Mount Kosciuszko

For the Antarctic mountain, see Mount Kosciusko (Antarctica).

Mount Kosciuszko
Jagungal, Jar-gan-gil, Tar-gan-gil, Tackingal^[1]
View of Mount Kosciuszko from the east
Highest point
Elevation	2,228 m (7,310 ft) ^[2]^[3]
Prominence	2,228 m (7,310 ft) ^[2]
Isolation	1,894.26 km (1,177.04 mi) ^[2]
Listing	Seven Summits Country high point Ultra
Coordinates	36°27′27″S 148°15′44″E / 36.45750°S 148.26222°E / -36.45750; 148.26222Coordinates: 36°27′27″S 148°15′44″E / 36.45750°S 148.26222°E / -36.45750; 148.26222 ^[4]
Geography
Mount Kosciuszko Show map of New South Wales Mount Kosciuszko Show map of Australia Location in New South Wales
Location	Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
Parent range	Main Range, Great Dividing Range
Topo map	Perisher Valley
Climbing
First ascent	1840 by Paweł Edmund Strzelecki (European)^[2]^[4]
Easiest route	Walk (dirt road)

Mount Kosciuszko is a mountain located on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park, part of the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves, in New South Wales, Australia and is located west of Crackenback and close to Jindabyne

With a height of 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia.^[2]^[3] Various measurements of the peak originally called Kosciuszko showed it to be slightly lower than its neighbour, Mount Townsend. The names of the mountains were swapped by the New South Wales Lands Department, so that Mount Kosciuszko remains the name of the highest peak of Australia, and Mount Townsend ranks as second.^[5] The 1863 picture by Eugene von Guerard hanging in the National Gallery of Australia titled "Northeast view from the northern top of Mount Kosciusko" is actually from Mount Townsend.^[6]^[7]

When considering all of Oceania as a continent, Mount Kosciuszko is overshadowed by Puncak Jaya in Papua, Indonesia, also called Carstensz Pyramid. Different versions of the Seven Summits climbing challenge depend on which is chosen to be the "Australia" peak.^[8]

Etymology

It was named by the Polish explorer Paul Edmund Strzelecki in 1840, in honour of the Polish national hero and hero of the American Revolutionary War General Tadeusz Kościuszko, because of its perceived resemblance to the Kościuszko Mound in Kraków.^[9]

The name of the mountain was previously spelt "Mount Kosciusko", an Anglicisation, but the spelling "Mount Kosciuszko" was officially adopted in 1997 by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales.^[4] The traditional English pronunciation of Kosciuszko is /kɒziːˈʌskoʊ/, but the pronunciation /kɒˈʃʊʃkoʊ/ is now sometimes used,^[10] which is substantially closer to the Polish pronunciation [kɔɕˈt͡ɕuʂkɔ].

There are several native Aboriginal (Ngarigo) names associated with the mountain, with some confusion as to the exact sounds. These are Jagungal, Jar-gan-gil, Tar-gan-gil, Tackingal, however all of them mean "Table Top Mountain."^[1]

Reaching the summit

Mount Kosciuszko is the highest summit in Australia. There is a road to Charlotte Pass, from which an 8-kilometre (5 mi) path leads to the summit. Anyone with a modest level of fitness can walk to the top. Until 1977 it was possible to drive through Rawson Pass to within a few metres of the summit. The walking track to Mount Kosciuszko from Charlotte Pass is in fact that road, which was closed to public motor vehicle access due to environmental concerns. This track is also used by cyclists as far as Rawson Pass, where they must leave their bicycles at a bicycle rack and continue onto the summit track on foot.

The peak may also be approached from Thredbo, which is a shorter 6.5 kilometres (4 mi), taking 3 to 3.5 hours for a round trip. This straightforward walk is supported by a chairlift all-year round. From the top of the chairlift there is a raised mesh walkway to protect the native vegetation and prevent erosion.

