Bushwalk Australia

Does anyone know what the conditions are re. snow around Rumpoff saddle and heading north? We are planning on hiking out early next week.

Thanks!

There shouldn't be any snow at Rumpff Saddle as it is around 1,250m altitude. The snow line around Kosciuszko is currently about 1,700 to 1,800 metres at the moment, possibly slightly lower around the Bogong High Plains and will be disappearing quite fast now. Watching the snow cams you can see things changing quite quickly. I expect you will strike some snow once you get to Bogong High Plains and maybe a few drifts on southern slopes before then. If in doubt post some micro-spikes to Hotham Post Office. You shouldn't have any problems getting that far.

I am departing south-bound from Tharwa on 6 November and have just purchased some microspikes for the Main Range. I will post them home once in Thredbo.

Thanks Mark. Great info for us.
Looks like we will cross paths just sth of Thredbo. happy hiking.

Mark is spot on. 1700m seems to be the line at the moment apart from those shaded areas. There was a light dusting last night along with a bit of rain. You will find areas of snow and some may be quite deep. Bogong still has cover and a bit of the Long spur but the tracks generally clear quicker with rain as the water follows the track. Weather is looking OK for the next week so maybe the streams will drop a bit.

Another dump of snow last night and it came down low. We had snow on the ground yesterday at home. This sort of stuff will be gone quickly at lower altitude but may hang around until the weather warms up on the tops. I can see it hanging in the trees not far away which means it is good dry snow. You could be on snow shoes on the ranges if this continues but end of season snow on no base usually melts quickly. This would not be helpful for those areas still with good cover. Most critical to planning would be when roads will open (which is another topic). BHP should have been cleared already, if not they would be at it this week but they may need to do a bit more after last night. My view to 1700m is showing considerably more cover than yesterday and down to 1000m.

After yesterday's journey along the BHP road I can say the snowline is well above 1700m. There is some snow on the ground but certainly not enough to cause a great deal of trouble unless it is protected. The snow did vary when thick though. Some was soft and others quite hard and good to walk on. I could see to the main range and it had full cover. The pole line from Cope hut toward 333 was clear but the track very wet. A little bit of snow still on Nelse and the track has a bit of cover as well but nothing to be concerned about.

View to Main Range from BHP


View north to Nelse and Big River fire trail