The highest permanently inhabited town on the Australian continent, Cabramurra is situated at 1,488m in the western Snowy Mountains of the Great Dividing Range.

Where is it?: Cabramurra is 503 km south west of Sydney; 233 km from Canberra; 110 km from Tumut.

Cabramurra was established in 1954 using prefabricated houses, as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and associated Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. Only persons directly employed by Snowy Hydro, and their families, are permitted to live in the town.

An earlier surveying camp had been established there in 1951. The town was moved some 500m and 20m vertically to a more sheltered position, its current site, in 1974, leaving the original site as the lookout. The original houses were either demolished or relocated to Talbingo, Adaminaby and Jindabyne.

The new houses were built with Besser blocks to a design specifically tailored to the environment. Long steep roofs allow snow to slide off, and the interiors are designed around a central heater (originally fuelled by oil) which warms all rooms in the house either directly or indirectly (chimney passes between upstairs bedrooms). All power and phone lines are routed underground.

In winter, the town can be covered by snow for 3-4 months. This has dictated the building design with a very highly pitched roof for the houses. The town's downhill ski run was the first in Australia to have lighting installed to allow night use.

The town is located within the boundaries of Kosciuszko National Park, on the road between Kiandra on the Snowy Mountains Highway to the north and Khancoban, another hydro-electric power site, to the south. The road is kept open to and beyond Kiandra by snow plough during winter, also serving the Selwyn snowfields resort. The road south of Tumut Pond dam is closed to traffic.

The Australian High Country is populated by unique flora and fauna including wombats, wallabies, echidnas, and the Snow Gum. The Alpine regions are subject to environmental protection, which has limited the scope of commercial development of skiiable terrain, however Australia has extensive cross country skiing terrain.

High country huts, often a legacy of the era of cattle grazing in the mountains, provide emergency shelter in these regions. Seaman's Hut, near Kosciusko, was built as a refuge in 1929 to commemorate Laurie Seaman, who was separated from his party and died in a 1928 blizzard while attempting to cross-country ski to Mount Kosciusko.

Australian Alps National Parks Blog