Both tracks meet at Rawson Pass, at an elevation of 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) above sea level, from where it is about 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) to the summit. Australia's highest public toilet was built at this pass in 2007, to cope with the more than 100,000 people visiting the mountain each summer.^[11]

The peak and the surrounding areas are snow-covered in winter and spring (usually beginning in June and continuing until October or later). The road from Charlotte Pass is marked by snow poles and provides a guide for cross-country skiers and the track from Thredbo is easily followed until covered by snow in winter.

North Ramshead

Kosciuszko summit, obscured by clouds

Etheridge Range

Mount Clarke (Mount Townsend is behind it)

Kangaroo Ridge

Snowy River headwaters

Looking north from the summit towards Mount Townsend

Recreation

Topographic map of Mt Kosciuszko including the approaches from Charlotte Pass and Thredbo.

Kosciuszko National Park is also the location of the downhill ski slopes closest to Canberra and Sydney, containing the Thredbo, Charlotte Pass, and Perisher ski resorts. Mount Kosciuszko may have been ascended by Indigenous Australians long before the first recorded ascent by Europeans.

Each year in December, an ultramarathon running race called the Coast to Kosciuszko ascends to the top of Mount Kosciuszko after starting at the coast 240 kilometres (150 mi) away. Paul Every, who is credited as being the one who thought of holding such a race, was the inaugural co-winner in 2004.^[12]

Higher Australian mountains

Higher peaks exist within territory administered or claimed by Australia, but outside the continent:

Mawson Peak (2,745 m or 9,006 ft) on Heard Island
Dome Argus (4,030 m or 13,220 ft), Mount McClintock (3,490 m or 11,450 ft) and Mount Menzies (3,355 m or 11,007 ft) in the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Higher peaks in the region, but outside the mainland continent:

Puncak Jaya (4,884 m or 16,024 ft) in New Guinea. It is the highest island mountain in the world, the highest mountain in Indonesia and the highest in the Australian continent and Oceania.
Puncak Mandala (4,760 m or 15,620 ft) in the Papua province of Indonesia. It is the second highest mountain of the Australian continent, Oceania, Australasia, New Guinea and Indonesia.
Puncak Trikora (4,750 m or 15,580 ft) in the Papua province of Indonesia.
Mount Wilhelm (4,509 m or 14,793 ft) in Papua New Guinea. It is the highest mountain in that country.
Mount Victoria (4,072 m or 13,360 ft) in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
Mount Giluwe (4,368 m or 14,331 ft) a volcanic mountain in Papua New Guinea. It is the highest volcanic summit in the Australian continent.

Cultural references

Australian rock band Midnight Oil performed a song called "Kosciusko" on its 1984 album Red Sails in the Sunset, referring to the mountain. The spelling was updated to "Kosciuszko" for the group's 1997 compilation album, 20,000 Watt R.S.L.

Gallery

Mount Kosciuszko from south side
Mount Etheridge from south side showing high elevation toilet at Rawson Pass
East side of the mountain
The plate at the top
The base of a survey trig marker at the top
Lake Cootapatamba, the lake on the highest place in the Australian continent
A view from the track to Mount Kosciuszko
Thredbo from the Australian Alps Walking Track.
View of Mount Kosciuszko and the Etheridge Range from the headwaters of the Snowy River

References

1 2 "James M. Spencer, THE HIGHEST POINT IN AUSTRALIA.". The Sydney Morning Herald (National Library of Australia). 18 February 1885. p. 7. Retrieved 22 February 2014. ; cited in Alan E.J. Andrews, Kosciusko: The Mountain in History, O'Connor, A.C.T, Tabletop Press, 1991, p.50.
1 2 3 4 5 "Mount Kosciuszko, Australia". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
1 2 "Kosciuszko National Park". Australian Alps National Parks. Australian Government. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
1 2 3 "Mount Kosciuszko". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
↑ "Mountain systems of Australia". Year Book Australia, 1901-1909. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
↑ "Eugene von Guérard: North-east view from the northern top of Mount Kosciusko 1863". National Gallery of Australia. Archived from the original on 4 November 2008.
↑ http://www.jokar.com.au/projects/Ten-Mile%20Stare/slides/Mt_Townsend_Panorama1.html
↑ "Facts & figures of all 7summiteers!". Retrieved 19 August 2013.
↑ "Australian Geographical Name Derivations". Wikiski.com. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
↑ Yallop, Colin, ed. (2005). Macquarie Dictionary (4th ed.). Melbourne: The Macquarie Library. ISBN 1-876429-14-3.
↑ "The rush to complete Australia's highest dunny" (PDF). Department of Environment and Climate Change, NSW. 3 May 2007. pp. 6–7.
↑ "Coast to Kosciuszko". Coast2kosci.com. Retrieved 18 June 2012.

