48-485: The Kiandra Snow Shoe Club was founded in the gold-mining district of Kiandra, New South Wales (NSW), Australia by three Norwegians—as early as 1861 by some accounts— and reportedly became the "world's longest continuously running ski club" as it evolved into the present-day Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club in Perisher Valley, NSW. Whether the club is the first of its kind has been subject to debate. In this case, "snow shoe"
96-522: A day run by Cooma Coaches. Snowliner Coaches also operate services. Cooma has a taxi service run by Cooma Radio Taxis. NSW TrainLink operate road coach services from Canberra to Bombala and Eden . Cooma was served by the Cooma Mail until May 1986 and the Canberra Monaro Express until September 1988. The Cooma Monaro Railway is a heritage railway using CPH railmotors built in
144-597: A decline in gold mining. In 1929, the club reorganized as the Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club. At its 1935 annual competition, "orthodox" and "straight" down-hill competitions were held. Covering the event, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that, "The Kiandra Club, which was formerly called the Kiandra Snow Shoe Club, is now 65 years old, and is probably the oldest ski club in the world." This claim
192-688: A member of the Club, together with four members of the Ski Club of Australia made the first historic ski traverse from Kiandra to the Hotel Kosciusko. Their eventful journey is retold in Klaus Hueneke 's book " Kiandra to Kosciusko " and was commemorated by 150 ski tourers in 1977 in an event organised by the Kosciusko Huts Association . The Kiandra courthouse closed as a police station in 1937, and
240-999: A number of heritage-listed sites, including: Historic Kiandra: A Guide to the History of the District , by D. G. Moye (editor) was published by the Cooma-Monaro Historical Society to mark the centenary of the Kiandra Goldrush in 1959, and remains in print. Australian High Country enthusiast Klause Hueneke has written two books on the Kiandra region: Huts of the High Country , 1982 and Kiandra to Kosciusko , 1987. The Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club published two histories: Kiandra – Gold Fields to Ski Fields (2006) and Lapland Snow Shoes in Australia (2010). The poet Barcroft Boake wrote
288-458: A poem about skiing at Kiandra, entitled "The Demon Snow Shoes: A Legend of Kiandra". Banjo Paterson referenced Kiandra in his poetry - as in A Mountain Station (The Bulletin, 19 December 1891). Patrick White 's first novel, Happy Valley (1939), has Kiandra thinly disguised as the township of "Kambala". The 2011 time travel/science fiction adventure novel Falling into History , by Peter Fleming,
336-525: A series by Charles Kerry , and a scene of Chinese miners near the Township. Owing to its elevation, Kiandra has a cold oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ), as at least 4 months see a mean temperature above 10 °C (50 °F), bordering on a Subpolar oceanic climate ( Cfc ); having cold and very snowy winters, alongside summers that are quite cool with the odd snowfall. Kiandra receives an average of 47.5 snowy days annually. If using
384-462: A straight line only. In 1908 the club reportedly held an "International Ski Carnival"—including an "International Downhill Race", which was won by an American, competing on skis made in Kiandra; other events included races for youths in categories of under eight, ten, eleven and fourteen years of age. "Open Championships" were also conducted; the events concluded with a "New Chum" event and toboggan race. Competitions continued at least until 1911, despite
432-598: Is 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of the banks of the Murrumbidgee River , a main tributary of the Murray–Darling basin . Cooma sources its water from the river. The area now known as Cooma lies on the traditional lands of the Ngarigo people. Cooma was explored by Captain J. M. Currie in 1823. It was first surveyed in 1840, and was gazetted in 1849. Cooma was proclaimed a municipality in 1879. The railway from Sydney
480-453: Is an archaic term for "ski". As reported by Vaage, Norwegian gold miners introduced skiing in California in the 1850s. A few years later, some moved on to Australia when the news about gold at Kiandra reached California. These Norwegians introduced skiing to Kiandra as a form of recreation, as had occurred in California. The Manaro Mercury of July 29, 1861 reported that young people climbed
528-733: Is called St Patrick's Parish School and provides education from Kindergarten to Year 10. The Snowy Mountains Christian School, an independent Christian school provides education from Kindergarten to Year 10. Tertiary education is provided by TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute Cooma campus. Another Tertiary Education centre is the Cooma Universities Centre, which opened in 2014. Cooma has a dry oceanic climate ( Cfb ). Summer averages are warm, though tend to swing wildly between hot and cool; and winters are chilly with particularly cold night time temperatures due to its valley location, high elevation, and frequent clear skies, sometimes recording
SECTION 10
