Mountain Safety Collective Backcountry Conditions Report – Friday 30 August 2024

August 30th, 2024
The small amount of snow that fell in the alpine on Thursday night has been wind loaded onto easterly slopes with extensive areas of ice crust and exposed vegetation remaining elsewhere. Pic: Taylor Rogers

Mountainwatch | Mountain Safety Collective 

The past week has seen a record-breaking run of warm August temperatures and relentless winds hitting the mountains that have significantly impacted the snow cover in the backcountry. The BOM has kept a Severe Weather Warning in place for the last seven days with wind gusts consistently exceeding 100kph in the high alpine. Close to 70mm of rain fell last Sunday night with another 10-20mm on Thursday and 25-50mm forecast to fall over the next few days as this weather pattern remains in place over the weekend. With this in mind, MSC’s backcountry advisory is likely to remain at “Travel Not Recommended” for the next few days.

The only silver lining is that snow did fall above 1800m on Thursday night and NSW may see more snow above this elevation across the weekend before the freezing level briefly drops on Monday bringing snow to both NSW and Victoria. Any snow that does fall will be wind-loaded onto easterly slopes by the prevailing winds, sitting on a hard ice crust, so be cautious of wind slabs on steeper slopes.

The snowpack at lower elevations has suffered significantly, with lower trailhead access back to grass and snow cover depleted and unsupportive as you move up towards the alpine.

Put a pause on any backcountry plans for this weekend and there’ll hopefully be a few turns possible once this current weather