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Kosciusco.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mount Kosciuszko.

Mt Kosciuszko Inc. — page for information about explorer P.E Strzelecki – and news about Mount Kosciuszko
Peakware – World Mountain Encyclopaedia — photo
Hiking Mount Kosciuszko

Highest peaks in the States and territories of Australia

Australian Capital Territory: Bimberi Peak (1,912 m or 6,273 ft) New South Wales: Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m or 7,310 ft) Northern Territory: Mount Zeil (1,531 m or 5,023 ft) Queensland: Mount Bartle Frere (1,622 m or 5,322 ft) South Australia: Mount Woodroffe (1,435 m or 4,708 ft) Tasmania: Mount Ossa (1,617 m or 5,305 ft) Victoria: Mount Bogong (1,986 m or 6,516 ft) Western Australia: Mount Meharry (1,253 m or 4,111 ft)

Category Commons

Seven Summits

Asia	Everest (8,848 m or 29,029 ft)

South America	Aconcagua (6,962 m or 22,841 ft)

North America	Denali (6,198 m or 20,335 ft)

Africa	Kilimanjaro (5,893 m or 19,334 ft)

Europe	Elbrus (5,642 m or 18,510 ft) or Mont Blanc (4,810 m or 15,781 ft)

Antarctica	Vinson Massif (4,892 m or 16,050 ft)

Australia (continental shelf)	Puncak Jaya (4,884 m or 16,024 ft) or Mount Wilhelm (4,509 m or 14,793 ft)

Australia	Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m or 7,310 ft)

Mountains in New South Wales, Australia

Coastal mountain ranges
(not part of the
Great Dividing Range)

Mid North Coast	Middle Brother (554 m or 1,818 ft) South Brother (487 m or 1,598 ft) North Brother (476 m or 1,562 ft)

Allyn, Barrington & Mount Royal	Brumlow Tops (1,586 m or 5,203 ft) Polblue (1,575 m or 5,167 ft) Barrington (1,555 m or 5,102 ft) Careys Peak (1,544 m or 5,066 ft) Eremeren Point (1,537 m or 5,043 ft) Royal (1,185 m or 3,888 ft) Allyn (1,125 m or 3,691 ft) Cabrebald (1,000 m or 3,281 ft) Ben Bullen Gunama Lumeah

Gibraltar and Sugarloaf	Summit (1,170 m or 3,839 ft) Sugarloaf (412 m or 1,352 ft) Bulahdelah Manning

Blue Mountains	Coricudgy (1,255 m or 4,117 ft) unnamed peak (1,189 m or 3,901 ft) Pomany (1,109 m or 3,638 ft) Piddington (1,094 m or 3,589 ft) Boyce (1,093 m or 3,586 ft) York (1,061 m or 3,481 ft) Victoria (1,059 m or 3,474 ft) Banks (1,049 m or 3,442 ft) Tomah (1,016 m or 3,333 ft) Wilson (1,008 m or 3,307 ft) Kings Tableland (1,000 m or 3,281 ft) Narrow Neck Plateau (1,000 m or 3,281 ft) Castle Cliff (986 m or 3,235 ft) Solitary (950 m or 3,117 ft) Hay (944 m or 3,097 ft) Podgers (890 m or 2,920 ft) Irvine (850 m or 2,789 ft) Debert (840 m or 2,756 ft) Camp Cave (800 m or 2,625 ft) Warrigal (760 m or 2,493 ft) Notts (750 m or 2,461 ft) Harris (736 m or 2,415 ft) Centre (620 m or 2,034 ft) Hall (617 m or 2,024 ft) Gibson (608 m or 1,995 ft) Scorpion (558 m or 1,831 ft) Linda Rock (599 m or 1,965 ft) Cookem (569 m or 1,867 ft) Gospers Bedford Cameron Coriaday Erskine Mistake Monundilla Whaite Wirraba Pearces Wedding Cake

