It’s hard to believe, seeing as much of the mountainous U.S. is experiencing 90 degree + temperatures right now but avalanche season is in full swing in the southern hemisphere.
After new snow fell on Mt. Ruapehu’s Turoa ski field last week, a senior ski patroller was caught in a small slide on Wednesday and carried approximately 50m over rock and ice. Luckily, the patroller was only buried up to his waist and was able to dig himself out. He avoided any significant injuries. In an interview with the New Zealand Herald, the ski patroller said this,
“I had gone down an icy slope and as I went off a little ledge there was debris coming down,” adding “I knew what the hazard was when I was in there and what size avalanches we were expecting. It will still be classed as a near-miss and we will investigate that as well.”
The slide occurred when the patroller and others were doing routine control work at the Turoa ski field. The victim was planning on digging a snow study pit, when the slide popped. The grade 1 avalanche struck the patroller underneath the Jumbo T-bar lift. Another backcountry skier was also caught in a slide on the same day in the Godley Glacier backcountry zone.
The avalanche risk in the Ruapehu region was “considerable” at the time of the slide and significant chance of windslabs releasing on steep, northern, lee slopes still exists.
So if you’re skiing down south, check the report, know the snow, and be safe out there.
Current Avalanche Forecast:
It looks as though we may get a quick heavy burst of snowfall over Wednesday night accompanied by North Easterly winds which will then swing to the South West. This will build areas of windslab on leeward slopes. The temperatures will be quite warm, so this should be more of a concern up above around 2200m, but human triggering will be likely. Down below 2000m any new snow we get should be a bit warmer and moist meaning that it will bond better. Keep in mind that this problem may exist on a wide variety of aspects due to the changing direction of the wind over the next few days.
The entire avalanche forecast for the Ruapehu can be found here: Tongariro Avalanche Forecast