Chris Ernst and I arrived a Guthega for a late 10am start after we had negotiated the more than 30cm of snow on the unsealed section of the Guthega road. It often amazes me where you can go in a front wheel drive car.

Surprisingly the forecast bad weather never appeared and more often than not we roasted under the hot sun as there was not much of a breeze to cool us down until we got above the tree line. There was plenty of cover on the way out to the Guthega River Bridge but the base was still unconsolidated. This was the first time either of us had skinned with tour mode bindings and wow the difference is amazing. I will never go backcountry without tour mode bindings ever again.

We made quick progress to the top of Tate East Ridge and skied some excellent snow with a good base before we hit the tree line. Below the tree line the snow was very wet and had formed an interesting crust on top. It was kind of crust where if you pressure your skis just right you neither break completely through the crust nor skim over the top of it.

Once we made it back to the lake we skinned half way back up and traversed back to the Guthega River Bridge and back to the car. Unfortunately the camera had some condensation issues, so please excuse the fogging.

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It was an almost perfect day to get back into the Main Range Backcountry. If you want to know more about the history of Guthega and Tate East Ridge there is and excellent artice here.

Richard Hocking