Charlotte Pass, New South Wales
Charlotte Pass is a Pass, a ski resort and a ski resort in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. The 1,837 m high pass in the southern part of the Kosciuszko National Park, where the Kosciuszko Road crosses Kangaroo Ridge. The eponymous village (altitude: 1,760 m) is located at the foot of Kangaroo Ridge in the southeast of the pass. It is her highest permanently inhabited settlement in Australia and home to one of Australia's longest running winter sports areas.
Pass and the village were named after Charlotte Adams (born 1859), the Mount Kosciuszko ascended as the first European -born wife in 1881.
Charlotte Pass provides the access to some of Australia's highest alpine areas and was formerly the starting point for public access to Mount Kosciuszko. Today the public road ends on the pass.
- 4.1 climate
- 4.2 Ecology
- 4.3 Environmental Protection
History
The Snowy Mountains region was probably settled about 20,000 years ago by Aboriginal people. In the summer of huge tribal meetings were held in the highlands, to celebrate together and eat Bogong moths. This tradition was continued until about 1865. For the first time the area has been explored by Europeans in 1835. Paul Edmund de Strzelecki in 1840 ascended Mount Kosciuszko and named it after the Polish freedom fighters. Shepherds followed, the Snowy Mountains in summer used as pasture. Bnajo Paterson's poem The Man from Snowy River describes this time. The pastoralists have left many shelters distributed over the whole area.
The Kosciuszko National Park, in the Charlotte Pass is located, was founded on December 5, 1906 as the National Chase Snowy Mountains. In 1944 he was renamed Kosciuszko State Park and in 1967 he received its present name.
The historic Kosciuszko Chalet was the first building in the village of Charlotte Pass and was opened on 10 May 1930. This chalet was one of several guest houses, which established the Australian government in alpine regions. It was opulent equipped for that time. The chalet burned down in August 1938 and the following summer, a new chalet was built in its place. The chalet is still the largest and most important building in the village and forms in winter its center.
The first skiers in Australia there were already about 60 years earlier in Kiandra in the northern Snowy Mountains, but the first Kosciuszko Chalet, built in 1930 in Charlotte Pass, allowed a relatively comfortable stay in the highest mountains in Australia. With 1,760 m Charlotte Pass is the highest valley station of all ski resorts in Australia and can be reached in winter by ski lifts, sleds and snowmobiles. The growing number of ski tourists at Charlotte Pass led in 1939 to the construction of a café in Smiggin Holes, where horse-drawn sleigh skiers at the beginning of this strenuous climb to the Kosciuszko Chalet brought. Only with the construction of the vast Snowy Mountains Hydro -Systems from 1949 led to development of the Snowy Mountains through the ski tourism in a big way and establishing the nearby ski resorts of Thredbo and Perisher, the most famous in Australia.
Slopes beyond Charlotte Pass on the flanks of Mount Kosciuszko was also created at this time, but today less attention. The Australian Alpine Club was founded in 1950 by Charles Anton, with the aim to build a number of lodges for ski tour in the whole Australian Alps. Huts were built in the hinterland near the Mount Kosciuszko, eg the Kunama Hut, which opened in the season 1953. A rope tow was built on Mount Northcote and opened in 1954. The ski area proved to be very suitable for fast descents, but the hut was destroyed in 1956 by an avalanche, where a skier was killed. 1964 Australia had a short time the longest chairlift in the world, the skiers from the Thredbo Valley to Charlotte Pass brought. Unfortunately, he had to be closed because of technical difficulties soon.
For many decades, Charlotte Pass was the starting point for the road to Mount Kosciuszko, but today, the road ends at Charlotte Pass. The last 9 km to the top of the mountain were closed for environmental reasons in 1982.
Village and ski area are part of the Kosciuszko Natioanlparks and the resort was from the Charlotte Pass Village Pty. Ltd.. ( CPV) leased and operated by this. In June 2015, the lease agreements expire. Next to the chalet there is a village of 12 other lodges and offers 607 guests accommodation.
Activities
Skiing
The Charlotte Pass Alpine Resort comprises the area between the Kangaroo Ridge, Mount Stillwell and the Guthries Ridge.
It is Australia 's highest and oldest ski resort ..
