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Snowy Mountains
Tour Guide
The Snowy Mountains are located in the South-East corner of New South Wales. Take a look at the map below.
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The Snowy
Mountains
New South Wales
New South Wales is the oldest state in Australia. New South Wales has the most people living in it out of all of the states. The capital city of New South Wales is Sydney and is the biggest city in Australia.
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What is a built feature?
The built features of a place or the built environment includes everything that has been built by humans. It is the places humans have built to be able to live, learn and work. The built environment ranges in scale from buildings to parks.
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The local people
The Snowy Mountains has a large amount of towns within the mountain ranges. While they are called the SNOWY Mountains there are people living and activities to do all year round. In Winter, the villages such as Jindabyne, Thredbo, Perisher and many more come alive as snow sport towns. In Summer, these towns are a perfect location to do other activities.
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The history of Aboriginal people throughout the Snowy Mountains is very strong. Sacred sites have been found throughout the area.
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Today, the locals enjoy many activities throughout the Snowy Mountain Region, nearly all of these are dependent on the season.
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Throughout Winter, the Snowy Mountains are full of snow sports! With something for everyone you can have fun skiing, snowboarding, snow biking, snow-tubing, scenic chair lifts or building snowmen. The Winter snow season generally goes between early June to early October. For those with less experience, the locals offer lessons and help you get to know how to use the equipment and get around the mountains slopes.
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They may be known as a snow location but there is still plenty to do in Summer when the snow has melted and the sun is shining. If you're feeling adventurous you can hike to the top of Mount Kosciuszko (Australia's tallest mountain). After taking a chairlift up some of the way, there is an 8km walking track that takes you to the very top for spectacular views. In Summer, you can also go horse riding, fishing, mountain biking, bush walking, swimming, sailing, rafting, explore caves, eat at delicious restaurants and much more.
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These activities have resulted in many tourists coming to visit the Snowy Mountains. The number of people visiting the mountains has been increasing every year. This means humans need to build and create features that will help manage the large amounts of people visiting.
Luckily the locals care for the Snowy Mountains and have built these features in a way that will care and protect the environment.
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Built Features
The Snowy Mountains are a beautiful natural environment, for humans to enjoy it there have been items added to make it easier.
Continue reading to read more about them.
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THE SNOWY SCHEME
Within the Snowy Mountains the Snowy Scheme has been developed and built. The Snowy Scheme is a plan save water and create energy out of it. The Snowy River contains water that was once snow and has melted in the warmer weather. The Snowy Scheme changes this waters natural flow to under the mountains and into the Murray River and Murrumbidgee River.
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By changing the direction of water, the Snowy Scheme stores water in the Murray Darling Basin and prevents the effects of drought. This water is used for general use in the towns, for faming and environmental use.
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The Snowy Scheme is a hydro-electric power facility. This means that the flow of water as it is being redirected is creating electricity. This electricity provides power to many surrounding areas including Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne. This energy is clean, efficient and renewable making it healthy for the environment.
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CHAIR LIFTS
The Snowy Mountains are Australia's only major snow area. While other places throughout Australia might see snow very occasionally, the Snowy Mountains have been built up to allow for the snow and snow activities. An important built feature here is the chair lift. There are multiple chair lifts on each of the mountains.
The chair lifts are used in both Summer and Winter. In Summer the chair lift is used for scenic views of the mountain ranges and is open both day and night. In Winter the chairlift is used to carry people to the top of the mountain so they can participate in snow sports such as skiing, snowboarding, snow tubing and many more.
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The first chair lift for a ski field in the Snowy Mountains was installed in 1957. Since then chair lifts have progressed. In 1964, Australia had the World's longest chair lift, this soon closed due to technical difficulty.
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These chair lifts are important for the ski fields, without them downhill snow sports would not be easily done. To promote tourism and enjoy the snow sports, humans have built the feature of the chair lift.
WALKING TRACKS
Bush walking and hiking are popular activities for the Snowy Mountains in Summer. There are walks and hikes for all abilities and ages throughout the mountains. These tracks guide you through spectacular scenery, blossoming flowers, waterfalls and possibly even seeing some wildlife.
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The locals of the Snowy Mountains also offer guided walking tours. Guides can walk with you through these tracks identifying and explaining the native plants and animals for you. These guides can point out and Aboriginal sacred sites and share the Aboriginal perspective with you.
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By creating these walking paths, it has allowed the Traditional Owners to keep their sacred sites off the tracks. This means that tourists will not be walking through their sacred and meaningful areas without permission. These tracks aim to promote growth in the areas around the paths and keeping all foot damage to the area of the track.
Accommodation
To visit the Snowy Mountains you have many options for accommodation. You may choose any of the towns within the mountain ranges. Many people choose their town based on what mountain they enjoy skiing on the most.
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You also have the option in staying just out side the mountain ranges and driving in each day to experience the activities the mountains have to offer. This is a popular option around peak season as the towns can become very busy.
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For those only wanting the real basics you are able to get accommodation for approximately $30 a night.
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For the people who want something more luxurious you are able to stay in lovely resorts for approximately $500 a night.
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Depending on which option you decide to book you are able to add in ski packages. These packages may include ski or snowboard hire, lessons and chair lift passes that you can pay for when you book your accommodation.
For more fun facts and photos
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