Perisher Valley holds a fascinating place in the development of skiing in Australia. Club lodges provided early accommodation and initial Perisher skiers were adventurous types, a high percentage drawn from bushwalkers, scouting and returned servicemen.
This has resulted in over 100 odd club lodges in Perisher, and associated areas all of which have added to the history of Perisher.
Probably due to the club lodge ambience, Perisher has always had a happy and communal atmosphere with après ski partying rotating through club lodges; apocryphal tales abound, especially during the booming 1960s and 70s period of lodge construction. Many club members learned life skills in construction, event presentation and the important art of partying.
These club lodge members were the genesis of the formal structure of skiing as a sport. The Perisher Ski Association morphed into the NSW Ski Association which was a primary member of what is now the governing body of the sport, Snow Australia.
All through the years the skiing at Perisher was a core ingredient of activity and the mountain fostering ongoing camaraderie. Being a part of this vibrant gathering was exciting, attracting fascinating characters with extraordinary tales none more so than that captured in the latest Society’s book about adventurer Johnny Abbottsmith.
The Perisher Historical Society strives to capture the chronology of the development and the culture and welcomes the 70th anniversary of Perisher.
Philip Woodman – Former long serving President of the Perisher Historical Society.
PERISHER has come a long way since 1952 when the Ski Haven Rope Tow transformed early ski culture as the first private ski lift in the Kosciuszko area. Lodges were being built and the fledgling ski industry started another chapter in its developing life.
Former president of the Perisher Historical Society Philip Woodman summoned it up beautifully in his foreword. The combination of new lodges and the people who were involved were all instrumental in their own individual way in what we have today at Perisher, both on the mountain and the valley.
Celebrating the pioneering years of Australian snow culture and of the southern hemisphere’s largest snow resort is no easy feat as we have no desire to write a 50,000 word novel. During the winter and with three more snow orientated publications in 2022 we will delve deeper into different aspects of this ongoing history, but here is a snippet of the early years.
In 1951 the Snow Revellers was the first ski lodge to be built and it still stands today and with a proud 400 strong membership. Jim Hyman, Snow Revellers Club President at the time put forward the lodge idea to the committee in 1947.
They have continually added to their history by way of their newsletter dating back to all those years. The now quarterly newsletter would have its own version of history to suit their lodge and more.
Considering there are over 100 odd establishments in the wider Perisher precinct, it has so many fascinating tales.
One aspect of looking through history is often the same names emerge with pioneers not just associated with one area, they often ended up at other resorts where they were instrumental in their development as well.
Johnny Abbottsmith’s name is synonymous with the early days of Perisher. In 1952 he started the first oversnow transport in Perisher Valley with his dog sleigh team operating between Smiggin Holes and Perisher Valley. The same year he would progress his entrepreneurship and built the first lift, the Ski Haven Rope Tow at Smiggin Holes.
There have been numerous books written on Johnny, the latest Johnny Abbottsmith, Snowfileds Pioneer by Peter Southwell-Keely who says he played a pioneering role in the development of the snowfields at a time when there were few of the facilities which skiers today take for granted.
In 1953 Johnny would retire his dog team and upped the ante with motorised winter transport driving Weasels for the Alpine Transport Company.
As the snow industry was taking its beginner steps in Perisher the Snowy Scheme was being built and in 1954 the Guthega Dam and Power Station were completed.
Unbeknownst to anyone involved with the Snowy Scheme in this era, it would itself play a key role in the snow evolution with many workers from European and Scandinavian heritage evolving within the snow industry.
When the Old Jindabyne township was relocated and Jindabyne Dam flooded, this would create another chapter for the ski fields as they were described back then. Now Jindabyne is at the core of the snow industry with thousands of visitors each week of the snow season skiing and snowboarding at Perisher.
As we proceed through the early timeline of the 1950’s at Perisher Valley, that connection of lodges and mountain will keep emerging. The manager of Snow Revellers lodge in 1954, Graham Chalker, would become the first paid Ski Instructor for Perisher Valley.
Today Perisher Resort would employ hundreds of instructors and that one ski tow of 1952 is now 47 lifts across four resorts. It is a fascinating tale.
By the mid 50’s you could say business was booming and Sverre Kaaten’s syndicate constructs the first ski lift at Perisher Valley. The Big Tow and associated Tow Hut were now operating out of North Perisher, the Tow Hut the first commercial ski lodge in the Kosciuszko area. The Kaaten triple chair at Smiggins is named in his honour now.
The North Perisher precinct now has several lodges but as it is in a somewhat secluded area of Perisher it is not highly visible. The Interceptor chair and the North Perisher t-bar are the only two lifts in this part of the resort and offer exceptional skiing.
This same year Guthega resort was started by the YMCA Canberra, SMA (Cooma) and Sydney University ski clubs.
Progress was starting to take shape across Perisher Valley and more lodges, lifts and more ski instructors were now catering to this growing market. Johnny Abbottsmith had built the Village Tow between Kandahar and the Snow Revellers lodge in 1956 and Ken Murray had built Edelweiss Lodge in 1957.
Lodges would now have their own ski instructor and a name familiar to people of later times would be Adam Zapenski. Adam started in 1957 as the Tow Hut instructor and worked in the Perisher Ski School into the 90’s. Like all instructors of the early years, they were the link of improving people’s ability that would be a key in growing the industry as more became interested. Jean Ecuyer, Karl Sparber and Jonny Muller were other names of this era.
The continued evolution came in 1957 when the Perisher Ski Association was formed with Max Gregory its first president. This year was a very productive year including on the Guthega side, the Cooma Ski Club lift constructed up the Tate East Ridge. There are only partial remains of that lift which is beyond the Guthega Dam.
More lifts were built with Ken Murray relocating Johhny Abbottsmith’s Village Tow to now be the first tow on the Front Valley slope in 1958.
Commercialism was really tanking a stranglehold on the area now with Ken Murray’s investment in 1959. He builds the Sundeck Hotel in 1959 and the Man From Snowy River Hotel in 1960. The Sundeck is burnt to the ground in 1960 and rebuilt by Murray.
The tale will continue in each edition of the magazine for winter 2022…. Steve Cuff
See more Perisher History on the Perisher Historical Society website plus purchase books on the history of Perisher.
The new Johnny Abbottsmith book, Snowfields Pioneer released for winter 2022 by author Peter Southwell-Keely.
The re-release of the George Petersen book Kosciusko.