In this resort, there are five lifts, one triple chair lift, is a drag lift ( with hangers ), two platter lifts and a "traveling rug " ( the 2008 cable lift replaced ). This 50 hectares of slopes are opened up. The highest mountain station is situated at 1,964 m, the valley station at 1,755 m. Currently, only a portion of the area is accessible by lifts. A small snowpark was built in 2008. At the resort there are a few snow cannons, which heavily trafficked areas are covered with snow and the help earlier to open problematic slopes in the year. A list of all ever -powered lifts at Charlotte Pass can be found here.
Also skitourers the skiing is very popular, because the village has direct access to the highest mountains in Australia.
The ski area is snow secure than other Australian ski resorts because of its height in general. In 1981 it was snowing even so much that the mountain station of the triple chair lift at the Kangaroo Ridge so far sunk in the snow, that the upper ends of the columns were 50 cm below the snow. But such heavy snowfall is an exception.
In the future, Charlotte Pass will probably be the only ski resort in Australia with significant natural snow because of global warming.
Hiking
In the summer of Charlotte Pass serves many walkers as a starting point for the ascent to Mount Kosciuszko and the main ridge of the Snowy Mountains. The Summit Walk is 18 km long and the Lakes Walk 22 km .. a good view to the main ridge and the source of the Snowy River has the Snow Gums Boardwalk from at Charlotte Pass and the route to the summit passes through subalpine forest at the Guthrie Ridge. Mount Kosciuszko itself can be seen from the first viewpoint.
The road from Charlotte Pass to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko follows the old road, which was closed in 1982 for motor vehicles. At kilometer 4.5, it crosses the Snowy River and then slowly rises to Seaman 's Hut, which is reached at kilometer 6. About the Rawson 's Pass ( km 8) The route brings you to the summit.
The trail from Charlotte Pass to Blue Lake crosses the Snowy River and then ascends through alpine meadows at the Hedley Tarn Lookout pass on to the Blue Lake Lookout. The Blue Lake is one of only four circular lakes throughout Australia and includes the most developed aspects glacier in Kosciuszko National Park. The lake can be reached on a four-hour round trip from Charlotte Pass out.
A shorter and easier climb to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko there from Thredbo.
Driveway
In summer, opened the Charlotte Pass on the Kosciuszko Road Jindabyne from.
In winter the area is covered with snow and only accessible by snowmobile from the terminus of Perisher Valley Skitube, 8 km north-east to reach or from Jindabyne from. The Charlotte Pass Village Pty. Ltd.. has three 18- seater all-wheel drive buses that run every half hour to Charlotte Pass.
The area has not always been easily accessible for all people. Mid-20th century the Chalet in Charlotte Pass from local politician John Wesley Seiffert has been called " a hotbed of snobbery ". He reached for his public criticism reduced bus fares in the area and so opened the ski area for a wider population.
Environment
The alpine region is exposed to extreme temperatures and is considered sensitive to interference.
In the area around the Charlotte Pass environmental investigations have long been carried out, eg 1937 Studies on the plankton in the nearby glacial lake Blue lake using a boat with a shallow draft and example 1997 Studies on the Bergbilchbeutler.
Climate
Charlotte Pass has a subpolar maritime climate ( Effective climate classification Cfc ), the higher mountain peaks contrast, an alpine climate ( Eth ). With the exception of the Arctic territories where the lowest temperatures in Australia have been measured; these were -23 ° C on 28 June 1994.
The highest temperature ever measured in this region was 33.5 ° C
The average summer temperature is between 4 ° C and 17 ° C and in winter between -2 ° C and 2 ° C.
The average annual rainfall is 2329.6 mm, about half of snow between late May and late September. The snow depths generally do not exceed 2.5 but 3.0 m. For Charlotte Pass there are no official records of practice snow depths, but for Spencer Creek ( 1,830 m) in the vicinity. A typical peak snow depth is 1.5 -2.0 m
In every season snowfalls have been found. Sometimes in the summer the snow lasts for days. Snowfall at an unusual time can make the area more interesting, but are typically associated with extreme weather events connected across the country, wreaking havoc and can accept destructive proportions. So, for example, were Weather conditions, which led in 1998 on Boxing Day and the following day ( 26 / 27 December ) to snowfall in Charlotte Pass, responsible for deaths in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in the same year.
Ecology
Conservation
In the area especially many laws to protect the environment are used because they react so sensitively to external influences.
The collection of waste and the treatment of wastewater is obligation of the respective tenants.
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Other devices are not visible ( Guthrie Poma ( platter lift ) and Pulpit T-bar lift )