Londonderry, VT – Southern Vermont’s Magic Mountain has once again changed hands.
SKI MAGIC LLC has signed a purchase and sale agreement with Magic Mountain Management, LLC to buy all the property and assets of the 709-acre Magic Mountain Ski Area for an undisclosed amount. With the signing of the purchase agreement, SKI MAGIC has begun its “due diligence” period before formally closing on the transaction, which is expected to take place shortly. However, the purchase agreement has a provision for 2016-17 season preparatory work to be completed during the due diligence phase, including repair work to re-open Magic’s second summit lift (the 5,000-foot long Black Triple Chair) which has not operated for the last two years due to insufficient financial resources to complete the work required by the Vermont Passenger Tramway Board.
“This is an exciting opportunity for long-time fans of Magic, including myself, who want a better, stable and enduring future for such a special ski area and community,” said Geoff Hatheway, President of the new ownership and operating entity SKI MAGIC LLC. “And, with the targeted investment our SKI MAGIC investors are committing to over our initial five-year business plan, Magic will deliver a much better skiing product to ski enthusiasts in our little corner of southern Vermont–not by changing what Magic’s about, but by making its truly fun throwback ski experience more reliable and accessible to customers over a longer season. That means an operational focus on lifts and more snowmaking.”
Magic Mountain was originally founded by Swiss ski instructor Hans Thorner back in 1960 after he selected the site on Londonderry’s Glebe Mountain, where the many natural fall lines reminded him of the terrain found in his native Switzerland. Magic has long been known for its steep, challenging terrain not found elsewhere in southern Vermont. As one of the three big mountains in the 1960s and 70s that formed Vermont’s famed “Golden Triangle” along with Stratton and Bromley, Magic was a big part of a golden era of New England skiing.
After being sold in the 1980s and eventually combined with Bromley during the first major wave of corporate acquisition and consolidation for the ski resort business, Magic was eventually shut down for a number of years in the early 1990s during the real estate market downturn. Magic re-emerged in the 1997-98 season, but the ski area has often been under-funded and under-marketed ever since, while under divided and disparate ownership and operator structures which only served to compound its struggle to re-establish itself in the shadows of deep-pocketed corporate resorts that now dominate the ski industry.
“The people who ski and ride here have a passion for the sport and their fellow travelers. It’s the first thing I felt back in 2000 when my family started skiing Magic to escape the high-stress, high-priced, overcrowded, less personal environment often found on weekends at major resorts,” continued Hatheway. “We discovered Magic with its easy-going, laid-back vibe; uncrowded feel on the slopes; and the welcoming attitude of its skiers which made us feel instantly at home. But, most importantly, there was the kick-ass ski terrain. We think focusing on what matters, the ski product and the environment to enjoy it together, rather than all the growing high-end distractions away from the sport, will essentially take people back to skiing’s golden era here. And, that is where our future lies.”
“Besides,” he smiled, “it was either Magic or Whistler Blackcomb. I think we got the better deal.”
Season passes for the upcoming season are slated to go on sale at reduced “early bird” prices normally available in April once the sale closing takes place. Due to the late timing of the deal relative to the upcoming season, and the fact that no work has been done at the mountain since the end of last season in April, all efforts are currently focused on preparing the mountain for a December opening, working to bring the Black Summit Chair back to operation and repairing/expanding snowmaking coverage.