Rawson's West

Rawson's West begins to the north of Alice Rawson Peak, as you ski you will see a large rocky outcrop to the north, as you head down, begin to bear left and you should be able to distinguish the wide shallow gully begin to deepen, preferably head along the ridge line to the skiers right of the main drainage gully and you can find some pretty nice skiing along the southern side of the ridge. You will have completed about 400 metres of vertical at a nice gentle pitch, providing a long wide run, enabling you to pick up speed and hook some nice turns in before the tree line. As this face is westerly facing, this side can be seriously wind affected by the prevailing winds, both providing icy conditions in winter, and eating the snow cover in spring, I would suggest keeping right of the drainage line for better snow conditions.. As a result take care in spring as the snow can be far more affected here than other areas of the Main Range, as a guide a base of around a metre at Spencer's Creek indicates that this area is skiable. As for features there are a few drops and rocks on the way down, and with some really nicely spaced trees once you do get to the tree line, however it does become fairly obvious as to when the vegetation becomes impenetrable lower down, take care as it does come up rather quickly. The best return up and out of this line is to boot pack straight back up the run itself.