#1732852574245576-805: Is located at a higher elevation than the town, causing maximum temperatures to be notably cooler but minima somewhat milder. The Cooma–Monaro Time Walk in Centennial Park was a community project to mark the Bicentennial Year of 1988, from designs by Cooma College of TAFE and the Cooma–Monaro Historical Society. One newspaper operates in Cooma, The Monaro Post , which began in 2006 and is independently owned by Gail Eastaway, Tracy Frazer and Louise Platts. Note: transmitters for XLFM and Snow FM, as well as some ABC services, are in place throughout
624-557: Is partially set in Kiandra. The Township has been subject to various archaeological studies, including a project by the Australian National University Department of Archaeology and Anthropology under the direction of Drs Mike Smith, Ken Heffernan and Annie Clark in the mid-1990s. The Kiandra Historical Society remains a useful resource of record for the history of the town. A number of interesting photographic studies were taken of life at Kiandra, including
672-574: 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 (until the establishment of Cabramurra ), Kiandra was Australia's highest town. Kiandra lies approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) north-west of Cooma on
720-625: The Snowy Mountains Highway between Adaminaby and Talbingo . It sits at 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) above sea level and is situated on a high, treeless ridge on the banks of the Eucumbene River , which is snow-covered during winter and is subject to high winds. It lies in the Australian Alps montane grasslands bioregion according to Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia . After decades of decline, restoration work on
768-518: The 0 °C (32.0 °F) isotherm , Kiandra qualifies for the continental ( Dfb ) climate type which is extremely rare in the Southern Hemisphere and arguably nonexistent in Australia. Indeed, using the original −3 °C (26.6 °F) isotherm, it is firmly a cold oceanic climate. Climate statistics were compiled at the Kiandra Chalet site, elevation 1,395 metres (4,577 ft), from
816-523: The 1960s fishing cottage was in part conducted to create and demonstrate a market demand for Kiandra-based accommodation, which, according to the Snowy Times , could prove a "market based argument for restoring the Kiandra Courthouse and Chalet for accommodation". Easter 2013 saw all four of Kiandra's buildings in public use for the first time in decades - with guided tours and exhibitions - including
864-591: The 2009 ski season when it was replaced by the Township Triple Chair (retaining the name "Township" in reference to the Kiandra Township hill run). The last resident left Kiandra in 1974, after which the NPWS took over the town and completed its demolition of most of its buildings. This decision by the NPWS not to preserve much of the human heritage of the township remains a source of resentment in some quarters in
912-632: The ABC Television services, but not SBS Television Services. Cooma has several sports teams, the most popular sports played in town being Rugby League , Rugby Union , Cricket , Soccer and Australian rules football . The Cooma Colts is the town’s junior rugby league team, the Stallions (founded 1973) is the senior rugby league team and the Rugby League Tag team known as the Fillies also plays during
960-644: The Matthew's Cottage exhibition and the Pattinson's cottage house museum. During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, on 3 January 2020, the Dunns Road fire burned from Batlow into Kosciuszko National Park and burning much of the northern part of the park. The courthouse was severely damaged, the fire burning so hot that the glass and aluminium in the windows melted. Wolgal Hut and Pattisons Huts were also feared to have been destroyed. The Kosciuszko National Park has
1008-572: The NPWS entry booth (which is only attended during the snow season). This stamper was used to crush rock and quartz in order to free the embedded gold. The Wig and Pen Brewery in Canberra commemorates this chapter in Australia's High Country history with a pale golden pilsner beer in the Czech style, named "Kiandra Gold". Kiandra is often isolated by deep snow which made it inaccessible during winter. In 1861, Norwegian miners introduced recreational skiing to
SECTION 20
#17328525742451056-606: The Snowy Mountains. Cooma receives five free-to-air television networks including all the digital free-to-air channels relayed from Canberra, broadcast from the Telstra site Radio Hill translator in Cooma Common, off Polo Flat Road. The stations are: Another transmitter for the Cooma and surrounding Monaro region is located at Mount Roberts approximately 30 km NNE of the town, broadcasting The Three Commercial TV Networks and
1104-591: The Sydney Morning Herald was reporting a "mass exodus" and the easy pickings were exhausted. Significant numbers of Chinese people worked the Kiandra goldfields. Chinese miners built Three Mile Dam in 1882 to assist with sluicing operations at "New Chum Hill". The scenic lake still exists and now supplies Selwyn Snowfields with its snow-making water requirements. Misplaced Pages's Chinese site lists Kiandra as 奇安德拉 (Qi An De La). The last mining operations finally ceased around 1905. Official total production recorded
