Skiing and Snowboarding Holidays in the Snowy Mountains

The Snowy Mountains of Australia and its folk law are an integral part of Australia’s history. Banjo Patterson’s famous poem, "The Man from Snowy River" can be recited by almost every Australian. The poem has even been turned into a successful film. The region itself is magnificent. The alpine region of the Great Dividing Range in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales is one of the most scenically beautiful in Australia and home to most of the country’s unique species of wildlife. After the second world war, when all the diggers came home, the government need to create jobs in a hurry to employ all of them. The Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric scheme was planned and the Government poured millions of dollars into creating an engineering marvel with its new dams, linked by tunnels to run massive turbines and create electrical power. The work took a decade to complete and employer tens of thousands of men. The Snowy Mountains scheme, today, produces clean energy that is used throughout Victoria and New South Wales. Such was the demand for skilled labour during this period that the government started an immigration program for skilled migrants and hundreds of thousands of people moved to Australia from England, Italy and Greece. These migrants have now integrated into the community and are now a part of the Australian cosmopolitan makeup.

Today, the Snowy Mountains are a tourist's paradise. It is the home of the Australian skiing industry and there are now eight major ski fields in the region. In New South Wales, the largest of these is Perisher valley. It is made up from the interlinking of several smaller resorts. Ski lifts now link Perisher Blue, Guthega, Smiggin Holes, Charlottes Pass and Blue Cow and there are scores of runs and lifts to be enjoyed. Mount Selwyn is the smallest in NSW and is very popular with school groups and with those skiers who don't like crowds. Thredbo is the most up market and its village atmosphere rivals that in any European or American ski resort.

In Victoria, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek are the furthest skiing resorts into the mountains and have excellent snowfall and facilities. Mount Buller is the closest to Melbourne and the busiest and Mount Buffalo is the smallest but the scenery here makes up for anything that it may loose in size.