Massive Mountain

Riding quality was:

OK

Snow conditions were:

• Crusty
• Heavy
• Powder
• Wet
• Wind affected

We rode:

• Dense trees
• Mellow slopes
• Open trees
• Steep slopes

We stayed away from:

• Alpine slopes

The day was:

• Warm

Went to the summit of Massive Mountain via the drainage to the north west from Redearth Creek Trailhead. Conditions are a mixed bag and the bag is big!

Lower forest has very low snow and is basically iso. Once getting to low treeline it starts to get better for travel. Mid/high treeline and low alpine feels more like a winter snowpack. A mix of facets/crust depending on aspect but most places were only in the 1m range at best. Some places are burned/blown down to ground in the alpine.

Many of the avalanche paths in the area have released, some down to ground, but the none seem to have run full path or were high volume (the debris/crowns are old so hard to know sizes). We did end up skiing a short section of steep trees and the snowpack felt very upside down, I would not trust any open slopes in the area myself.

I wouldn't recommend heading into the area unless you seek adventure... there were moments of pretty good skiing (2400m to 2100m) but overall I rated it "OK" as the forest entry/exit is currently absolutely terrible.