19 Jan - alpine soft

Out again with the same group from yesterday. Back up to the Happo ridge today for calm conditions and soft wind touched snow that has settled in with continued milder weather and cooler nights. The day started clear adding to the solar crust formation on east and south aspects. By midday thicker high clouds moved over and obscured the alpine region by mid afternoon. At 1pm it was -5C at 2360m. Most tracks had been filled in and smoothed off from a few days earlier and once we moved off the ridge a little the snow was smooth and consistent. Lower down in the easy accessed areas it was very well tracked and snow quality became denser except in the most sheltered places. The Big triangle had ok snow. Stability everywhere we moved was good, though some thin wind slab had formed on lee slopes whilst sunny slopes were getting wet and weakened as they warmed at low altitude.

A new colder storm is coming by the 24th or so, with what looks like a bit of a classic set-up peaking around the 28th: