Magic Mountain, Vermont to Finish Black Line Quad After Four Years of Construction

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

Last week, Vermont’s Magic Mountain mentioned in a blog post that after four years of construction, the Black Line Quad is expected to be completed for the 2023-24 season. Over the summer, the resort is working on final tower alignment, new haul rope installation and splicing, and final tower comms and drive work to get the fixed-grip quad up and running next winter.

Once completed, the Black Line Quad will extend from the Magic Mountain base all the way to the summit, running adjacent to the Red Chair. The lift is the successor to the old Black triple chair, which held down service in the same lift line for nearly six decades before its retirement in 2019.

Our Take

The Black Line Quad has been on Magic’s property since 2020, and by the time it opens for 2023-24, the lift will have been under construction for at least four seasons. But once it starts spinning for operations, 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. The Black Line chair will triple capacity to the summit, making for a much better experience and freeing up Magic 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. But unlike those competitors, 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.

We’ll be sure to be back to Magic next season to assess the Black Line experience for ourselves. In the meantime, our Magic review for the 2022-23 season is in the works—check back soon for our full take on the resort.

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