Magic Mountain, Vermont Debuts Black Line Quad After Nearly Five Years of Construction

The Magic Mountain Black Line Quad while under construction in January 2023.

EDIT 2/24/2024: Updated language to reflect that Magic did not install the Black Line lift without contractor assistance.

After years of anticipation, Vermont’s Magic Mountain finally debuted its Black Line Quad lift on Thursday. The newly-operational lift extends from the Magic Mountain base all the way to the summit, running adjacent to the two-person Red Chair. With the Black Line’s installation, Magic has tripled its base-to-summit uphill capacity.

The Black Line lift had been under construction since 2019, marking nearly five years from construction start to finish. Unlike higher-end ski resorts with more generous budgets, Magic chose to install the lift without the same quality of outside assistance—which, combined with COVID, resulted in several hiccups that contributed to the protracted installation timeline.

The new quad is the successor to the old three-person Black Chair, which held down service in the same lift line for nearly six decades before its retirement in 2019. From 2019 until earlier this week, the Red Chair was the only lift serving Magic’s summit.

To honor the Black Line Quad’s debut, Magic plans a ribbon-cutting ceremony this weekend at 10am, which will correspond with its already-scheduled Winterfest celebration.

The Magic Mountain trail map, with the new Black Line Quad highlighted in red.

Our Take

Now that the Black Line Quad is finally operational, the lift will bring considerable relief for this off-the-beaten-path southern Vermont mountain.

Magic’s uphill capacity has been notably limited in recent years, with only the Red chair, a fixed-grip double, servicing the resort summit. The resort has always aimed to offer limited lift lines, but due to the throughput constraints, the resort has chosen to limit lift ticket sales during peak times. Now that the Black Line chair has tripled capacity to the summit, Magic has been freed up to offer daily access to more guests.

The Black Line lift is a fixed-grip quad, meaning that Magic will continue to maintain 100% slow lift service, unlike nearly all of its southern Vermont competitors. The quad’s 11-minute ride time, about equal to the neighboring Red Chair, is not exactly going to set any records. But unlike the other mountains in this part of Vermont, Magic tends to offer an advanced and expert-oriented footprint, with ungroomed trails and fairly liberal terrain openings that make for a unique experience this far south in the state. As a result, the speed of its lifts isn’t exactly Magic’s attracting factor—and likely won’t be a huge deal to its target demographic.

Considering a ski trip to Magic this year? Check out our full Vermont and East Coast rankings, as well as our comprehensive Magic Mountain review. Additionally, you can check out our 2023-24 Vermont rankings in video form below.