Avalanche warnings have been issued across the South Island following the recent dump of snow in central Otago.
The Mountain Safety Council (MSC) is recommending trampers, hunters, snowboarders and skiers don't travel backcountry across the South Island on Monday and Tuesday.
The large dump of snow has elevated the danger of avalanches to the second-highest risk level for a number of South Island areas.
"The next couple of days don't look good for backcountry travel. This is a good time to stay within ski field boundaries where avalanche risks are actively managed," MSC chief executive Mike Daisley says.
"You don't always get these snow areas become high [ risk] at the same time, pretty much across all of the South Island the avalanche forecasting is trending to high."
The intense wintry conditions have delivered over 60cm of snow in some places in a short time-frame, meaning 'snow slabs' are a big concern, NZ Avalanche Advisory lead forecaster Jamie Robertson says.
"A big storm with clearer weather to follow sets up a series of changes that can be very dangerous. If the weather that follows is sunny, there's an elevated risk of 'loose-wet avalanches' as the snowpack is warmed up," he says.
"In lay terms, these 'loose-wet' avalanches can run to the valley floor below as they are more like a liquid and can flow over things that might be in their way."
Snow blanketed central Otago overnight on Sunday, causing chaos across the region with cancelled flights, power outages and road closures on Monday morning.
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