Skiers and adventurers will soon be able to make better-informed decisions when heading out into the back country of Wanaka, Queenstown and Mt Aspiring National Park, following their addition to the national avalanche forecasting network.
The New Zealand Avalanche Advisory is trialling a 13th avalanche forecasting region, called Aspiring, this winter.
It aims to provide a more tailored forecast for Mt Aspiring National Park, Mt Brewster, the Treble Cone back country and the Main Divide.
New Zealand Mountain Safety Council (MSC) chief executive Mike Daisley said the original Wanaka region had been very difficult to forecast, leaving users struggling to accurately decipher the parts of the forecast which were relevant to them because of the sheer size of and varying conditions within the region.
More often than not, the high altitude and proximity to the main divide of Mt Aspiring meant the danger rating was often "high" or "considerable" for the region, even though the conditions were not as severe in the eastern areas, such as the Treble Cone back country, where participation was higher for most of winter.
"This change effectively splits that old region to make things easier to decipher," he said.
"In more technical terms, the new region boundaries will better represent areas of relatively uniform snowpack conditions, which will make forecasting easier too."
The scheduled forecast dates for the new Aspiring region would run from July 1 until November 30 this year, but that could be extended or shortened based on conditions.
At the end of the forecasting period, the MSC would review the trial and determine whether or not the region would become a permanent fixture.
