Magic Mountain Ski Area updates

Greetings from Londonderry,


We’ve had two seasons in two weeks. First one was cold and snow-filled and this week was 70s and summery. Now it looks like it’s changing over to a more traditional late fall weather pattern with cooler gray skies and a chance for some snowmaking temps by next week!

I want to extend a special and well-deserved THANK YOU to all Veterans who served this country so faithfully in past years. We have many Magic families with Vets as well as are own snowmaking manager Don Gillespie and former long-time patroller Roger Nutting. And, then there’s Craig Moulton, manager of the Tavern, who continues to serve (he just flew a humanitarian mission down to Guatemala as a part of the US Air Force Reserves). We salute all those currently wearing our nation’s uniform. Mary Beth and I are also proud parents of Jack who currently serves overseas in the Army. Jack’s a former Magic ski racer who’s been known to take advantage of his basing near the Alps…There are so many unsung heroes defending freedom and democracy around the globe so we can simply go about our daily lives with one less worry. We thank all them all, past and present, for their service and sacrifice, including their families, so we can do so many of the things we love, including skiing, without much sacrifice on our parts.

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Shawnee Peak October Update

October is one of our favorite months – the temps are dropping, the leaves change and there is the occasional snowfall or two! Yet, it is also a very busy month as we fine tune things in anticipation of Opening Day.

With that said we wanted to provide a few mountain updates:

  • We are excited to share that the pizza deck is complete, the pizza station is in-place and we’ve installed a roof and plexiglass siding on half of the deck off of Blizzards.
  • There will be a significant increase in outdoor seating throughout the base area, including more picnic tables and Adirondack chairs – don’t worry, we will have heat 🙂 as well as an outdoor beer garden and additional F&B options “to-go”
  • Across the base area, we’ve placed considerable emphasis on making everything as touchless and simple as possible.
  • Our ski school building has doubled in size and we plan to add a drop off parking zone for parents to drop off their children before lessons.
  • The rental shop has also doubled in size, making it more efficient. We will be encouraging Guests to pre-register for rental equipment, so you can “grab and go.” Our new equipment has been arriving daily!
  • On-hill, we have placed new HKD SV-10’s on Happiness Slope and will be installing permanent mounts on Upper Roosevelt, allowing us to open the upper East Side faster.
  • The East Chair will have RFID gates!
  • Purchasing tickets and lessons online, ahead of time, will be a key focus. We will have two pick-up boxes where you can scan your confirmation email to pick up your ticket or season pass. No more going to Guest Services to get your season’s pass!
  • Lastly, but most importantly, we are in constant dialogue with the respective parties with regards to safe operations and will follow the National Ski Areas Association’s “Ski Well Be Well” guidelines and policies. As you know, things continue to evolve, so we will continue to adapt throughout the fall and winter. 
  • We do not expect to have to require reservations for skiing & riding.

NOW… we are excited to announce that the Night Pass will be released at noon on Tuesday, October 6th – save the date!! New this year, we’ll be offering a 3-step payment plan in conjunction with a buy-it-now price. Tell your friends! 

Magic Mountain Alpine Update

Summer is in full swing, and while we are enjoying the great outdoors, we are now confronted here in southern Vermont with a spike in cases of COVID-19. While Vermont has been a relative oasis as we’ve put into practice all the health and safety guidelines, it is a stark reminder that this virus knows no artificial state boundaries that somehow makes us immune form spreading and contracting this disease.

With more than 50 new cases over the last week from Manchester to Londonderry according to preliminary testing, and more expected this week as additional pop-up testing sites are added in the area, anecdotally, there’s been spread here from both in-state and out-of-state residents and children as well as adults. Given the sudden increase, we have suspended operations over the short term this week of the Black Line Tavern as a pre-caution to help tamp down the spike in cases as health officials get a handle on the size of the outbreak and do their contact tracing. I want to personally thank our staff for putting together such strong health procedures for operations which help protect our customers as well as employees. I’m sure we will get our BLT staff back working serving you great food and cocktails soon. And, I commend other restaurants in the area from Manchester to Londonderry for sacrificing some business revenue for the safety of others as we all get a handle on mitigating this spike in new cases.

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