Magic Mountain

Magic Mountain was founded on December 23, 1960 by Hans Thorner and William Ingraham on Glebe Mountain in Londonderry, Vermont, opening for its first season (1960-61) with a T-bar lift and an incomplete base lodge, per New England Ski History's Magic Mountain page. On January 19, 1961, a fire in the T-bar lift house halted operations temporarily. In 1962-63 a $300,000 Pohlig double chairlift was installed, opening the Upper Mountain terrain. In 1968 Magic Mountain installed a $250,000 snowmaking system. In 1971-72 the Summit Area was opened, served by a Heron-Poma double chairlift. On February 22, 1973, a Cessna 310 crashed into the mountain, killing both occupants. On February 3, 1975, two U.S. Air Force F-111 bombers collided near the mountain; four crew members ejected safely and landed on the upper slopes. Founder Hans Thorner sold Magic Mountain in 1985 to a group led by Simon Oren; in 1986 that group acquired the defunct neighboring Timber Ridge ski area, and in 1987-88 the two mountains were physically connected and marketed together as "the Magic Mountains." In 1990 Oren sold to Joe O'Donnell and Petros Palandjian, who closed the area after the 1990-91 season. It was placed on auction in spring 1993 following a Bank of Boston foreclosure; Michael Boraski purchased the property in December 1995 for $350,000, and the area reopened in December 1997. In August 2002, John Nelson purchased Magic Mountain with a group of partners for $500,000, and in fall 2016 Ski Magic, LLC acquired the area, which has continued to operate independently since. The Black Quad chairlift debuted on February 22, 2024. Magic Mountain sells its own in-house season pass; for the 2026-27 ("26/27") season, unlimited passholders can purchase an Indy Pass "Add-on" at a 30% discount, giving access to Indy Pass partner resorts, according to Magic Mountain's own Season Pass Info page. The resort permits uphill (skin) access and operates a disc golf course on the mountain outside of ski season, per its own website.