Cabramurra was the third-highest permanently inhabited town on the Australian

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas t ...

, situated at in the western Snowy Mountains (or

South West Slopes The South Western Slopes, also known as the South West Slopes, is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range, extending from north of Dunedoo through central NSW and into ...

) of the Great Dividing Range, in the state of

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 ...

. It is lower than

Dinner Plain Dinner Plain is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Great Alpine Road, 13 kilometres from Mount Hotham Alpine Resort, and 375 kilometres from Melbourne. At the , Dinner Plain had a population of 230, yet has over 200 lodges and chalets ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, and lower than Charlotte Pass 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 The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

''gambirra marra'' ("crooked hand").

History

Cabramurra was established in 1954 using

prefabricated Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. The term ...

houses, 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 ...

and associated Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. An earlier surveying 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 A lookout or look-out is a person in charge of the observation of hazards. The term originally comes from a naval background, where lookouts would watch for other ships, land, and various dangers. The term has now passed into wider parlance. ...

. 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. Talbingo re ...

Adaminaby Adaminaby is a small town near the Snowy Mountains north-west of Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. The historic town, of 301 people at the , is a trout fishing centre and winter sports destination situate ...

and

Jindabyne Jindabyne () is a town in south-east New South Wales, Australia that overlooks Lake Jindabyne near the Snowy Mountains, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is a popular holiday destination year round, especially in winter. This is due to its ...

. 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', being the place of residence for workers in the nearby Tumut 1 and Tumut 2 power stations and

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

switching yards, and Tumut Pondage

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 ...

. 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 A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gaso ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, wet canteen (

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

) (

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...

), indoor swimming pool, single 'Poma' tow downhill ski slope, and

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s. The nearest small town for other shopping is

; the nearest large towns/cities (that is, with a hospital) are Canberra,

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

and

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 ...

. Emergency evacuation can be conducted by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

. The primary school has one classroom, with one teacher taking all the children. The nearest high schools are at

Tumbarumba Tumbarumba ( ) is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, about southwest of the state capital, Sydney. Tumbarumba is located on the periphery of the Riverina and South West Slopes regions at the western edge of the Snowy Mountains. The s ...

and

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 Selwyn Snow Resort, formerly known as Selwyn Snowfields, is a ski resort located in the most northern part of the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council and Kosciuszko National Park. Selwyn Sno ...

day-only ski resort. In winter, unlike the vast majority of Australia, the town can be covered by

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

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, on the road between

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 ...

on the

Snowy Mountains Highway Snowy Mountains Highway is a state highway located in New South Wales, Australia. Its two sections connect the New South Wales South Coast to the Monaro region, and the Monaro to the South West Slopes via the Snowy Mountains. The higher alti ...

to the north and

Khancoban Khancoban () is a small town in Snowy Valleys Council, New South Wales, Australia. The town is located from the state capital, Sydney and from the state border with Victoria, in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, near the upper reaches of t ...

, another hydro-electric power site, to the south. The road is kept open to and beyond Kiandra by

snow plough A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to re ...

during winter, also serving the Selwyn Snowfields. The road south of

Tumut Pond Dam Tumut Pond Dam () is a major ungated concrete arch dam across the upper reaches of the Tumut River in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is for the generation of hydro-power and is one of the sixteen majo ...

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 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 Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author an ...

, the town has a cold oceanic climate (''Cfb''). Owing to the town's position, perched over the western

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

of the ranges,

temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to an inversion of the air temperature lapse rate, in which case it is called a temperature inversion. Nor ...

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

. 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. 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