The Kiandra Mountain area of Australia has an amazing history attached to it. What started out as a gold rush was the basis for an amazing skiing area nearby. This is one of those areas where you can just feel the history. If you really want to know more about those early days of skiing, you should go there. Kiandra is easily reachable from most parts of Asia. Just take an inbound flight from Sydney to Snowy Mountains Airport.
A brief history
Skiing was introduced to the Kiandra area by Scandinavian miners who were there during the gold rush. The first recorded evidence of skiing taking place there was in the winter of 1861 and a social ski club came into existence from as early as May 1861.
The Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club was officially formed in 1870 as this was the earliest date that it could be proved beyond doubt that the activities took place in the area due to a lack of records being kept and it is considered to be the birthplace of skiing in Australia.
Historical first
Kiandra was Australia?s highest town for a century, perfect for Alpine skiing. Alpine skiing commenced in Kiandra almost 25 years before any ski club can be identified as being formed in the whole of Europe, the earliest being the Alpine ski club that was founded in Munich Germany in 1891 and it therefore seems fully justified to call Kiandra Snow Shoe Club as the oldest sporting ski club in the world.
If that was not enough, in 1908 the club held the first ever documented International and Intercontinental Downhill Skiing Carnival, which was won by America, followed by Australia and England in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Photo by Skistar Trysil
Short-lived gold rush
Kiandra experienced a very brief gold rush and this was due in no small part to the accessibility of the area at the time and the extreme wilderness that lent itself to skiing as it transpired, but not to searching for gold. The township remained open as a service centre for mainly recreational and also survival skiing for more than a century after the prospectors had disappeared. The Kiandra chalet finally closed in 1973 and as a result, the township itself became a ghost town and in 1978 Kiandra?s ski lift operations were permanently re-located to nearby Mount Selwyn.
Heritage sight
The original buildings that remain at Kiandra are now preserved as a heritage sight and acknowledge the fact that the area was the pioneer of skiing in Australia, although much to the dismay of some quarters of the population, only four buildings were preserved. The Courthouse that was built in 1890 is the best example that can be seen by visitors to the site as part of a historical walking trail that can be followed, having been set up by National Parks in 2010.
A new beginning
2012 marked the return of accommodation to Kiandra with the opening of the newly restored Wolgal Lodge and if bookings are successful, there are plans to extend the level of accommodation to meet demand, including some suggestions to make use of the Kiandra Courthouse and Chalet by restoring them to their former glory. Today Kiandra is great for Heritage walks and walking. Most other skiing areas are better developed. If you want to get a good feel about those first days of skiing, come visit Kiandra.
Skiing in such a beautiful and historical area such as Kiandra is always going to be a lot of fun and as with any extreme sport?there are various benefits to making sure that you have good travel insurance cover so that you can enjoy your trip and take in this beautiful area without having to worry about encountering any problems in the unlikely event that you need some help or assistance. The area is rather underdeveloped in terms of skiing so if you want to ski here, you should probably go to Mount Selwyn which is very close.
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