Magic Mountain attendance on pace to break records

Frigid winter weather hasn’t kept skiers away from Magic Mountain, which is on pace to break the record for a season since it reopened in 1997, its owners say.

Magic saw a 25 percent increase in skier visits during the 2017 Christmas holiday over the Londonderry ski area’s prior best Christmas week in 2010. The good performance continued in early January as Magic was one of the few areas to have continuous top-of-mountain skiing and riding despite sustained high winds and sub-zero temperatures.

“I’m really proud of the efforts of our employees and our equipment, which delivered a very good product all Christmas week and especially this past week despite the extreme weather,” Geoff Hatheway, president of SKI MAGIC LLC, said last week.

“From snowmaking, to grooming, to lift operators, to our guys helping parking cars, the frigid weather can really take a toll and everyone gave it their all to serve our customers and allow them to ski everywhere on this mountain enjoying all the new snow. The Red Lift also deserves a special shout-out for its uninterrupted service,” he continued.

Online ticket sales for the Martin Luther King weekend were more than 50 percent ahead of last year.

Magic has a policy of limiting lift ticket sales to 1,500 per day, a policy designed to keep lift lines no longer than 15 minutes.

“We want to keep the ski experience as crowd-free as possible, especially on the slopes where it matters most,” said Hatheway.

“Setting a sales limit assures our customers a more relaxed and stress-free time here, even on the busiest holidays. We think preserving what sets Magic apart to is more important than jamming too many people in here.”