Have you heard of Emery Park Ski Hill? The ski area is located in Erie County, New York, and was serviced by a t-bar for around fifty years. In 2019, they replaced it with a record-breaking magic carpet ride.
WIBX recently reported on the Emery Park magic carpet, which holds the title of the longest magic carpet in North America. It has a length of 920 feet and a ride time of five minutes. The project cost $850,000, which was paid for by Erie County. Guests don’t have to pay for the lift though, as skiing and riding at the hill is free.
Mark Poloncraz, who is the Executive for Erie County, showed off the new surface lift back in 2019, claiming it to be the largest magic carpet in the world.
The new Magic Carpet 🎿 Lift is open at Emery Park's Ski Hill. It is the longest Magic Carpet Lift in the world!
FREE skiing is open weekdays from 4 – 8 pm and weekends from 10 am – 8 pm. So was those 🎿 and get out and enjoy your @ErieCountyParks! pic.twitter.com/umL8j9D66w
— Mark Poloncarz (@markpoloncarz) March 8, 2019
Unfortunately, I regret to inform everyone that a politician lied. Shocking stuff, I know. Jokes aside, Mark has done a lot of good for Erie County, but he messed up the facts on this matter.
According to Wikipedia, the longest magic carpet in the world is at Alpincenter Bottrop, which has a 1312-foot-long SunKid magic carpet.
From what I’ve researched, this lift at Emery Park does hold the title for North America’s longest magic carpet. The closest contenders for the title are the Mineral Basin tunnel at Snowbird (nearly 600 feet), the 675-foot magic carpet at Soldier Hollow, and the nearly 800-foot conveyer lift at Buck Hill.
So if you’re near Buffalo in the future, go check out this unique ski area.
Update 2/7: There is a longer magic carpet, but it’s not at a ski area. Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia has a sledding hill with a magic carpet of over 1300 feet.
Image Credits: Rodriguez Construction Group(Featured Image), Mark Polancraz, Erie County Parks
