Perisher Valley, New South Wales

Perisher Valley
Perisher Valley from Mount Perisher.
Perisher Valley Location in New South Wales
Location	Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
Floor elevation	1,720 m (5,640 ft)
Geography
Coordinates	36°24′S 148°25′E / 36.400°S 148.417°E / -36.400; 148.417

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.

Located in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, the valley is the site of one of four resort bases of the Perisher Ski Resort, which also comprises Guthega, Blue Cow and Smiggin Holes. It is located within the Kosciuszko National Park between Jindabyne and Charlotte Pass on the Kosciuszko Road. Access to the Valley is via the Skitube Alpine Railway or by road. Although it is primarily a winter only resort village, year round accommodations are available, including great tours, and bush walks.^[1]

At the 2011 census, Perisher Village had a population of 149 people.^[2] In winter, the population is approximately 2,500 due to guests.

History

Perisher Valley, New South Wales

The Snowy Mountains region is thought to have had Aboriginal occupation for some twenty thousand years. Large scale intertribal gatherings were held in the High Country during summer for collective feasting on the Bogong moth.

This practice continued until around 1865.^[3] European explorers entered the district from 1835, and in 1840, Edmund Strzelecki ascended Mount Kosciuszko and named it after a Polish patriot. High country stockmen followed who used the Snowy Mountains for grazing during the summer months. Banjo Paterson's famous poem The Man From Snowy River recalls this era. The cattle graziers have left a legacy of mountain huts scattered across the area.^[4] A story, which may be apocryphal, credits James Spencer, who settled in the area in the 1840s with saying 'What a perisher' when caught in a storm, giving origin to the Perisher area.^[5]

The Kosciuszko National Park in which Perisher is situated came into existence as the National Chase Snowy Mountains on 5 December 1906. In 1944 this became the Kosciuszko State Park, and then the Kosciuszko National Park in 1967.^[6]

Perisher snow fields

The development of Skiing in Australia began at Kiandra in the Northern Snowy Mountains around 1861, but in the 20th century, the focus of Skiing in New South Wales shifted towards the Mount Kosciuszko region. The first Kosciuszko Chalet was built at Charlotte Pass in 1930, giving relatively comfortable access to Australia's highest terrain.^[7] The growing number of ski enthusiasts heading to Charlotte Pass led to the establishment of a cafe at Smiggin Holes, near Perisher Valley, around 1939, where horse-drawn sleighs would deliver skiers to be begin the arduous ski to the Kosciusko Chalet.^[8] It was the construction of the vast Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme from 1949 that really opened up the Snowy Mountains for large scale development of a ski industry and led to the establishment of Thredbo and Perisher as leading Australian resorts.^[9]^[10] The Construction of Guthega Dam brought skiers to the isolated Guthega district and a rope tow was installed there in 1957.^[11]

Oversnow transport in Perisher village

Ski Tube railway cars at New South Wales Blue Cow Terminal

As the number of skiers increased, services, facilities and means of access were improved, and Perisher's first lodges were constructed. Telemark and the Snow Revellers Club being completed in 1952. In the winter of 1953 the first oversnow transport operated to Perisher Valley. It was greeted by the inhabitants with cheers and celebrations. In 1958, Svere Kaaten, another pioneer of the mountains, built a sophisticated rope tow at North Perisher. Ken Murray, an old friend of Svere's built another rope tow and Perisher's first T-bar. Development continued and Mount Perisher Double Chair was opened in 1962. After the opening of the first chairlift, T-bar expansion and rope tows, the Perisher area thrived. Murray Publishers Pty Limited was taken over by Australian Consolidated Press in 1972 and Kosciuszko Alpine Resorts was formed. Murray Publishers then traded under the name of Perisher Ski Resort which incorporated the resorts of Perisher and Smiggins. In 1995, Murray Publishers Pty Limited and the Alpine Australia Group Pty Limited merged to form Perisher Blue Pty Limited.

The last establishment of a major skifield in NSW came with the development of Mount Blue Cow in the 1980s. In 1987 the Swiss designed Skitube Alpine Railway opened to deliver skiers from Bullocks Flat, on the Alpine Way, to Perisher Valley and to Blue Cow, which also opened in 1987.^[10] The operators of Blue Cow purchased Guthega in 1991, and the new combined resort later merged with Perisher-Smiggins to become the largest ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere.^[12] In 2009 Perisher had 48 lifts covering 1,245 hectares and four village base areas: Perisher Valley, Blue Cow, Smiggin Holes and Guthega.^[13]

Snowy Mountains of Music

Since 2009, Perisher Valley has been the host of the Snowy Mountains of Music Festival, a folk festival created by the same people behind the Illawarra Folk Festival. The festival runs every year on the Queen's Birthday Weekend, which is also the official start of the Ski Season for the Snowy Mountains. It acts as both a promotional festival for the Australian Snow Season, specifically, Perisher Valley, but also as an outlet for all sorts of Australian and International talent across a diverse range of genres. ^[14]

Resort statistics

Perisher Valley Climate

Average snow depth chart from Spencers Creek, near Perisher. Compiled by Snowy Hydro.

