Mountain Safety Collective Backcountry Conditions Report – Friday 306 July 2024

July 26th, 2024
Snow cover around Guthega Dam filled in by Sunday July 21.

Mountainwatch | Mountain Safety Collective

Last weekend’s blizzard certainly lived up to expectations, with over 50cm of new snow deposited across the mountains opening up a lot of new backcountry terrain and lower elevation approaches. The cold snow quality delivered exceptional riding during the storm and on Sunday’s bluebird morning before Australia’s fickle weather rolled back in through Sunday afternoon.

A crust quickly formed on the new snow that made backcountry travel difficult through most of this week, requiring crampons for uphill travel and a significant slide risk on the downhill by Wednesday.

This all changed on Thursday afternoon, with the milder North Westerly airflow dropping 50mm+ of rain on lower slopes in NSW and 25mm_ in Victoria. This fell as moist snow above 1900m in NSW and Mt Hotham is reporting 8cm of new snow on Friday morning.

Friday sees a short gap in the weather with mostly clear skies and moderate winds forecast before blizzard conditions return on Saturday evening and continue through to Monday. Due to the uncertainty after any storm event, take your time to evaluate conditions in the field before pursuing bigger objectives.

Check the free Backcountry Conditions Reports from Mountain Safety Collective for daily updates.