Blue Cow is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

that is part of Perisher located in the

Snowy Mountains 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 ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, within the

Snowy Monaro Regional Council The Snowy Monaro Regional Council is a local government area located in the Snowy Mountains and Monaro regions of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 through a merger of the Bombala, Cooma-Monaro and Snowy River sh ...

. The resort is situated within the

Kosciuszko National Park The Kosciuszko National Park () is a 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 wildern ...

and is administered by the

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment responsible for managing most of the protected areas in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name the ...

. During winter months, the only access to the village is via the

Skitube The Skitube Alpine Railway is an Australian standard gauge electric rack railway in the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. It provides access to the snowfields at Blue Cow Mountain and the Perisher Valley. History In the 1980s, deve ...

underground railway. In summer, access is via off-road only. Blue Cow is one of the four resort bases within Perisher, Australia's largest ski resort. Also known as the Blue Cow Mountain, Mount Blue Cow or The Blue Cow, the mountain lies within the Main Range of Snowy Mountains, part of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

. Blue Cow Mountain has an elevation of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

Skiing

The last establishment of a major skifield in New South Wales came with the development of Mount Blue Cow in the 1980s. In 1987 the

Skitube Alpine Railway The Skitube Alpine Railway is an Australian standard gauge electric rack railway in the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. It provides access to the snowfields at Blue Cow Mountain and the Perisher Valley. History In the 1980s, deve ...

opened to deliver skiers from

Bullocks Flat Bullocks Flat (or Bullock's Flat) is a flat portion of the Thredbo Valley adjacent to the Thredbo River, in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. Skitube The flat is the site of the lower terminus of the Skitube Alpine Rai ...

, on the

Alpine Way The Alpine Way is a rural road located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The road connects in the east to the New South Wales / Victorian border in the west, crossing the Murray River, near Bringenbrong / Upper . ...

, to

Perisher Valley 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 ...

and to Blue Cow, which also opened in 1987. 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. In 2022 Perisher had 48 lifts covering and four village base areas:

Blue Cow Blue Cow may refer to: * Blue Cow (cartoon), a cartoon cow who appears in both ''The Story Makers'' and ''Tikkabilla'' * Blue Cow, New South Wales, a village in NSW, Australia * The Blue Cow, one of the "blue" public houses and inns in Grantham * B ...

Smiggin Holes 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 ...

and Guthega. Blue Cow has eight ski lifts: * Ridge Quad Chair * Summit Quad Chair * Early Starter Double Chair * Terminal Quad Chair * Brumby T-Bar * Pony Ride Carpet * Snowsports School Rope Tow (Snowsports School only) * Pleasant Valley Quad Chair

References

External links

Perisher Home Page
Ski areas and resorts in New South Wales Mountains of New South Wales 1987 establishments in Australia Snowy Monaro Regional Council {{Australia-sports-venue-stub

Skiing

See also

References

External links