Perisher Valley is situated at 1,720 metres (5,640 ft) above sea level. The summit of Mount Perisher above the village reaches 2,054 metres (6,739 ft) of altitude. The highest lifted point is the Mt Perisher Double Chair at 2034m. According to statistics posted on the Perisher website in 2012, the recognised natural snow line in the region is at 1,650 metres (5,410 ft) and over the previous 15 years, the average maximum snow depth throughout the Resort had been about 1.9 metres (6.2 ft). Average minimum temperature during winter was stated as −3.7 °C (25.3 °F).^[15]

In 2012, the four resort bases of the Perisher Ski Resort contained a skiable area of 1,245 hectares (3,076 acres) and were serviced by 47 lifts, making Perisher the largest Australian ski resort.^[15]

Gallery

Olympic Ski Trail, leading to Perisher Valley from Back Perisher Mountain
A creek in Perisher
A snow grooming machine in Perisher
Toboggan field at Perisher
Looking towards Blue Cow from Perisher

References

↑ "Perisher Valley NSW - Accommodation, Skiing & Things to Do". VisitNSW.com. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Perisher Village (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
↑ "Kiandra Historical Society". Kiandrahistory.net. 1959-02-10. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
↑
↑ "Perisher Valley - Culture and History". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 November 2008.
↑ "Top of Australia hosts park's centenary". ABC News. Archived from the original on December 6, 2006. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
↑ Archived March 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Archived August 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ "Winter Ski & Snowboard | Summer Biking & Hiking". Thredbo.com.au. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
1 2 Archived September 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ "Guthega Ski Resort". Christiana Capital. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
↑ Archived April 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Archived March 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Archived April 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
1 2 "Resort Stats". Perisher.com.au. 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2016-02-03.

Towns and localities in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council local government area
Adaminaby Ando Anembo Anglers Reach Arable Avonside Badja Beloka Berridale Bibbenluke Billilingra Binjura Bobundara Boco Bolaro Bombala Bondi Forest Braemar Bay Bredbo Buckenderra Bukalong Bumbalong Bungarby Bunyan Byadbo Wilderness Cambalong Carlaminda Cathcart Chakola Clear Range Colinton Coolringdon Coolumbooka Cooma Cootralantra Corrowong Countegany Crackenback Craigie Creewah Dairymans Plains Dalgety Dangelong Delegate Dry Plain East Jindabyne Eucumbene Cove Frying Pan Glen Allen Glen Fergus Greenlands Grosses Plain Gunningrah Hill Top Holts Flat Ingebirah Ironmungy Jerangle Jimenbuen Jincumbilly Jindabyne Jingera Kalkite Kosciuszko National Park Kybeyan Lords Hill Maffra Merriangaah Michelago Middle Flat Middlingbank Mila Moonbah Mount Cooper Murrumbucca Myalla Nimmitabel Nimmo Numbla Vale Numeralla Nungatta Old Adaminaby Paddys Flat Palarang Paupong Peak View Pine Valley Polo Flat Providence Portal Quidong Rhine Falls Rock Flat Rockton Rocky Plain Rose Valley Rosemeath Shannons Flat Snowy Plain Springfield Steeple Flat Tantangara The Angle The Brothers Tinderry Tombong Tuross Wambrook Winifred Yaouk
Rural places	Blue Cow Mountain Guthega Kiandra Perisher Valley Smiggin Holes Thredbo
Main Article: Local government areas of New South Wales

Australian skifields
NSW	Perisher Perisher Valley Blue Cow Guthega Smiggin Holes Charlotte Pass Thredbo Selwyn Snowfields Cabramurra
Victoria	Mount Buller Alpine Resort Mount Baw Baw Falls Creek Hotham Alpine Resort Dinner Plain Lake Mountain (XC) Mount St Gwinear (XC) Mount Stirling (XC)
Tasmania	Ben Lomond Mount Mawson
ACT	Corin Forest
Former skifields	Mount Buffalo Kiandra Mount Franklin Kunama Hut

Mountains in New South Wales, Australia

Coastal mountain ranges
(not part of the
Great Dividing Range)

