Selwyn Snow Resort | |
---|---|
Location | Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia |
Nearest major city | Canberra |
Coordinates | 35°54′30″S148°27′00″E / 35.90833°S 148.45000°E |
Vertical | 122 metres (400 ft) |
Top elevation | 1,614 metres (5,295 ft) |
Base elevation | 1,492 metres (4,895 ft) |
Skiable area | 45 hectares (110 acres) |
Longest run | Long Arm Run, 800 metres (2,600 ft) |
Lift system | 8 lifts |
Terrain parks | Yes |
Snowmaking | 35 hectares (86 acres) |
Night skiing | No |
Website | www.selwynsnow.com.au |
Selwyn Snow Resort, formerly known as Selwyn Snowfields, is a ski resort located in the most northern part of the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council and Kosciuszko National Park. [1] Selwyn Snow Resort is located near the town of Adaminaby and is close to Cabramurra, which is the highest town in Australia.
Selwyn is owned by Blyton Group, which also owns Charlotte Pass Snow Resort. It reopened on 10 June 2023, with a new general manager, Lucy Blyton.
Selwyn Snow Resort traces its origins to the skifields at nearby Kiandra, where skiing began in Australia around 1861. [2] The more reliable snow cover at Selwyn saw the establishment of a portable rope tow on what is now the Township Run in 1966. The remaining ski facilities at Kiandra were finally transferred to Selwyn in 1978 (including Australia's first T-Bar, which had been installed at Kiandra in 1957). In 2009 a triple chairlift finally replaced the duplex T-Bars on the Township Run at Selwyn Snow Resort. During the 2019-2020 bushfire season the Snowfields building and equipment was heavily impacted and damaged. [3]
Selwyn Snow Resort is the most northerly of Australia's ski resorts with a base elevation of 1,492 metres (4,895 ft) and a top elevation of 1,614 metres (5,295 ft) AHD. The longest run at Selwyn Snow Resort is the 800 metres (2,600 ft)Long Arm Run.
Selwyn Snow Resort Lift: | Type: |
---|---|
Township Triple | Chairlift |
New Chum Double | Chairlift |
Wombat | T-Bar |
Race Course | T-Bar |
Powerline | Poma |
Boomerang | Platter |
Wes' Wonderful | Magic carpet |
Toboggan Park | Magic carpet |
For the winter of 2023, Selwyn Snow Resort comprised 45 hectares (110 acres), with 8 lifts including two chair lifts, two t-bars, two carpets, a platter and a Poma. The resort also advertises 45 kilometres (28 mi) of marked cross country trails. [4] Selwyn is well suited to families and first timers, with 88% of terrain catering to beginners and intermediates, however the steeper gradient of the Racecourse Run provides some more challenging terrain for advanced skiers and boarders. [4] In 2007 some terrain park features were added to the blue run known as Township.
A relatively low altitude means that the resort can have trouble maintaining a good natural snow cover during the very early and the latest stages of the ski season (June and September). The resort has developed extensive snowmaking facilities to combat this problem. This includes state of the art Lenko System, and the newer TT10 system from TechnoAlpin which can produce snow a two degrees warmer than the previous system, with a virtually inexhaustible supply of water from nearby Three Mile Dam that services the resort. Thirty-five hectares (86 acres) are today covered by snow-making and Selwyn Snow Resort is often the first New South Wales ski resort to advertise "100% access" to the mountain. Gentle, grassy terrain makes it easier for Selwyn Snow Resort to open its runs on a thinner snow cover than is the case at the higher, rockier resorts further south.
There is no public accommodation available at Selwyn Snow Resort. Winter access to the resort is via the Snowy Mountains Highway, from Talbingo in the west or Adaminaby in the east. No guest accommodation is provided at nearby Cabramurra as it is closed to the public due to the 2019-2020 bushfires. The closest major tourist accommodation is at the holiday village of Providence Portal on the upper reaches of Lake Eucumbene between Adaminaby and Kiandra. Many visitors also choose to stay at Adaminaby, Talbingo and Cooma.
Wolgal Hut at Kiandra was re-opened in 2012 for public accommodation as part of the rejuvenation of Kiandra by NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service. The ski and fishing hut was built in the 1960s and is located close to the foot of the original Kiandra ski slopes. It is one of the four remaining historic buildings of the abandoned gold rush town which have been the subject of restoration work. [5]
In January 2020 bushfires in the region burnt through the resort, with pictures provided by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service showing widespread destruction. All of the resort's buildings were reportedly destroyed or severely damaged. However, as the resort had been previously evacuated no loss of life was reported. [6]
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system. It makes up the northeastern half of the Australian Alps and contains Australia's five tallest peaks, all of which are above 2,100 m (6,890 ft), including the tallest Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches to a height of 2,228 m (7,310 ft) above sea level. The offshore Tasmanian highlands makes up the only other major alpine region present in the whole of Australia.
The Kosciuszko National Park is a 6,900-square-kilometre (2,700 sq mi) national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix of rugged mountains and wilderness, characterised by an alpine climate, which makes it popular with recreational skiers and bushwalkers.