Illawarra	Bells (803 m or 2,635 ft) Knights Hill (709 m or 2,326 ft) Noorinan (663 m or 2,175 ft) Saddleback (600 m or 1,969 ft) Wanyambilli Hill (564 m or 1,850 ft) Kembla (534 m or 1,752 ft) Burelli (531 m or 1,742 ft) Kembla West (512 m or 1,680 ft) Brisbane (469 m or 1,539 ft) Keira (464 m or 1,522 ft) Warra (464 m or 1,522 ft) Brokers Nose (440 m or 1,444 ft) Nebo (252 m or 827 ft)

The Budawangs	Budawang (1,129 m or 3,704 ft) Currockbilly (1,087 m or 3,566 ft) Wog Wog (893 m or 2,930 ft) Cole (876 m or 2,874 ft) Sturgiss (858 m or 2,815 ft) Fosters (857 m or 2,812 ft) Barneys Hill (855 m or 2,805 ft) The Castle (831 m or 2,726 ft) Shrouded Gods (809 m or 2,654 ft) Donjon (786 m or 2,579 ft) Clyde (781 m or 2,562 ft) Quiltys (775 m or 2,543 ft) Wirritin (674 m or 2,211 ft) Pigeon House / Didthul (720 m or 2,362 ft) Bushwalker (640 m or 2,100 ft) Byangee (500 m or 1,640 ft) Coolangatta Tarn

Great Dividing Range

Tweed

Warning (1,156 m or 3,793 ft)
Bar (1,130 m or 3,707 ft)
Glenugie (316 m or 1,037 ft)
Chincogan (260 m or 853 ft)
Gladstone
Goobergooberyam
Moombil

McPherson and Nightcap

Barney (1,359 m or 4,459 ft)
Burrell 933 m or 3,061 ft)
Neville (919 m or 3,015 ft)
Nardi (812 m or 2,664 ft)
Matheson (804 m or 2,638 ft)
Peates (604 m or 1,982 ft)

Mid North Coast

Banda Banda (1,258 m or 4,127 ft)

Nandewar

Kaputar (1,489 m or 4,885 ft)
Dowe (1,457 m or 4,780 ft)
Lindesay (1,373 m or 4,505 ft)
Grattai (1,301 m or 4,268 ft)
Bushy (1,260 m or 4,134 ft)
Round (1,250 m or 4,101 ft)
Yulludunida (1,225 m or 4,019 ft)
Castle Top (1,120 m or 3,675 ft)
Gins (1,120 m or 3,675 ft)
Ningadhun (1,013 m or 3,323 ft)

Liverpool and Watagan

unnamed (1,300 m or 4,265 ft)
Pandoras Pass (788 m or 2,585 ft)
Warrawolong (641 m or 2,103 ft)

New England and Moonbi

Round (1,585 m or 5,200 ft)
Point Lookout (1,564 m or 5,131 ft)
Ben Lomond (1,512 m or 4,961 ft)
Grundy (1,463 m or 4,800 ft)
Barren (1,437 m or 4,715 ft)
Hyland (1,434 m or 4,705 ft)
Duval (1,393 m or 4,570 ft)
Black Jack (1,300 m or 4,265 ft)
Gulligal (1,230 m or 4,035 ft)
Oaky (1,070 m or 3,510 ft)
Cooee (1,020 m or 3,346 ft)
Flaggy (984 m or 3,228 ft)
Big Billy (884 m or 2,900 ft)
Dorrigo (762 m or 2,500 ft)
Burning (520 m or 1,706 ft)
Yarrowyck

Central Tablelands

Canobolas (1,395 m or 4,577 ft)
Shooters Hill (1,394 m or 4,573 ft)
Bindo (1,363 m or 4,472 ft)
Trickett (1,362 m or 4,469 ft)
Blaxland
Hopeless

