Guthega is a

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and the site for a

hydro electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

located in 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 ...

, on the upper reaches of the

Snowy River The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the ...

, on the western face of Mount Blue Cow,

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 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 ...

. The village is made up of private lodges, a restaurant and bar, commercial accommodation, and facilities for snow sports and other outdoor recreation. Guthega is also the site for the Guthega Power Station - a dam used to generate hydro electricity as part of the

Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme or Snowy scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. The Scheme consists of sixteen major dams; nine power stations; two pumping stations; and of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that ...

, now managed by

Snowy Hydro Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme which consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connecte ...

History

The Aboriginal cultural group

Ngarigo The Ngarigo People (also spelt Garego, Ngarego, Ngarago, Ngaragu, Ngarigu, Ngarrugu or Ngarroogoo) are Aboriginal Australian people of southeast New South Wales, whose traditional lands also extend around the present border with Victoria. Langu ...

were nomadic between Canberra, the Monaro plains, and into the Snowy Mountains for over 20,000 years. Pressures from European Settlers caused an increase in intertribal wars possibly taking place in the mountain areas around the Snowy River and similar water ways. Diseases introduced by the settlers such as

Small Pox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) cer ...

Syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

Influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

Measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

and

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

devastated Aboriginal populations, and by 1850 the survivors had all moved off their traditional lands, giving up their lifestyles to live with the Europeans around

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. At the , Cooma had a po ...

. Herbert Schlink, Eric Fischer, William Gordon and John Laidley, of the Ski Club of Australia, with W Hughes, made the first winter crossing of the Main Range from

Kiandra 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 the Snowy Monaro Regional Council inside the Kosciuszko National Park. Its name ...

to Kosciusko in 1927. Guthega was declared a dam and hydro election power station site by the

in 1949. Road works for the Guthega Power Station began in 1951 with the dam beginning in 1952. A Norwegian group was contracted to build the power station, and Guthega became known as "Little Norway", containing the largest number of Norwegians living outside Norway at the time. Power was first generated by the station 1955. Recreational skiing began at Guthega in the late 1950s with the first rope tow for downhill skiing being installed on Mount Tate's East Ridge by the SMA Ski Club in 1957. The YMCA Ski Club (now the Brindabella Ski Club) built two huts and one rope tow in 1960, and started running ski lessons with lodging. The SMA Tow hut burned down in 1965 and it was not replaced, but the first T-bar tow was erected on the West slopes of Mount Blue Calf that same year. In 1966 Walter Spanring and his wife Hannelore (Eberstaller), key developers of Guthega's ski areas to date, built the Guthega Hotel (later becoming the Guthega Alpine Hotel). In 1974 Peter Aynsley designed the Australian Ski Club lodge next to the Guthega Hotel and with financial assistance from the smaller ski clubs in the area, expansion of the skiing facilities on the West Face of Mount Blue Calf began in 1975. In 1980 new investors were brought in, and further development saw car parks, a chairlift, a ski centre and general upgrades completed by 1983. Guthega's new ski facilities were launched in 1983 with an international marketing campaign that included: Guthega Tate

* Range Rover Australian Freestyle Championships * Peter Stuyvesant International Pro-Am Dual Slalom * Australian Playboy's $10,000 "Girls of the Snow" Quest * Cold Chisel in concert at The Lake Jindabyne Hotel for the Playboy grand final * Ovaltine ski racing for amateurs and recreational skiers In 1991, Guthega was purchased by the Alpine Australia Group Pty Limited, the then operator of the Blue Cow Resort. This led to the operation of two resorts becoming integrated under the name Blue Cow-Guthega in 1992. Day access into Guthega then became possible via the Skitube alpine railway and the Blue Cow and Link Management Unit ski slopes. The Blue Cow-Guthega and Perisher-Smiggins resort areas were subsequently merged to become the

Perisher Blue Perisher Ski Resort (known as Perisher Blue until 2009) is the largest ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere. Located in the Australian Snowy Mountains, the resort is an amalgamation of four villages (Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Guthega, ...

complex. Guthega skiing is included in the trail maps of the Perisher Blue ski resort, and a chair lift and two T-bars are sometimes operated from Guthega to link with Perisher Blue depending on demand. As well as downhill skiing, Guthega serves as a base for alpine and cross country skiers and boarders seeking access to relatively sheltered aspects and wilderness experiences, as well ice climbers heading to Blue Lake. In summer months it is used as a destination for sight seers and people enjoying recreation in the surrounding

Natural features

* Mount Blue Calf * Blue Lake *

References

External links

View more information on the development of Guthega

A river to be turned
- 1952 documentary film about the building of

Guthega Dam Guthega Dam is concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled spillway across the Snowy River in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is for the storage of water used in the generation of hydro-power . It is the ...

WikiSki entry for Guthega

Google search ''The history of Guthega'' in a timeline

The Australian Ski Club

Guthega Ski Club
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Ski areas and resorts in New South Wales Snowy Mountains Scheme Mountains of New South Wales Snowy Monaro Regional Council

History

Natural features

See also

References

External links