Current Conditions
Recent snowfalls have covered the mountains again & fallen on an existing snow fall from May in the alpine. With another decent snowfall set for Sunday & what could be a good fall over the following days things are looking bright!
While approaches & accesses will be improving please consider that conditions in the sub alpine will still take some time to set up ie become supportive.
Alpine Hazards
There are many hazards to consider in the Australian Alpine Zone. When considering the order of these hazards you need to consider what type of snowpack we have in Australia to realistically assess the likelihood of occurrence of snow instability compared to say way more volatile snowpacks like the Canadian Rockies. Whilst snow instability is definately a concern in the Oz Alps on average in our over 30 years of experience you are more likely to encounter problems from steep icy surfaces, hypopthermic conditions, getting lost in a whiteout, snowbridges & sinkholes & river crossings. At SMBC we don't discount any hazards & you should have all of these risk sources on your radar but the real skill lies in using your observational skills & having enough experience to order them correctly on any given day!
This Years Alpine Flora Wrap Up
A little message from Internationally recognised Alpine Ecologist Ken Green on the snowpatch plants: around Tynam:
Hi all
Quite a few plants on the Mount Twynam cirque failed to flower this year because they were sitting beneath at least 2 m of a snowpatch that lasted from winter last year to winter this year. Will all these plants die or will some survive two years without sunshine, buried under the snow? I will be taking an interest in what's in flower next year. Cheers Ken Prof. Ken Green (Hon. Assoc.) Australian National University College of Asia and the Pacific Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia kenpetergreen@gmail.com
Ken also informs that there were three snow patches that "over summered" lasting through to the next winter being:
Etheridge Ridge
Blue Lk Area
Mt Twynam
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