Mid North Coast	Middle Brother (554 m or 1,818 ft) South Brother (487 m or 1,598 ft) North Brother (476 m or 1,562 ft)
Allyn, Barrington & Mount Royal	Brumlow Tops (1,586 m or 5,203 ft) Polblue (1,575 m or 5,167 ft) Barrington (1,555 m or 5,102 ft) Careys Peak (1,544 m or 5,066 ft) Eremeren Point (1,537 m or 5,043 ft) Royal (1,185 m or 3,888 ft) Allyn (1,125 m or 3,691 ft) Cabrebald (1,000 m or 3,281 ft) Ben Bullen Gunama Lumeah
Gibraltar and Sugarloaf	Summit (1,170 m or 3,839 ft) Sugarloaf (412 m or 1,352 ft) Bulahdelah Manning
Blue Mountains	Coricudgy (1,255 m or 4,117 ft) unnamed peak (1,189 m or 3,901 ft) Pomany (1,109 m or 3,638 ft) Piddington (1,094 m or 3,589 ft) Boyce (1,093 m or 3,586 ft) York (1,061 m or 3,481 ft) Victoria (1,059 m or 3,474 ft) Banks (1,049 m or 3,442 ft) Tomah (1,016 m or 3,333 ft) Wilson (1,008 m or 3,307 ft) Kings Tableland (1,000 m or 3,281 ft) Narrow Neck Plateau (1,000 m or 3,281 ft) Castle Cliff (986 m or 3,235 ft) Solitary (950 m or 3,117 ft) Hay (944 m or 3,097 ft) Podgers (890 m or 2,920 ft) Irvine (850 m or 2,789 ft) Debert (840 m or 2,756 ft) Camp Cave (800 m or 2,625 ft) Warrigal (760 m or 2,493 ft) Notts (750 m or 2,461 ft) Harris (736 m or 2,415 ft) Centre (620 m or 2,034 ft) Hall (617 m or 2,024 ft) Gibson (608 m or 1,995 ft) Scorpion (558 m or 1,831 ft) Linda Rock (599 m or 1,965 ft) Cookem (569 m or 1,867 ft) Gospers Bedford Cameron Coriaday Erskine Mistake Monundilla Whaite Wirraba Pearces Wedding Cake
Illawarra	Bells (803 m or 2,635 ft) Knights Hill (709 m or 2,326 ft) Noorinan (663 m or 2,175 ft) Saddleback (600 m or 1,969 ft) Wanyambilli Hill (564 m or 1,850 ft) Kembla (534 m or 1,752 ft) Burelli (531 m or 1,742 ft) Kembla West (512 m or 1,680 ft) Brisbane (469 m or 1,539 ft) Keira (464 m or 1,522 ft) Warra (464 m or 1,522 ft) Brokers Nose (440 m or 1,444 ft) Nebo (252 m or 827 ft)
The Budawangs	Budawang (1,129 m or 3,704 ft) Currockbilly (1,087 m or 3,566 ft) Wog Wog (893 m or 2,930 ft) Cole (876 m or 2,874 ft) Sturgiss (858 m or 2,815 ft) Fosters (857 m or 2,812 ft) Barneys Hill (855 m or 2,805 ft) The Castle (831 m or 2,726 ft) Shrouded Gods (809 m or 2,654 ft) Donjon (786 m or 2,579 ft) Clyde (781 m or 2,562 ft) Quiltys (775 m or 2,543 ft) Wirritin (674 m or 2,211 ft) Pigeon House / Didthul (720 m or 2,362 ft) Bushwalker (640 m or 2,100 ft) Byangee (500 m or 1,640 ft) Coolangatta Tarn

Great Dividing Range

Tweed

Warning (1,156 m or 3,793 ft)
Bar (1,130 m or 3,707 ft)
Glenugie (316 m or 1,037 ft)
Chincogan (260 m or 853 ft)
Gladstone
Goobergooberyam
Moombil

McPherson and Nightcap

Barney (1,359 m or 4,459 ft)
Burrell 933 m or 3,061 ft)
Neville (919 m or 3,015 ft)
Nardi (812 m or 2,664 ft)
Matheson (804 m or 2,638 ft)
Peates (604 m or 1,982 ft)

Mid North Coast

Banda Banda (1,258 m or 4,127 ft)

Nandewar

Kaputar (1,489 m or 4,885 ft)
Dowe (1,457 m or 4,780 ft)
Mount Coryah (1,409 m or 4,623 ft)
Lindesay (1,373 m or 4,505 ft)
Grattai (1,301 m or 4,268 ft)
Bushy (1,260 m or 4,134 ft)
Round (1,250 m or 4,101 ft)
Yulludunida (1,225 m or 4,019 ft)
Castle Top (1,120 m or 3,675 ft)
Gins (1,120 m or 3,675 ft)
Ningadhun (1,013 m or 3,323 ft)

Liverpool and Watagan

unnamed (1,300 m or 4,265 ft)
Pandoras Pass (788 m or 2,585 ft)
Warrawolong (641 m or 2,103 ft)

