Smiggin Holes is a village in the

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 Am ...

area of

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, a cordillera syste ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, in 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 forced merger of the Bombala, Cooma-Monaro and Snow ...

. It is primarily a winter-only resort village. It is 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, New South Wales, Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix o ...

, and is administered by

New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change The New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), a former division of the Government of New South Wales between April 2011 and July 2019, was responsible for the care and protection of the environment and heritage, which includ ...

. Access to the village is via road. There is an access fee payable to the

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

, and motor vehicles are not permitted to stay overnight in the winter months. Smiggin Holes is one of four villages making up the

Perisher Ski Resort 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, an ...

. It is situated

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

. The name Smiggin Holes is of Scottish origin. The trampling of hundreds of cattle consuming rock salt that graziers had placed there, caused depressions that filled with water. These depressions were called "the smiggin holes". The year 1939 signified the start of Smiggin Holes as a destination for skiers. Smiggin Holes is widely regarded as one of the best beginners' ski resorts on the Australian snowfields. The snow bowl is relatively sheltered, which protect it from harsh weather, avoiding the harsher weather experienced across the wider Snowy Mountains. A cafe was established to service skiers en route to Charlotte Pass and

Mount Kosciuszko Mount Kosciuszko ( ; ; Ngarigo: ) is the highest mountain of the mainland Australia, at above sea level. It is located on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park, a part of the Australian Alps National Parks and ...

Skiing

The Hotel Kosciuszko was opened by the New South Wales Government in 1909 at what is now Sponars Chalet, near Smiggin Holes. The first Kosciuszko Chalet was built at Charlotte Pass in 1930, giving relatively comfortable access to Australia's highest terrain. The growing number of ski enthusiasts heading to Charlotte Pass led to the establishment of a cafe at

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 administere ...

around 1939, where horse-drawn sleighs would deliver skiers to be begin the arduous ski to the Kosciusko Chalet. It was the construction of the vast

Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia, irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

from 1949 that really opened up the

for large scale development of a ski industry and led to the establishment of

Thredbo Thredbo is a village and ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately south of Sydney, accessible by the Alpine Way via Cooma, Berridale and Jindabyne. The village is built in the valley of the Th ...

and Perisher as leading Australian resorts. The Construction of

Guthega Dam Guthega Dam is gravity dam, 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 hydroelectrici ...

brought skiers to the isolated Guthega district and a rope tow was installed there in 1957. The last establishment of a major skifield in New South Wales came with the development of

Mount Blue Cow Blue Cow is a ski resort that is part of Perisher located in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, within the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. The resort is situated within the Kosciuszko National Park and is administered by the NSW ...

in the 1980s. In 1987 the Skitube 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 Rail ...

, on the

Alpine Way 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 and Upper Towong. ...

, to Perisher Valley 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 2009 Perisher had 48 lifts covering and four village base areas: Perisher Valley, Blue Cow, Smiggin Holes and Guthega.

Media

During the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

Roy & HG ran a mock campaign for Smiggin Holes to host the next available

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

on '' The Ice Dream'' television program.

References

External links

"Unleash the Mighty Mongrel" by Sean Peter, The Official Anthem of the 2010 Bid
* {{authority control Ski areas and resorts in New South Wales Towns in New South Wales Snowy Mountains Mountains of New South Wales Snowy Monaro Regional Council

Skiing

Media

See also

References

External links