Mountain Safety Collective Backcountry Conditions Report – Friday 4 July 2025

July 4th, 2025
The view of Mt Kosi this morning from Perisher’s snow cam at Guthega.

Mountainwatch |Mountain Safety Collective

Skiing untracked dry powder for five days after a storm is pretty rare in Australia, but that’s what we had until Monday this week if you’d been following the MSC reports and seeking out south east facing slopes in the backcountry. That abruptly ended on Tuesday morning as the edge of the east coast low brushed the mountains with low cloud, mild temperatures and liquid precipitation on lower slopes.

The mountains were spared the worst of east coast low, with the Perisher weather station recording 36mm in 48hrs and Victoria only a couple of millimetres with moist snow falling above 1800m. Combined with above freezing temperatures and strong winds the snowpack on slopes below 1800m will have contracted, exposing rocks and bushes with creeks flowing swiftly.

Matt Nethery navigating this week’s whiteout by skinning downhill.

With clear skies returning, an overnight refreeze into Friday morning will see widespread surface crust before temperatures warm and the snow surface softens in the sun through the day. This pattern will continue into Saturday before a low pressure trough crosses the mountains in the evening bringing stronger winds and some precipitation into Sunday.

If you’re planning a backcountry tour this weekend, Friday and Saturday will be the pick in terms of weather with the best potential for rideable snow in the higher alpine, but adopt a cautious mindset until you’ve been able to assess the conditions in person. If planning snow camping adventures, choose sheltered sites from the forecast strong north/north westerly winds on Saturday night.

Things get a lot more exciting next week as a significant storm system impacts the mountains from Tuesday until at least Thursday accompanied by extreme wind speeds and snow totals of 40-60cm.

You can keep up to date with free Backcountry Conditions Reports every day by visiting Mountain Safety Collective. We’ll also have MSC representatives at most of the east coast venues for the Arc’teryx Winter Film Tour if you want to watch some fantastic mountain movies.Don’t forget that MSC’s Membership Drive is running with June’s winners just announced and over $6500 of prizes up for grabs in July!