General Observations

Checked out Area 51, as first skiers out there this season. Was looking for something that may have been less affected by the crazy windstorm that was taking place. The snow at the base was thin, but soft and consistent so we booked it up Matt’s Slope through dense alders until we hit the base of Benzene. Hooked it lookers left of the base and traversed across the plateau and made it up to Mt. Kate. The snow was much deeper up there but could still use 3-4 more ft of coverage. It did not appear to have any weak layers in the pack and was definitely unaffected by the wind that was hitting the pass. Seems like it should be good to rip around after the next big snowfall.