Cabramurra is a town situated at on the western side of the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range, a cordillera syste ...

(or

South West Slopes The South Western Slopes, also known as the South West Slopes, is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range, extending from north of Dunedoo through central NSW and into ...

), along the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

in the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It is lower than Dinner Plain in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, and lower than Charlotte Pass Village in New South Wales. From the 1950s until 2018 it had a resident population, serving the Snowy Hydro scheme, including facilities such as pubs, general store and a primary school. However, this ended with the switch to contractors operating on a drive-in/drive-out basis. The name ''Cabramurra'' may be derived from

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

''gambirra marra'' ("crooked hand").

History

Cabramurra was established in 1954 using

prefabricated Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. Some research ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

s, as part of the

Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia, irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

and associated Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. An earlier

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

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 A lookout or look-out is a person in charge of the observation of hazards. The term originally comes from a naval background, where lookouts would watch for other ships, land, and various dangers. The term has now passed into wider parlance. ...

. The original houses were either demolished or relocated to Talbingo,

Adaminaby Adaminaby is a small town near the Snowy Mountains north-west of Cooma, New South Wales, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. The historic town, of 301 people at the , is a trout fishing centre and winter spo ...

and

Jindabyne Jindabyne () is a town in south-east New South Wales, Australia that overlooks Lake Jindabyne near the Snowy Mountains, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is a popular holiday destination year round, especially in winter. This is due to its p ...

. 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 early January 2020 the town was damaged by fire during the

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season commenced with serious uncontrolled fires in June 2019. , fires this season have burned an estimated , destroyed over 5,900 buildings (including 2,779 homes) and killed at least 34 people. An estimated o ...

. In the town itself a "significant number" of houses and buildings were lost, plus the school and old ski club.

Present status

Cabramurra is a '

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

', being the place of residence for workers in the nearby Tumut 1 and Tumut 2 power stations and

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

switching yards, and Tumut Pondage

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

. Only persons directly employed by Snowy Hydro, and their families, are permitted to live in the town. The town has 45 houses, 100+ units, a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

and

petrol station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, wet canteen (

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

) (

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

), indoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

, single 'Poma' tow downhill ski slope, and

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s. The nearest small town for other shopping is

; the nearest large towns/cities (that is, with a

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

) are

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

and

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega, New South Wales, Bega with the Riverina. ...

. Emergency evacuation can be conducted by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

. The primary school has one classroom, with one teacher in charge of all the children. The nearest high schools are at

Tumbarumba Tumbarumba ( ) is a town in New South Wales, Australia, about southwest of the state capital, Sydney. Tumbarumba is located in the South West Slopes (New South Wales), South West Slopes region at the western edge of the Snowy Mountains. The s ...

and

, but only Tumbarumba is served by a daily bus service. The short Snowy Hydro airstrip on the plateau above the town is often used by military aircraft practising short landing/takeoff exercises. The town's water supply is close to this airstrip and is known as "Dry Dam", on the dirt road that goes to Kiandra via "Kings Cross" and the

Selwyn Snowfields Selwyn Snow Resort, formerly known as Selwyn Snowfields, is a ski resort located in the most northern part of the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council and Kosciuszko National Park. Selwyn Snow ...

day-only ski resort. In winter, unlike the vast majority of Australia, the town can be covered by

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

for 3–4 months. This has dictated the building design, with very highly pitched roofs 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 The Kosciuszko National Park ( ) is a national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, New South Wales, Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix o ...

, on the road between

Kiandra Kiandra is an abandoned gold mining town and the birthplace of Australian skiing. The town is situated in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council inside the Kosciuszko National Park. Its name i ...

on the

Snowy Mountains Highway Snowy Mountains Highway is a state highway located in New South Wales, Australia. Its two sections connect the New South Wales South Coast to the Monaro region, and the Monaro to the South Western Slopes via the Snowy Mountains. The higher ...

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. The road south of Tumut Pond Dam is closed to traffic. The permanent workforce of the settlement is currently being replaced with drive-in/drive-out staff, however the school will remain open to service surrounding areas. There is no overnight visitor accommodation.

Climate

Cabramurra has a cold

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(''Cfb''), with cool summers and cold, very snowy winters. While the town is very wet during the winter months, it is sunnier than Khancoban to the west as it sits high enough to lie well above the

cloud base A cloud base (or the base of the cloud) is the lowest altitude of the visible portion of a cloud. It is traditionally expressed either in metres or feet above mean sea level or above a planetary surface, or as the pressure level corresponding t ...

(or LCL) for a good portion of winter; as low, heavy cloud and fog dominates in these months. Owing to the town's exposed position, perched over the western

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

of the ranges,

temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion (or temperature inversion) is a phenomenon in which a layer of warmer air overlies cooler air. Normally, air temperature gradually decreases as altitude increases, but this relationship is reversed in an inver ...

alone is insufficient for low minima as the coldest air drains into the valleys and plains; this gives Cabramurra much milder minimum temperatures than the surrounding

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

, such as at nearby

. Cabramurra instead requires the presence of a heavy

snow pack Snowpack is an accumulation of snow that compresses with time and melts seasonally, often at high elevation or high latitude. Snowpacks are an important water resource that feed streams and rivers as they melt, sometimes leading to flooding. Snow ...

to get very low temperatures, and often the low temperatures are attained during stormy weather. The town is usually snow-bound from June to September, as it lies well above the

snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...

. Cabramurra receives an average of 53.2 snowy days annually. Cabramurra12

The difference in rainfall between the two sites, SMHEA and SMHEA AWS, owes largely to the lack of rain gauge heating at the latter site, which leads to unregistered precipitation when a great mass of snow accumulates. This is evident by the greatly reduced winter rainfall in particular, as much of that would have fallen as snow and gone unregistered by the AWS gauge.

Gallery

File:Cabramurra-January2005.jpg, Cabramurra in summer, 2005 File:Cabramurra Ski Club.jpg, Cabramurra Ski Club has a Poma lift and clubhouse for the private use of members

References

External links