Blue Cow Mountain facts for kids
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Blue Cow is a cool ski resort and a mountain in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It's a big part of the famous Perisher Ski Resort, which is the largest ski area in the Southern Hemisphere! Blue Cow is located inside the beautiful Kosciuszko National Park.
What is Blue Cow?
Blue Cow is one of four main areas that make up the huge Perisher Ski Resort. The other areas are Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, and Guthega. This whole resort is managed by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service.
The mountain itself is also known as Blue Cow Mountain or Mount Blue Cow. It's part of the Main Range within the Snowy Mountains. Mount Blue Cow stands tall at about 1,901 meters (that's over 6,200 feet!) above sea level.
Getting There
Getting to Blue Cow in winter is quite an adventure! The only way to reach the village during the snowy months is by using the Skitube. This is an underground railway that takes skiers from Bullocks Flat to Perisher Valley and then to Blue Cow. In summer, when there's no snow, you can access Blue Cow using off-road vehicles.
Skiing and Snowboarding
Blue Cow became a major place for skiing in New South Wales during the 1980s. The Skitube railway opened in 1987, making it much easier for people to get to Blue Cow. Blue Cow also opened for skiing in 1987.
Over time, Blue Cow joined up with other nearby ski areas. In 1991, the people who ran Blue Cow bought Guthega. Later, this combined resort merged with Perisher-Smiggins. This created the massive Perisher Ski Resort we know today, which is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere!
Perisher Ski Resort has 48 ski lifts and covers a huge area of about 1,245 hectares (that's over 3,000 acres!).
Blue Cow's Ski Lifts
Blue Cow has eight different ski lifts to help you get up the mountain:
- Ridge Quad Chair
- Summit Quad Chair
- Early Starter Double Chair
- Terminal Quad Chair
- Brumby T-Bar
- Pony Ride Carpet
- Snowsports School Rope Tow (This one is just for the Snowsports School!)
- Pleasant Valley Quad Chair