Maquilla Overnight

Attempted to go camping for a couple nights up at Sutton Peak. Got shut down very quickly with the low snow line, around ~250, 300m. Decided to go for a slog up the Sandpit road towards the Maquilla area and were pleasantly surprised at the conditions we found. Pleasant subalpine meadows to camp in with mellow, open treed slopes nearby. As far as access goes on the Island, Maquilla is not so bad, with only about 6km on the spur road before you reach the base of the slopes. Definitely helps if you have a tent or a sled. Snow height was around 100cm at our campsite at 1200m. About 40, 50cm of low density snow down to the rain crust. Went up to ~1450m the first day and skied very pleasant powder through open trees. Second day, went up a bit further and tried to check out the alpine but found fairly heavily wind effected snow as the trees thinned out, so we called it early and kept to the nice open trees. Overall truely excellent conditions and excellent skiing. Maquilla is definitely an area worth some more exploring, especially if you have a sled to take you up the road.