Ngarigo Country – Big lines, Bigger Avalanches and Spring Pow on the Main Range

Mountainwatch |  Drew Jolowicz Photos: Dylan Robinson

When planning a Spring trip on New South Wales’ Main Range fresh snow and the potential for avalanches are not usually the first things that come to mind. It’s nearly October, days are longer, usually warmer and it’s time to harvest corn on the steeper Western Faces.

Skiing consistent corn is the next best thing to powder except your toes don’t get cold.  In many ways a strong argument can be made it’s just as good. Mind you, for this story discussion of Spring corn is irrelevant as it’s not what we found on this trip out the back.

Fresh (or not) off a gruelling week at the CAA Ops One Avalanche course at Charlotte’s Pass the plan was to regroup in Jindabyne, grab some supplies and head out onto the Main Range for some camping, skiing and touring. It had been a long winter and in a sense this trip was an end of season celebration in the backcountry where like-minded folk could catch up, shred some lines and bask in the spring sun.

As luck would have it great friend and photographer Dylan Robinson was in town along with Mountain Safety Collective’s assistant forecaster and Alpine Access Australia guide Kyle Boys. They’d been working at the Arc’teryx Backcountry Weekend and were keen for some type two fun. Considering the date, the weather was anything but typical for this late in the season. A full-blown winter storm had just lashed the range leading up to the weekend, leaving the Aussie Alps with a tonne of fresh snow (there goes our corn harvesting plans).

Checking the snow-cams on the morning of our intended departure all the major resorts were reporting big numbers and a good cover of fresh snow. Serious FOMO set in as I relayed this to the crew.  What are we doing?  Here we were sitting in Jindabyne not skiing, preparing for a suffer-fest, while there was powder on offer straight off the chairs. ‘Maybe it’s heavy, yeah definitely heavy,’ I told myself. Should we ditch the blisters, 20-kilogram packs and a bad night’s sleep in a tent and hit the resort? Questioning the wisdom of our choices, we were sticking to Plan A.

Cloud was still lingering when we headed out from Guthega that afternoon, with the ceiling sitting just below the summit of Mt. Twynam.  Crossing the Illawong Suspension Bridge and touring up towards Twynam the cloud cover was stubborn and didn’t burn off as hoped. We had planned to set up a camp somewhere high, so we would be in the go-zone the following day, but in the end, we settled on digging in beside Little Twynam for the night. Later that evening the clouds parted and intermittent snow showers gave way to a crisp and starry night.

Peering out of the tent the following morning we were greeted with a landscape seldom seen in the Aussie Alps, like a purple Sahara Desert as far as the eye could see, the snow glistening in the pre-dawn light.  “Where’s the corn?” Dylan quizzed. “You said there’d be corn.” “Who cares, there’s powder. Forget everything I said about corn, it gets stuck in your teeth anyway.” It was time to get some sunrise turns on Australia’s third highest peak Mt. Twynam.

This was the first clearing after the storm and the snow felt great underfoot. In the back of my mind, but much further to the front of Kyle’s, was the potential for a wind slab problem on certain aspects and we agreed caution and sound decision making was the order of the day. As the sun appeared on the horizon we dropped into some dreamy turns in the alpenglow before heading back to basecamp for breakfast.

Not long after we made our way towards the Carruthers/Sentinel area and it was hard to imagine a better day.  Here we were riding quality dry snow in late September on the Main Range with no wind. I was still stoking out on the warm up run and anticipation levels were high with the Sentinel in our sights. Considered the ‘Jewel of the Main Range’, this pyramid-shaped gem stands proud at the end of an arête ridge and as it came into sight, its summit looked pristine and untouched in the morning sun.

However, peering around the corner excitement quickly faded as we came across the aftermath of a large avalanche. Kyle’s suspicions were confirmed and a wind slab looked to be the cause of this size-three slide.  It was in the same location as another large avy that had ripped out earlier in the season. On a similar aspect and close to the Sentinel, Kyle and I looked at each other and we really didn’t need to say anything more.

Would we be skiing the Sentinel? After all avalanches don’t happen in Australia, do they? Thankfully attitudes are changing in our local industry. By releasing daily Backcountry Condition Reports during the Aussie winter, the Mountain Safety Collective is playing a key role in advocating for safe backcountry travel. ‘Ignorance is bliss’ as an excuse simply no longer cuts it. Avalanches do happen here. I’d just spent the previous week studying the ‘White Dragon’ and here we were looking at a big one. Skiing the Sentinel that day carried an unacceptable risk, one we weren’t willing to take.

The question was, where to next? North Carruthers looked inviting with its craggy chutes and rocky outcrops caked with fresh snow. Although still early in the day, the heat of the spring sun combined with its solar aspect meant we had to hurry. Standing at the top looking down we picked a line each and I’d skied a chute that I had skied a few times over the years but never on snow this good. Dropping in the snow was smooth and it was an awesome feeling to open it up.

At the bottom while putting on crampons for the boot-pack up, Kyle came over the radio: “Dropping in 5, 4, 3…’ you know the rest. It was definitely a high-five moment when he arrived at the bottom.  We had just scored first tracks down some of the best terrain in Australia on near perfect snow.

It was getting hot as we hiked back out and was obvious we had to switch aspects. We could see some tiny ants at the top heading towards Club Lake, a natural amphitheatre that has a more favourable aspect later in the day and holds an immense amount of snow late in the season. Sometimes you can ski the Glacial Lakes into December – big mountain summer camps in Australia, now there’s an idea.

The party at Club Lake was underway and we bumped into some familiar faces in the Glacial Cirque enjoying the spring pow. Often overlooked (I’m not sure why), this zone offers a myriad of options.  One by one everybody stepped up and sent it to the bottom, the snow over this side was still delightfully dry.

The scene resembled some sort of big mountain jam session and within an hour the Cirque was tracked from wall to wall. Thredbo skiers Cameron Wood and Lachlan Short weren’t going to miss out on the party with Woody ripping a rowdy line next to the main chute.

To cap it all off Dylan was still at the top ready to drop. Sensing the moment, it was tools down and camera packed away. Peeling out to the far skiers right Dylo found his own Main Range nirvana arcing perfect left and rights all the way down to the still frozen Club Lake.  “How was that, bro?”  “Run of the season for me,” his response. Stoked.

Standing at the bottom looking up there were tracks everywhere and you could feel the sense of freedom and energy in everyone who was present. It was one of those rare perfect days on the Main Range and seemed the fitting culmination to a big season that started way back at the start of June.

And just like that the party was over. Without saying as much everyone knew last drinks had been called and the bar was closing and began dispersing in different directions. We still had to skin back and pack down camp before skiing back to Guthega.

On the way home we toured back past the Sentinel and there were some tracks on it. Were we still comfortable with our decision to give it a miss? Given what we’d seen in the morning it was an easy decision to make and besides, we couldn’t miss the party at the Club. The Jewel of Ngarigo Country isn’t going anywhere and would wait for another day.

 

This story first appeared in the 2023 issue of Chillfactor Magazine Australia’s premier snow magazine.