Cabramurra was the third-highest permanently inhabited town on the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n continent, situated at in the western

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 ...

(or South West Slopes) 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 ...

, in the state of New South Wales. It is lower than Dinner Plain in Victoria, and lower than

Charlotte Pass Charlotte Pass (often erroneously referred to as Charlotte's 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 ...

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'' ("crooked hand").

History

Cabramurra was established in 1954 using prefabricated

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

s, as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and associated Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. An earlier

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

camp had been established there in 1951. The town was moved some 500m and 20m vertically to a more sheltered position, its current site, in 1974, leaving the original site as the lookout. The original houses were either demolished or relocated to

Talbingo 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. Talbing ...

, Adaminaby and Jindabyne. The new houses were built with Besser blocks to a design specifically tailored to the environment. Long steep roofs allow snow to slide off, and the interiors are designed around a central heater (originally fuelled by oil) which warms all rooms in the house either directly or indirectly (chimney passes between upstairs bedrooms). All power and phone lines are routed underground. In early January 2020 the town was damaged by fire during the

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...

. In the town itself a "significant number" of houses and buildings were lost, plus the school and old ski club.

Present status

Cabramurra is a '

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

', being the place of residence for workers in the nearby Tumut 1 and Tumut 2 power stations and electrical switching yards, and Tumut Pondage dam. Only persons directly employed by Snowy Hydro, and their families, are permitted to live in the town. The town has 45 houses, 100+ units, a general store and petrol station, primary school, wet canteen ( pub) ( tavern), indoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, single 'Poma' tow downhill ski slope, and tennis courts. The nearest small town for other shopping is Adaminaby; the nearest large towns/cities (that is, with a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

) are

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Tumut and Cooma. Emergency evacuation can be conducted by helicopter. The primary school has one classroom, with one teacher taking all the children. The nearest high schools are at Tumbarumba and Cooma but only Tumbarumba is served by a daily bus service. The short Snowy Hydro airstrip on the plateau above the town is often used by military aircraft practising short landing/takeoff exercises. The town's water supply is close to this airstrip and is known as "Dry Dam", on the dirt road that goes to Kiandra via "Kings Cross" and the Selwyn Snowfields day-only ski resort. In winter, unlike the vast majority of Australia, the town can be covered by snow for 3–4 months. This has dictated the building design with a very highly pitched roof for the houses. The town's downhill ski run was the first in Australia to have lighting installed to allow night use. The town is located within the boundaries of

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 ...

, on the road between Kiandra on the Snowy Mountains Highway to the north and Khancoban, another hydro-electric power site, to the south. The road is kept open to and beyond Kiandra by snow plough during winter, also serving the Selwyn Snowfields. The road south of Tumut Pond Dam is closed to traffic. The permanent workforce of the settlement is currently being replaced with drive-in/drive-out staff, however the school will remain open to service surrounding areas.

Climate

Cabramurra has a subalpine climate (

IBRA The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. It was devel ...

1,400–1,800 m) with cool summers and cold, very snowy winters. In terms of precipitation, Cabramurra is a very wet climate during the cooler months, but still retains significant sunshine hours due to its summer dry-season. Under the Köppen classification, the town has a cold

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(''Cfb''). Owing to the town's position, perched over the western escarpment of the ranges, temperature inversion does not occur as the coldest air drains into the valleys and plains; thereby giving Cabramurra much warmer minimum temperatures than surrounding areas of its altitude and latitude, such as nearby Kiandra. Instead of radiational cooling, Cabramurra receives its coldest temperatures solely via cold-pooling (caused by its heavy snowfall). The town is usually snow-bound from June to September, as it lay well above the

snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...

. Cabramurra receives an average of 53.2 snowy days annually. Cabramurra12

Cabramurra SMHEA (1955–1999)

Cabramurra SMHEA AWS (1996–2020)

Gallery

File:Cabramurra-January2005.jpg, Cabramurra in summer, 2005 File:Cabramurra Ski Club.jpg, Cabramurra Ski Club has a poma and clubhouse for the private use of members

References

External links

{{Authority control Company towns in Australia Towns in New South Wales Snowy Mountains Scheme Ski areas and resorts in New South Wales Snowy Valleys Council 1954 establishments in Australia