1152-817: The Toolong range of the Australian Alps. The wreck was not found until 26 October 1958. Cooma has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: According to the 2021 census , there were 6,715 people in Cooma. Government schools include Monaro High School, a high school that serves the town and seven of the neighbouring rural towns and villages including Peak View, Berridale , Jindabyne , Nimmitabel , Bredbo and Dalgety . The other two government schools support primary education and are Cooma Public School and Cooma North Public School, both providing education for students in Kindergarten to Year 6. The Roman Catholic school
1200-429: The adjacent coastal areas of Wollongong and Sydney (106 and 107 clear days respectively). Strong cold fronts often push through the region in winter and snow is not uncommon in Cooma from June to September, though is generally light and rarely settles for more than 24 hours. Frost occurs in all months of the year and is frequent between April and October. Severe thunderstorms are semi-frequent in summer, and owing to
1248-421: The binding strap). According to Andresen, Jens Olsen from Tjølling, Norway, gave up gold digging and instead set up a ski manufacturing workshop, the first such factory in Australia. Andresen suggests that Jens Olsen was one of the founders of the Kiandra Snow Shoe Club. There were championships held for cross-country skiing and ski jumping , starting in 1878. A variety of ethnic backgrounds were represented in
1296-411: The ceremony. The later additions to the original courthouse at the rear of the building remain in a state of outward disrepair, although National Parks intended to continue the restoration in stages, aiming to preserve the cultural history of the site across its many previous uses. In 2012, public accommodation returned to Kiandra with the opening of the restored Wolgal Lodge for bookings. The opening of
1344-416: The digitised records available for the years 1957–1974 displayed in the following table, the lowest temperature recorded is −17.8 °C (0 °F) on 21 July 1965 and 10 August 1966, while the highest temperature is 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) on 31 January 1968. Cooma, New South Wales Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales , Australia. It is located 114 kilometres (71 mi) south of
1392-405: The district to this day. Only four buildings from the former township remain intact, together with a collection of ruins and the historic cemetery. The area retains various other relics of Australian pioneer history , including mining equipment, old gravesites and abandoned diggings. The remaining buildings at Kiandra are of high heritage value and historical walking trails provided information on
1440-452: The elevation of the town can carry large quantities of hail . Mean daily minimum temperatures range from −2.7 °C (27.1 °F) (July) to 10.8 °C (51.4 °F) (January), with an annual mean daily minimum of 4.1 °C (39.4 °F). Mean daily maximum temperatures range from 11.4 °C (52.5 °F) (July) to 27.3 °C (81.1 °F) (January), with an annual mean daily maximum of 19.4 °C (66.9 °F). The airport
1488-429: The former layout and points of interests of the old town. The most substantial remaining building is the former courthouse, which was originally constructed in 1890, and which was partially restored by National Parks in 2010, Stokes Rousseau and carpenters Sean Walker and Barry Ellwood from Furnbiz for use as an interpretive centre. The restored court room was officially opened on 5 May 2010 with some 150 people present for
Kiandra Snow Shoe Club - Misplaced Pages Continue
1536-558: The founding of the Kiandra Snow Shoe Club —reportedly becoming the "world's longest continuously running ski club" as it evolved into the present-day Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club in Perisher Valley , NSW. Whether the club is the first of its kind has been subject to debate. At one time, the poet Banjo Paterson was a vice president. The Club held perhaps the first international ski race carnival in 1908. In 1927, William Hughes,
1584-483: The hills of Kiambra with [skis] and came back down at high speed. Andresen reports that, from the gold rush in 1860-1861 onwards, there were annual "ski carnivals" at Kiandra. According to Clarke, the International Ski Federation (FIS) recognized the club "for having organized the first Alpine [sic] ski races in the history of [the] sport" in a 2011 letter. Vaage suggests that the Kiandra Snow Shoe Club
1632-408: The lowest temperatures in the country. However, daytime maximum temperatures in winter are often unremarkable, on account of the foehn effect . The area is exceptionally dry by southeast coastal Australian standards as it lies in a major rain shadow ; the region is flanked by mountain ranges on all sides, most notably on the west. Despite its dryness, it has only 90.1 clear days annually, lower than
1680-564: The national capital, Canberra , via the Monaro Highway . It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway , connecting Bega with the Riverina . At the 2021 census , Cooma had a population of 6,715. Cooma is the main town of the Monaro region. It is 800 metres (2,620 ft) above sea level. The name could have derived from an Aboriginal word Coombah , meaning 'big lake' or 'open country'. Cooma
1728-459: The population expanded due to an influx of 65,000 workers from more than 30 countries. Those working on the Snowy Scheme depended on the railway and during construction of the scheme, the railways were one of the largest employers in the region. In 1959, the tenth anniversary of the scheme was celebrated with the erection of an avenue of flags representing the 27 nationalities of people working on
