Roof of Australia

Made by The Commonwealth Film Unit 1957. Directed by Geoffrey Collings. The snow fields of the Australian Alps are larger than those in Switzerland and provide winter holidays for many Australians. Others work and live with their families above the snow line, where life is much as it is in other towns but with an added excitement.

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[scottclements78]

@sundowner49 I believe this footage was taken from a 1950's movie which was filmed in Austria depicted as being in the fictional "snowy mountains" of Australia which do not actually exist. At that time the world was quite uninformed about the Australian landscape and the idea of snow in that arid land at the time seemed romantic to the mostly US audience. Australia is too hot and flat to contain any snow. Im told they mistake hail for snow and thats what you are talking about.

[sundowner49]

@scottclements78.... I had to laugh.it was filmed in Australia.I can't believe you are serious.I lived in the Snowy Mountain area in Jindabyne in 1956.and there was snow as depicted in the video,Cabramurra township is it in Austria? are there snow gums in Austria?did you see the men in horseback riding through the snow gum forest?did you see the right hand drive landrover?did you read the english signs?

no...my friend you are ill informed and need to be corrected,to be fair

[creatrixZBD]

anyone who thinks it doesn't snow in Australia is just wrong... i've lived in the Snowy Mountains for most of my life (why do you think its called that, i wonder?) and i go snowboarding every winter... its not the best in the world, but its rad for what it is.. plenty of ski/snowboard films made in Aus and we have some of the best skiers and snowboarders around (gold medallists in winter Olympics (like Alyssa Camplin) and world number 1 halfpipe champ Torah Bright.. Google it, non-believers ;P

[Seattlecarnut]

@scottclements78 I would prefer to visit during our Summer, your Winter months. Our Summers weather can be unpredictable. It can be hot (around 25-30 degrees celcius) or cold (around 15-20 celcius).

[rohjoe1969]

@Conniptions886 That must have been the year there were skiiers on the Tasman Bridge in Hobart!

[scottclements78]

@Seattlecarnut If I was a tourist visiting Aust Id pick summer the time to visit. You could get better snow in the US than here so it wouldnt be worth the trek. And NZ has better mountains than us so Id look there before here for snow. But in Summer we have the beaches and chilled back lifestyle. Surfing on the coast almost anywhere in Australia is great. But if you came here in winter you could see the snow. This season has been the best in 20 years up there.

[rastan49]

As for location's in the film. What I could recognise.

It was footage mixed and match between the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales and the Victorian Alps in Victoria.

Places like the Main Range, Charlotte's Pass and Cabumurra (The town footage) and the western face of the Main Range at the end in NSW.

In Victoria it was Mt Feathertop and Mt Hotham (Summit, Australia Drift, Mary's) + surrounding High Country.

[rastan49]

What a great piece on Australian ski history. Always great to see how it use to be. Look at how much snow there was :) Must have been filmed in the 1956 winter season as it had over a 3 metre base record at Spencer's Creek for that year. 57' had only 1.5m base and that looks like way more then that :)

For overseas folk, this year marks the 150th anniversary of skiing in Australia. Started in 1861 around the time of the gold rushes in a place called Kiandra.

[Seattlecarnut]

@scottclements78 Really? I'll have to visit there.

[scottclements78]

@Seattlecarnut Haha. Im just joking. I use to live in Canberra and it snowed there about once a year. I live in Sydney now and you never get cold here. Some places are cold enough. Check out Perisher ski resort. It was about a 2 hour drive from where I use to live. Its not world class but if you go there at the right time you can get good powder and have a fun day. Seattle probably gets more snow than Canberra though.