There still could be reactivity in the snowpack. With recent new snow over very firm crusts and continued wind transport.
Pick your lines with care and watch for heat of the day "sluffing" as well as new slabs from re-distributed snow.
With south westerly winds re-distributing the light recent snow towards the eastern slopes, isolated windslab pockets could be forming.
These will be laying over very firm either melt freeze or rain crusts so take your time to investigate tempting fat pockets.
With 10cm of new snow sitting on a slick crust, small loose wet avalanches are still possible.These avalanches will be small, but be wary of terrrain traps like cliffs, gullies, exposed rocks or other hazards where a small slide can have big consequences.
Early morning cloud with the chance of a shower, becoming fine. Moderate SW winds, swinging to south east later on. A freezing level around 1200m.
Beware of sliding falls! There will be slick surfaces just under the new snow. Take an ice axe and crampons for any travel above the snow line.
High
Several small loose avalanches were observed on th 17th in The Barrier range. Mostly on eastern and northern aspects. Probably run at the tail end of the storm on the 16th.
Around 10cm of new snow fell across the forecast area on Saturday night with light to moderate southeasterly winds. This new snow is sitting on a stout melt freeze crust at all elevations on sunny slopes and below around 2000m on shady slopes. Shady slopes above 2000m were holding windpressed powder in places, but any old wind slab on these slopes should be settled by now.
The lower pack will be well locked up below around 1700m. Above this there's a mix of buried melt freeze crusts on sunny slopes, windscoured crusts in exposed areas, and drifts of firm, windpressed snow. This has all been moistened with the warm temperatures earlier in the week and now that it's had a good freeze should be well settled.
New Zealand Avalanche Advisory (NZ Mountain Safety Council)
