Back in October 2008 I had the opportunity to shoot virtual tours from the top of Australia’s Tallest mountain, Mt Kosciusko. I put together a separate map of the 46 Mt Kosciusko Walking Track Virtual Tours. This area is also known as the Snowy Mountains and the Australia Alps. It’s located in Kosciusko National Park.
Of course Australia being the flattest continent on Earth, our mountains are more rolling hills than ‘mountains’. This is borne out by the fact there’s a nice wide walking track all the way to the top, while back in the day you could drive to the top. They closed the road in the 1970’s though, as parking at the top of our tallest mountain was becoming an issue.
A Virtual Tour of Mt Kosciusko – From the top.
The official record lists the height of Mt Kosciusko at 2228m (7310 ft). My camera mounted GPS claimed a height of 2232m (7322 ft), you can decide which one you want to believe. (Hint: GPS is generally not very accurate at measuring height, although very close in this instance)
There are 2 walking tracks to the top. I chose the shorter one, a 13km (8 mile) return, which runs from the top of the Thredbo Chairlift. The lift costs $28 for a return trip in summer and takes about 10mins. It’s a beautiful ride up.
The walk wasn’t too hard consisting mostly of undulating hills. In October I had to cross about 6 snow drifts, some of which were quite long, and near to the top of Kosciusko a little steep and slippery as well, but passable with normal foot gear.
I did a day trip from Canberra out to the Snowy Mountains. It’s a long day, with a 2hr drive at each end, but well worthwhile.
A couple of kilometres in there is a lookout to Mt Kosciusko.
Footbridge over a mountain stream, Mt Kosciusko National Park.