The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southeast Australia. It comprises an interim Australian bioregion, and is the highest mountain range in Australia. The range straddles the borders of eastern Victoria, southeastern New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. It contains Australia's only peaks exceeding 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in elevation, and is the only bioregion on the Australian mainland in which deep snow falls annually. The range comprises an area of 1,232,981 ha.
Charlotte Pass is a snow resort and village in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The pass is in the Kosciuszko National Park where the Kosciuszko Road crosses Kangaroo Ridge. Charlotte Pass is the closest village to Mount Kosciuszko, the tallest mountain in Australia.
Cabramurra was the third-highest permanently inhabited town on the Australian continent, situated at 1,488 metres (4,882 ft) in the western Snowy Mountains of the Great Dividing Range, in the state of New South Wales. It is 82 metres (269 ft) lower than Dinner Plain in Victoria, and 272 metres (892 ft) lower than Charlotte Pass Village in New South Wales. The last residents are scheduled to leave the town in January 2018 with the current workforce housed being replaced with drive-in/drive-out staff. The name Cabramurra may be derived from Wiradjuri gambirra marra.
Perisher Valley, commonly called Perisher, is a valley formed below Mount Perisher, a mountain that is located in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia.
Talbingo is a small town in New South Wales, Australia at the edge of the Snowy Mountains on the Snowy Mountains Highway. The town is 410 metres above sea level. It is on the Tumut River, which has been inundated by Jounama Pondage.
Adaminaby is a small town near the Snowy Mountains north-west of Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. The historic town, of 301 people at the 2016 census, is a trout fishing centre and winter sports destination situated at 1,017 metres (3,337 ft) above sea level. Economic life is built around tourism and agriculture–the town serves as a service point for Selwyn Snowfields and the Northern Skifields. It is also a popular destination for horse riders, bushwalkers, fly-fishermen and water sports enthusiasts as well as a base for viewing aspects of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
Kiandra is an abandoned gold mining town and the birthplace of Australian skiing. The town is situated in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council inside the Kosciuszko National Park. Its name is a corruption of Aboriginal 'Gianderra' for 'sharp stones for knives'. It was earlier called Gibson's Plains, named after a Dr. Gibson, a settler in the district in 1839. For a century, Kiandra was Australia's highest town.
Guthega is a ski village and the site for a hydro electric dam located in the Kosciuszko National Park, on the upper reaches of the Snowy River, on the western face of Mount Blue Cow, Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia.
Winter Sports in Australia encompasses a great variety of activities across the continent of Australia, including winter sports played in snow and ice such as ice hockey. Climate varies considerably from the tropical North to temperate South in Australia, and sporting practices vary accordingly. Ice and snow sports like Skiing in Australia are conducted in the high country of the Australian Alps and Tasmanian Wilderness. Australia has relatively low mountain ranges, but a long history of participation in recreational skiing and the Winter Olympic Games. Australians have won olympic gold in ice skating, skiing and snow-boarding events. Australia's generally flat geography and usually mild winter climate otherwise provide ideal conditions for international non-snow/ice winter sports and team games like Rugby Union Football, Rugby league Football and Association Football (Soccer), which are all popular sports during the Australian winter and in which Australia has enjoyed considerable international success. Australian rules football is a home-grown winter football code with a wide following throughout Australia. Many other sports are also played or watched in Australia through the winter season.
Eucumbene Dam is a major gated earthfill embankment dam with an overflow ski-jump and bucket spillway with two vertical lift gates across the Eucumbene River in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is for the generation of hydro-power and is one of the sixteen major dams that comprise the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by Snowy Hydro.
Sport in New South Wales describes participation in and attendance at organised sports events in the state of New South Wales in Australia. Sport forms an integral part of the culture of the state.
Smiggin Holes is a village in the ski resort area of Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is primarily a winter-only resort village. It is within the Kosciuszko National Park, and is administered by New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change. Access to the village is via road. There is an access fee payable to the national park, and motor vehicles are not permitted to stay overnight in the winter months.
Skiing in Australia takes place in the Australian Alps in the states of New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory as well as in the mountains of the island state Tasmania, during the Southern Hemisphere winter.
Perisher Ski Resort is the largest ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere. Located in the Australian Snowy Mountains, the resort is an amalgamation of four villages and their associated ski fields, covering approximately 12 square kilometres (5 sq mi), with the base elevation at 1,720 metres (5,640 ft) AHD, and the summit elevation of 2,054 metres (6,739 ft) at the top of Mount Perisher. 4.4 square kilometres (1.7 sq mi) of this area is covered by 240 snow guns, which are used to artificially supplement the natural snowfall. Perisher was acquired by Vail Resorts, United States on 30 March 2015 for a sum of approximately AU$177 million.
Skiing in New South Wales takes place in the high country of the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales during the Southern Hemisphere winter.
The Kiandra Courthouse is a heritage-listed former courthouse at Kiandra in the Kosciuszko National Park, Snowy Valleys Council, New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Kiandra Courthouse/Chalet. The property is owned by the Office of Environment and Heritage, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Blyton Group is an Australian media and entertainment company. The company primarily operates in the radio industry under its subsidiary Capital Radio Network and owns hospitality, service and entertainment businesses in New South Wales.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)