Tongariro

Ngauruhoe snow conditions North aspect snow-line 1700m, threshold 1900m. Snowpack depth mostly around 20-50cm with deposits of over 100cm in wind loaded areas. Sheltered upper slopes had 5-10 cm of new wind loaded snow from 17-19th Aug. By midday, surface snow was soft up to 2100m and the old melt-freeze crust was good skiing. Above 2100m, a rime crust exists — on N aspects this was brittle and easily skiable. On all other aspects, the rime feathers were up to 20cm large and unskiable.