New England and Moonbi

Round (1,585 m or 5,200 ft)
Point Lookout (1,564 m or 5,131 ft)
Ben Lomond (1,512 m or 4,961 ft)
Grundy (1,463 m or 4,800 ft)
Barren (1,437 m or 4,715 ft)
Hyland (1,434 m or 4,705 ft)
Duval (1,393 m or 4,570 ft)
Black Jack (1,300 m or 4,265 ft)
Gulligal (1,230 m or 4,035 ft)
Oaky (1,070 m or 3,510 ft)
Cooee (1,020 m or 3,346 ft)
Flaggy (984 m or 3,228 ft)
Big Billy (884 m or 2,900 ft)
Dorrigo (762 m or 2,500 ft)
Burning (520 m or 1,706 ft)
Yarrowyck

Central Tablelands

Canobolas (1,395 m or 4,577 ft)
Shooters Hill (1,394 m or 4,573 ft)
Bindo (1,363 m or 4,472 ft)
Trickett (1,362 m or 4,469 ft)
Blaxland
Hopeless

The Brindabellas and Scabby

Bimberi (1,913 m or 6,276 ft)
Gingera (1,857 m or 6,093 ft)
Kelly (1,829 m or 6,001 ft)
Ginini (1,762 m or 5,781 ft)
Franklin (1,646 m or 5,400 ft)
Aggie (1,421 m or 4,662 ft)
Coree (1,421 m or 4,662 ft)
Bramina (1,392 m or 4,567 ft)
Bulls Head (1,375 m or 4,511 ft)
Black Bottle (1,356 m or 4,449 ft)
Lickhole (1,188 m or 3,898 ft)
Brindabella (972 m or 3,189 ft)

Monaro

Big Badja (1,363 m or 4,472 ft)
Brown (1,243 m or 4,078 ft)
Gibraltar (Bungendore) (887 m or 2,910 ft)
Gibraltar Hill

Snowies

Main

Kosciuszko (2,228 m or 7,310 ft)
Townsend (2,209 m or 7,247 ft)
unnamed peak on Etheridge Ridge (2,180 m or 7,152 ft)
Alice Rawson Peak (2,160 m or 7,087 ft)
Byatts Camp (2,159 m or 7,083 ft)
Carruthers (2,145 m or 7,037 ft)
Abbott Peak (2,145 m or 7,037 ft)
Mount Northcote (2,131 m or 6,991 ft)
Muellers Peak (2,120 m or 6,955 ft)
Clark (2,100 m or 6,890 ft)
Lee (2,100 m or 6,890 ft)
Gungartan (2,068 m or 6,785 ft)
Tate (2,068 m or 6,785 ft)
Jagungal (2,061 m or 6,762 ft)
Perisher (2,054 m or 6,739 ft)
Stilwell (2,040 m or 6,693 ft)
Watsons Crags (2,020 m or 6,627 ft)
Back Perisher (2,014 m or 6,608 ft)
Anton (2,000 m or 6,562 ft)
Anderson (1,997 m or 6,552 ft)
Blue Cow (1,994 m or 6,542 ft)
The Granite Peaks (1,980 m or 6,496 ft)
Dicky Cooper Bogong (1,980 m or 6,496 ft)
Gills Knobs (1,940 m or 6,365 ft)
Guthega Peak (1,924 m or 6,312 ft)
Blue Calf (1,905 m or 6,250 ft)
Sentinel (1,900 m or 6,234 ft)
Mount Piper (1,830 m or 6,004 ft)
Round (1,756 m or 5,761 ft)

Ramshead

Rams Head (2,190 m or 7,185 ft)
Twynam (2,178 m or 7,146 ft)
Rams Head North (2,177 m or 7,142 ft)
Little Twynam (2,120 m or 6,955 ft)

Other mountains in the GDR

Yengo (668 m or 2,192 ft)

Inland mountain ranges

Barrier	Lewis Peak (297 m or 974 ft)
Warrumbungles	Exmouth (1,206 m or 3,957 ft) Woorut (1,165 m or 3,822 ft) Needle
Other inland mountains	Grenfell Gibralter Hill

Island mountain ranges

Lord Howe	Gower (875 m or 2,871 ft) Lidgbird (777 m or 2,549 ft)

Mountains not within a specific range

Gibraltar (863 m or 2,831 ft)
Gulaga (806 m or 2,644 ft)
Ulandra (761 m or 2,497 ft)
Tilga (329 m or 1,079 ft)
Oxley (307 m or 1,007 ft)

Coordinates: 36°24′S 148°25′E / 36.400°S 148.417°E / -36.400; 148.417

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Perisher Valley, New South Wales

History

Snowy Mountains of Music

Resort statistics

Gallery

See also

References