Current snow conditions at Walls of Jerusalem?

[lachlanf]

Hi,

I'll be down in tassy in a week and a bit and will be visiting Ben Lomond and the Walls. I can see from the Ben Lomond ski facilities photos that the coverage there is... sparse which is making me think I don't need snow shoes on this trip, however I have no idea what the central plateau is like right now - can anyone who's been in the past couple of weeks advise on what it's like now?

Obviously I know a big dump *could* come in the next week, and I can always grab snow shoes last minute, but I'd rather avoid renting them and bringing them down if they will just stay in the car...

Cheers, Lachlan

[whynotwalk]

Hi Lachlan - I can't speak accurately about the Walls, BUT ...

1) Cradle Mt has only patches of snow, and it's higher and more snow-prone than much of the Walls

2) The forecast for Liawenee here http://www.bom.gov.au/tas/forecasts/map7day.shtml shows mostly sunny, and around 11-12 degrees max, right through till Sunday 31st. There's a possibility of a shower that day, but no drop in temperature.

Of course - and you know this - it could all change by the time you're here. But we are having the most extraordinary period of settled weather at the moment ... pity about the Gold Coast . We'll cross our fingers for you.

cheers

Peter

[icefest]

Last satellite image from yesterday showed almost no snow cover across the entirety of Tasmania.
There may be patchy stuff high up, but nothing real.

[Strider]

Where are you seeing this satellite imagery, icefest?

[icefest]

Where are you seeing this satellite imagery, icefest?

You can use terra/modis for twice daily imagery: http://1.usa.gov/1tSL5VG
That updates every couple of hours.

If you want to wait a bit longer, landsat 8 takes better quality shots, but requires a bit more effort to use.

[icefest]

This is what snow on the walls looks like from space: (Jul 19)

https://earthdata.nasa.gov/labs/worldvi ... -40.898071

[walkon]

This is what snow on the walls looks like from space: (Jul 19)

https://earthdata.nasa.gov/labs/worldvi ... -40.898071

Well that has killed some serious time playing on that site, thanks icefest it's pretty cool. I've had a few ideas running around in my head and now I've got a couple of weeks planned out for next year now and it's all doable in the snow!

[icefest]

Glad to have helped waste some time

What's the aforementioned great walk in planning?

[walkon]

If I tell you then I'll have to kill you.....

Basically walk from one side of the divide to the other on snow. I am going to do the Crosscut saw to Mt Speculation in the snow next year and there is a few other odd bods that I want to see under snow on the other side of the divide that I will combine into one trip. Sooo, men wanted for hazardous journey. No wages, bitter cold, long hours of darkness. Safe return doubtful but a ship load of fun out there to be had. Will set a date and post for volunteers at a later time

[Son of a Beach]

I camped at a little over 1200m elevation in central Tasmania about 10 days ago. There was a little snow about but it was old and mostly patchy. I don't think there's been any significant precipitation since then. So I suspect there would be very little left anywhere now except for the higher summits themselves.

Here's some photos from last week's camp site to give you some idea (and just because I like them)...

[DanShell]

I can feel some snow coming Sunday night or early next week but it won't be much

[icefest]

very pretty SOAB!

[Tassam]

I'm heading to the walls on the 30th, i'll let you know! But the forecast looks nice for the weekend anyway.

[Thomas]

Hey lachlanf,

Was up on the plateau yesterday, having a scout around under mt ironstone - went up via western creek track. No snow present, but ample fresh water.!

Regards,
T.