Conditions Report
Report from 10 July, 2024
An eye-catching summit in the Mackenzie section of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, Mount Sutton offers plenty of bang-for-the-buck.
More enticing still, the north-to-south summit of Mount Sutton had been on the receiving end of a two-foot snowfall the week prior, with bluebird conditions sweeping-in after.
High time for a good look around.
To be clear, this is New Zealand, so that earlier two feet of powder snow wonderfulness has by now put on a fair bit of water weight and settled firmly. This is a good thing.
Mount Sutton is 6,500 feet of granite-hard razor teeth, and this maritime snowpack has laid down its first real layer of seasonal padding.
From the summit, there’s a crossroads of options.
To the South wait the quiet shores of Dumbell Lake (fingers crossed this shapes-up for a future report).
Looking East there’s a sweeping view of famed backcountry zone, Hemi’s.
Today’s line faces West, into a more-or-less 1,400-foot fall line run through the aptly named ‘Rock Ribs.’
The wide variance of rock features here is a big draw.
The streaking descent requires weaving through anything from plates as tall as an exterior wall to horn tips the size of an Outback anthill.
Ultimately the exit funnels easily into the boundary of Ohau Snow Fields, which is a cherry on top, of sorts, because this neatly removes any requisite climb/hike out.
A second attraction to attending Mount Sutton is the trek in—think mellow angles, hour-plus walking time, and absolute solitude the whole way.
The views aren’t bad either.
Snowpack itself is much in keeping with windward aspects in New Zealand over mid-early season.
Sharks are very real and reasonably hungry.
That said, there’s a corn texture to the super surface which is darn fun. And where shadow lingers, it’s plausible to happen upon preserved powder snow (albeit very small in area).
Mount Sutton’s textured topography and technical ride ensure this beauty is staying on the ‘hit list’ in the hopes that future storm fronts open-up even more possibilities out here.
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