Skiing in Australia

Skiing in Australia takes place in the high country of the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, as well as in the Australian Capital Territory, during the Southern Hemisphere winter.

Skiing began in Australia at the goldrush town of Kiandra, New South Wales around 1861. The first ski tow was constructed near Mount Buffalo, Victoria in 1936. Australian skiers competed in the Winter Olympics for the first time in Oslo 1952 and have competed in all subsequent Games, winning medals at every Games since 1998. Malcolm Milne became the first non-European to win a ski race world cup in 1969 and Olympic medalists include Zali Steggall, Alisa Camplin, Dale Begg-Smith and Lydia Lassila in skiing and Torah Bright in snowboarding.

Australia has extensive skiable terrain during the southern hemisphere winter in the south eastern states and Australian Capital Territory, between elevations of around 1250m to 2200m. Elevation of the snowfields in Australia varies with latitude, however viable winter snows are generally found above 1500m: Thredbo, near Mount Kosciuszko, has Australia's highest lifted point at 2037m and its base elevation is 1365m. Kiandra, in the Northern Skifields, has an elevation of 1400m, while Mount Mawson near Hobart, Tasmania is at 1250m.

Australia has several well developed downhill ski resorts, including Thredbo and Perisher in New South Wales and Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Mount Buller in Victoria. Cross country skiing is popular in such national parks as Kosciuszko National Park and Alpine National Park and is also possible within Namadgi National Park and in the Tasmanian Wilderness. Mount Buller has Australia's largest snow village with accommodation of 7000 beds, and is the largest most popular ski resort in Victoria.