Snowy Mountains - NSW, Travel Information

Mountain Magic

The Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales has many claims to fame, not least being the epicentre of Australia’s popular winter ski industry.

Snowy Mountain accommodation & guesthouses

The Snowy Mountains is also the site of one of the world’s great engineering feats. The Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme began in 1949 with an ambitious plan to channel alpine rivers through man-made tunnels and into power-generating stations before diverting them into the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers for irrigation. In excess of 100,000 people from more than 30 countries came to the Snowy Mountains to make this dream a reality. The result, completed in 1974, included 16 major dams, seven power stations and 145 kilometres of tunnels.

At 2,228 metres above sea level, Mount Kosciuszko is Australia’s highest mountain and the figurative symbol of the 675,000 hectare Kosciuszko National Park. Named after a Polish patriot in 1840, the peak can be reached in summer via a less-than-strenuous six kilometre walk from a chairlift originating in Thredbo. The park encompasses the mountain ranges, Snowy River and ski resorts, as well as less explored wilderness areas.

Cooma, 420 kilometres from Sydney, is the main commercial centre of the Snowy Mountains. Although the town was surveyed in 1849, it remained virtually unknown until it became the headquarters for the hydro-electric scheme.

Jindabyne, at the base of the mountains, serves Thredbo and Perisher Blue ski resorts. The lake formed from dam construction in 1967 is a favourite spot for fishing, with extensive supplies of rainbow and brown trout and salmon.

Thredbo is a year-round resort that is just as popular with bushwalkers and nature lovers in summer as it is with skiers and thrill-seekers in winter.

Perisher Blue draws together four resorts – Perisher, Smiggins Hole, Guthega and the newer Blue Cow – into one entity, making it the largest ski resort complex in the Southern Hemisphere.