Motel 66 Area

Skied some NE facing laps off of the Motel 66 Shoulder. Approach: Walked 15min up the trail before putting skis on once we hit the logging road. Skinning through the landslide is a slight hassle but not horrible. Expect to jump some creeks and dodge some rocks. Freezing rain had caused several large trees to fall. A large chainsaw will be required to move one on the logging road. There is a pronounced temperature crust until roughly 1650-1700m. Skiing below this elevation is terrible. Above 1700 we found good but slightly wind effected powder skiing on sheltered aspects. Above 2000m there was significant wind effect and generally poor ski conditions. During the last couple days a large avalanche cycle occurred in the alpine. We spotted several large crowns from afar. This included one in particular on the lower section of Matier’s East Ridge. I would guess that the crown was 1-2m deep and roughly 500-600m wide. Likely size 2.5-3.