Mountain Safety Collective Backcountry Conditions Report – Friday 22 August 2025

August 29th, 2025
The view at the top Thredbo today where wind gusts have hit 110ks – gives you a good idea of visibility the backcountry! Photo: Thredbo snow cams

Mountainwatch | Mountain Safety Collective

Last weekend saw the sun return to the mountains for a stunning run of clear days and exceptional quality spring corn snow on sun facing slopes. Monday saw temperatures climb significantly in the subalpine (10.4 degrees recorded at Perisher) after no overnight refreeze, resulting in an isothermal snowpack where the snow temperature reaches zero degrees and loses cohesiveness – i.e. slush!

Tuesday saw the wind pick up in the afternoon followed by a significant amount of prefrontal rain. Victoria saw under 30mm of rain, but NSW got smashed by over 100mm before temperatures fell enough for it to start snowing. This will have significantly depleted the snowpack at lower elevations with the rain impacting the slushy snow.

Viv dropping off Ramshead on Monday morning with Kosci in the background.

Thursday morning saw the core of the storm start impacting the mountains with around 25cm of fresh powder at daybreak and another 20cm by sunset. This “storm of the season” is set to continue until Saturday morning with cumulative snow totals in excess of 60cm. With the strong westerly winds, wind loaded snow will easily exceed a metre deep on leeward easterly slopes.

With such a significant storm, the message for the backcountry this weekend is to step things back and carefully assess the conditions before you rush into riding bigger terrain. The avalanche hazard will be significantly elevated due to the amount of windloading, so dial things back until it’s clearer what the snowpack stability is like.

Winds will remain elevated through Saturday but will abate on Sunday as the sun makes its return and a spring melt freeze cycle returns early next week. If you’re planning a snow camping adventure, the weather will remain relatively stable until stronger winds return on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
You can keep up to date with free Backcountry Conditions Reports every day by visiting Mountain Safety Collective and MSC’s Membership Drive closes on Sunday 31 August!

A big shout out to everyone attending the Australian Backcountry Festival in Hotham this weekend – this week’s storm will provide some epic conditions!