Magic Mt., VT 3/19/00 (Closing Day)

[GregB]

<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 3/20/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>I was surprised to read the sign at the ticket window that they were closing for the season. I asked the cook in the caf why they were closing this early and he said they had about 10 people skiing each day during the week. There was at most 60 to 70 cars in the parking lot. Only the Red Line was running. The weather was bluebird. Conditions varied from trail to trail. All the double diamond stuff was closed because the steeper terrain didn't hold the snow from the previous storm. I did see a couple of boarders poach the Red Line in the afternoon. It had maybe 4-6 inches of powder on top of a thin layer of crust, rocks, and dirt. Talisman was a scratchy sheet of ice with some chalky moguls on the skiers right. The sun never softened them up like I had hoped. All the groomers had packed powder with some ice under foot. I found the best conditions on Up Your Sleeve to Vertigo (poached) and Kinderspiel. Both of these had lots of chowder left over from Friday's storm with excellent coverage. The sun never softened things up like I had hoped but it was great mid-winter conditions without the cold. I forgot my sun screen so my face is pretty sun burned. They put applications out on the tables in the lodge for next years season passes so it looks like they will be open next year.