 6:42; 1,509 ft; 31.3 mph max; 11.5 mph avg]
Run 5: Black Quad - White Out - Betwixt - Trick - Mystery - Lower Magic Carpet
[1.15 mi; 6:37; 11,486 ft; 25.6 mph max; 10.4 mph avg]
Run 6: Black Quad - Upper Wizard - Talisman - Lower Wizard
[1.44 mi; 6:53; 1,457 ft; 29.2 mph max; 12.5 mph avg]
The line for the Black Quad was getting pretty long, but there was hardly a line for the Red Double, so we skied over there for a run. We learend the Black does move just a little faster, but we'd all rather be sitting in a chair versus waiting in a line. Run #4 brought us down looker's left side of the mountain. White Out was a natural run with some fun bumps and a few scrapey spots. Up Your Sleeve was fun! Mellow bumps and natural snow that was softening up nicely in the sun. Lower Magic Carpet was status quo, and our favorite from this one was Vertigo. The bumps were medium large (and yellow? I'm guessing tea-stained snowmaking snow?) and delightfully soft. We giggled the whole way down, and Gen is starting to have fun on bumps! This brought us back to Lower Magic Carpet, which we rode to the T-BAR for a quick porta potty break, and then all the way back to the Black.
Run #5 was back to a steep run. We started on White Out again but took a little chute (labeled as green, but I think it was more challenging than most of White Out) called Betwixt. From there, we skied Trick, which is another Magic Mountain blue-black run. It had a nice pitch! That brought us to Mystery, which was a fun, medium steep bump run. Then we were back to Lower Magic Carpet, and we were back in line again.
All three of us were tired/groggy for most of the day today - I had my issue, Gen was a little sick, and Sarah was trapped in North Carolina until yesterday! Our lift rides were quieter than usual, but I was also grateful to have friends that I can comfortably sit in silence with. Run #6 brought us to the pod of black runs on the looker's right side of the mountain. Gen went to ski all of Wizard, and Sarah and I skied Talisman. It was FUN! Talisman was a steep groomer that had wonderfully soft snow with a fast run out at the bottom - we both loved it! Only problem was that the snow down low was starting to get comically sticky. We basically made it through all of last season without any sticky snow, so we were NOT ready for this!
Runs 7-8
Run 7: Red Double - Upper Magic Carpet - Medium - Wand - Kinderspiel - Lower Magic Carpet
[1.33 mi; 6:22; 1,519 ft; 25.6 mph max; 12.5 mph avg]
Run 8: Red Double - Upper Magic Carpet - Wand - Carumba - Lower Redline
[1.40 mi; 5:28; 1,512 ft; 26.6 mph max; 15.3 mph avg]
Sarah was ready for lunch, but Gen and I were basically full steam ahead (I was avoiding the post-lunch crash that I always get). Gen and I took the Red Double up and wanted to connect a few trails that we hadn't skied yet. We took Upper Magic Carpet to Medium, which was a nice cruiser, back to Wand and then to Kinderspiel, which skied nicely IF you dug your edges in! The snow was STICKYYYYYY. We got back on Lower Magic Carpet and right back on the Red.
Sarah texted us she got on the Black about a minute after we got on the Red - it was now a RACE. Ultimately, Sarah won by approximately 20 seconds - good game! Also good to know for the future (meaning: if there's a line for the Black, the Red is worth it). Run #8 was Upper Magic Carpet to Wand and then Carumba, which was another fun, easy one that went at what felt like 5mph the whole way. Making comical C-turns on the mellow pitch was the only way to really keep moving without stopping - the sticky snow was goofy! This ended up being Gen's last run, but Sarah was back and I was hellbent on hitting 10 runs. Back to the double!
Runs 9-10
Run 9: Red Double - Upper Wizard - Sorcerer - Lower Wizard
[1.58 mi; 9:20; 1,512 ft; 25.5 mph max; 10.1 mph avg]
Run 10: Red Double - Upper Wizard - Broomstick - Heart of Magician - Lower Magician - Lower Wizard
[1.22 mi; 7:06; 1,463 ft; 22.7 mph max; 10.3 mph avg]
Sarah and I decided we'd hit up the other two blacks on the looker's right side of the mountain. We decided we'd hit Sorcerer first, and immediately started singing "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" on "bum" - Sarah said "man, I hope there's bumps" - and there were! We were now singing "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" on "bump." The bumps in question were awesome! Only a few sketchy spots. Overall, it skied great with joyful, soft snow. There were patrollers practicing sleds near the bottom, which fully threw me off, but I bounced back and had a solid runout on the dreadfully sticky snow.
My last run of the day was back up the Red and we aimed for Heart of Magician. Magician proper was legally open, and there was a line on skier's left that was totally skiable, but it simply did not look pleasant. Instead, we turned onto Broomstick, which started off as a nice, narrow run, and soon became a gravel driveway with a frozen base... Our skis took a scraping on this one. Heart of Magician was actually a dream, though. Soft, natural snow the whole way down, and it felt long, too! We teehee'd all the way down - I think this might have been my favorite trail of the day! I was thinking about going for another, but then we hit the sticky snow and I confirmed that I was all set.
Sarah went back for a few more runs while I bought $30 worth of food from the cafeteria (mountain prices, amirite?). I had two scoops of mac and cheese, chicken tenders, a slice of pizza, and I had a cookie that I was saving for later. After my late lunch, Gen and I went out to sit on the deck and wait for Sarah. We cheered her on as she made her return, and then Gen and I started our voyage home.
It wasn't my finest day energy wise, or even skiing wise, but a day on the mountain is better than a day inside 100% of the time! My drive back was powered by caffeine and eating Frosted Flakes one flake at a time. This was also my 29th day of the season - almost at Day 30!
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