A
Anonymous
Guest
These are truly, truly the best of times. Let me put it another way. This was like Town Meeting day two days in a row, with not a powder rival anywhere. <BR> <BR>Christmas night I was enjoying a beer in the B Side Tavern in Cambridge with friends from high school, with rumors swirling that some local celebs were soon to pop in. Sure enough, I get up to go to the bathroom and come back to find Ben Affleck, his bro Casey, and J-Lo herself sitting three tables away from me. This is how my 48-hour hedonistic, powder binge began-- by passing glances at the biggest pop star since Maddonna sipping on a gin and tonic a few seats down. <BR> <BR>I left the bar at midnight and was awake at 4:30am, with Magic Mountain the destination. Driving was less than stellar, but I was happy to arrive at the lot at 8:30, missing first chair by only 10 minutes. It was to be my first time at Magic in maybe 14 years, but the terrain was still quite easy to figure out. First run was down Redline, bouncing through pillows of buttery floaty powder that billowed all around me. The drops felt no different from the time spent on the ground, I was in a soft blurry cloud in both physical states. Truly epic. Two more runs, one on Goniff Glade and the other on Slide of Hans proved similar superlative skiing, some of the most memorable turns I will surely ever make. <BR> <BR>Then, as Reeb mentioned, the lift broke. After an hour or so stranded above a cat track some 40 feet, I was belayed down by the ski patrol. It was my virgin evac if you will, and I think theirs too. Not too difficult, but the process took forever. I got to the bottom and took a refund, slapped on the skins and went back to the summit. <BR> <BR>More epic turns. Finding untracked, deep, light, every turn. When the lift finally started working again, most people had left. I skied without a ticket, and had a sunny, beautiful Magic with 24" of fluff almost to myself. There were maybe 30 other people skiing by 3pm. Despite the lift breaking, definitely the right choice. My last run at 4 contained a similar description to my first run-- the main runs by now had become choppy, but in all other directions the untouched remained for the taking. <BR> <BR>It was supposed to be a 24-hour trip, but I simply couldn't leave. I called up my Aunt in Londonderry and crashed for the night, returning this morning to the same time and place. Searching only slightly harder for the same unpillaged bliss, I found steep billowy stashes on skiers left of Goniff Glade and in any other woods shot I could find. <BR> <BR>Magic Mountain truly was the tihs. I know I experienced it on two days worthy of the record books, but the combination of bluebird skies, great terrain, a veritable vomiting of snow, and no crowds meant that these last two days will be some of the most memorable of my life. <BR> <BR>Even J-Lo's ssa ain't that good.