1776-525: The remaining buildings at Kiandra took place from 2009 to 2020, including work on the historic Kiandra Courthouse Chalet and Wolgal Lodge fishing cottage being conducted by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and volunteers, enabling occasional amenities and limited accommodation at Kiandra. The remaining buildings in the town were either destroyed or severely damaged during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season . In November 1859, gold
1824-611: The rugby league season. The Cooma Tigers (founded 1952) soccer team plays in local competitions. The Southern Cats (formerly Cooma Cats founded in 1975) Australian rules football club is based at the Snowy Oval and participates in the AFL Canberra Community Division 3. Cooma is served by Cooma–Snowy Mountains Airport , which is 15 kilometres from the CBD. Cooma has a bus service connecting various areas of town three times
1872-497: The scheme. Cooma has developed a growing tourism industry as it became the main rest stop for many travellers heading to the NSW snow fields during the winter months. As a result, the town nicknamed itself the 'Gateway to the Snowy Mountains'. The Aviation Pioneers' Memorial at Cooma contains artifacts recovered from the Avro 618 Ten aircraft Southern Cloud , which crashed on 21 March 1931 in
1920-451: The ski competitions at Kiandra. The Manaro Mercury of August 10, 1887 mentions a little girl and a lady of Chinese descent, both winning races in their category. Chinese names appear again among the winners in 1894. Vaage reports that skiers at Kiandra used wax made from oil, rubber or fat to increase downhill speed—methods that may have been introduced from California. Skis used at Kiandra were not suited for turning, so downhill races were in
1968-459: The snowbound mining settlement after manufacturing over forty pairs of both short skis, known as "skates". and the longer "snow shoes" during the months before the first winter snow. To avoid confusion with a conventional skate, the skates were described as (two palings turned up at the front end and about four foot long). There were no fence palings or posts in Kiandra in 1861. Ski races were held annually on Township Hill at Kiandra, which led to
Kiandra Snow Shoe Club - Misplaced Pages Continue
2016-487: The year 1866 until 1974. Temperature averages were compiled from 1897 to 1974 – though extreme temperature readings were not digitised until 1957. The lowest temperature recorded at Kiandra is −20.6 °C (−5 °F) on 2 August 1929, also the lowest temperature recorded in Australia at that time. The highest temperature is 34.7 °C (94.5 °F), recorded during a severe heatwave in southeast Australia in January 1939. In
2064-475: Was extended from Royalla to Cooma in 1889 under the supervision of John Whitton . The line was closed to rail passenger traffic in 1989. The estimated population of Cooma was 47 in 1851 and it grew to 2330 (1911), 1969 (1933), 2249 (1947), 9103 (1966), 7353 (1976) and 7978 (1981). In 1949, the town became the headquarters of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and grew rapidly. Between 1949 and 1974
2112-416: Was 48 676 kg. In 1890 the second courthouse to be built in the township was constructed. The building included police barracks and was used more for its police rather than court function. It remained Kiandra's police station until 1937, later to become the Kiandra Chalet. A 'battery stamper' and other mining relics recovered locally are situated on the road to Cabramurra below New Chums Hill, close to
2160-555: Was discovered by mountain cattlemen, the Pollock brothers, and by March 1860, some 10,000 miners and storekeepers had raced to the scene. Initial returns were very good. A 9 kg nugget was discovered in river deposits under what became known as New Chum Hill. Kiandra post office opened on 1 June 1860 and it is estimated that the area at its peak accommodated around 15,000 people, served by 25 stores, 13 bakers, 16 butchers, 14 pubs, several banks and four blacksmiths. Nevertheless, by 1861,
2208-457: Was echoed by Tredinnick in 2011. As of 2016, the club operated as the "Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club (1861) Limited" and was located in Perisher Valley, New South Wales , its new home as of 1966. Kiandra, New South Wales 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
2256-474: Was established around 1870, but reports that the date and circumstances are indefinite. According to Skiing Magazine , the first downhill races occurred in 1861 and the club was founded in 1870. Between the years 1861 and 1863, the Australian club members constructed and used a short, broad ski, which was designed specifically for skiing downhill and called the "Kiandra kick-in" (referring to kicking one's boot into
2304-581: Was for a time used as a private residence, before becoming the Kiandra Chalet (until 1953) and later the Kiandra Chalet Hotel, The owner of the Chalet ran a ski rope tow. The Chalet closed in 1973 and the building became a Roads Depot building. Australia's first T-bar lift was installed on Township Hill in 1957, but in 1978, Kiandra's ski lift operations re-located permanently to nearby Selwyn Snowfields . The T-Bar remained in operation at Mt Selwyn until
#244755