The Brindabellas and Scabby

Bimberi (1,913 m or 6,276 ft)
Gingera (1,857 m or 6,093 ft)
Kelly (1,829 m or 6,001 ft)
Ginini (1,762 m or 5,781 ft)
Franklin (1,646 m or 5,400 ft)
Aggie (1,421 m or 4,662 ft)
Coree (1,421 m or 4,662 ft)
Bramina (1,392 m or 4,567 ft)
Bulls Head (1,375 m or 4,511 ft)
Black Bottle (1,356 m or 4,449 ft)
Lickhole (1,188 m or 3,898 ft)
Brindabella (972 m or 3,189 ft)

Monaro

Big Badja (1,363 m or 4,472 ft)
Brown (1,243 m or 4,078 ft)
Gibraltar (Bungendore) (887 m or 2,910 ft)
Gibraltar Hill

Snowies

Main	Kosciuszko (2,228 m or 7,310 ft) Townsend (2,209 m or 7,247 ft) unnamed peak on Etheridge Ridge (2,180 m or 7,152 ft) Alice Rawson Peak (2,160 m or 7,087 ft) Byatts Camp (2,159 m or 7,083 ft) Carruthers (2,145 m or 7,037 ft) Abbott Peak (2,145 m or 7,037 ft) Mount Northcote (2,131 m or 6,991 ft) Muellers Peak (2,120 m or 6,955 ft) Clark (2,100 m or 6,890 ft) Lee (2,100 m or 6,890 ft) Gungartan (2,068 m or 6,785 ft) Tate (2,068 m or 6,785 ft) Jagungal (2,061 m or 6,762 ft) Perisher (2,054 m or 6,739 ft) Stilwell (2,040 m or 6,693 ft) Watsons Crags (2,020 m or 6,627 ft) Back Perisher (2,014 m or 6,608 ft) Anton (2,000 m or 6,562 ft) Anderson (1,997 m or 6,552 ft) Blue Cow (1,994 m or 6,542 ft) The Granite Peaks (1,980 m or 6,496 ft) Dicky Cooper Bogong (1,980 m or 6,496 ft) Gills Knobs (1,940 m or 6,365 ft) Guthega Peak (1,924 m or 6,312 ft) Blue Calf (1,905 m or 6,250 ft) Sentinel (1,900 m or 6,234 ft) Mount Piper (1,830 m or 6,004 ft) Round (1,756 m or 5,761 ft)

Ramshead	Rams Head (2,190 m or 7,185 ft) Twynam (2,178 m or 7,146 ft) Rams Head North (2,177 m or 7,142 ft) Little Twynam (2,120 m or 6,955 ft)

Other mountains in the GDR

Yengo (668 m or 2,192 ft)

Inland mountain ranges

Barrier	Lewis Peak (297 m or 974 ft)

Warrumbungles	Exmouth (1,206 m or 3,957 ft) Woorut (1,165 m or 3,822 ft) Needle

Other inland mountains	Grenfell Gibralter Hill

Island mountain ranges

Lord Howe	Gower (875 m or 2,871 ft) Lidgbird (777 m or 2,549 ft)

Mountains not within a specific range

Gibraltar (863 m or 2,831 ft)
Gulaga (806 m or 2,644 ft)
Ulandra (761 m or 2,497 ft)
Tilga (329 m or 1,079 ft)
Oxley (307 m or 1,007 ft)

Snowy River Shire, New South Wales, Australia

Townships and Villages	Adaminaby Berridale Thredbo Village Tyrolean

Localities and rural places	Anglers Reach Arable Avonside Beloka Blue Cow Mountain Bobundara Braemar Bay Buckenderra Bullocks Flat Charlotte Pass Coolringdon Cootralantra Crackenback Dalgety Dry Plain East Jindabyne Eucumbene Cove Frying Pan Grosses Plain Guthega Hill Top Ingebirah Ironmungy Jimenbuen Jindabyne Kalkite Middlingbank Moonbah Myalla Nimmo Numbla Vale Old Adaminaby Paupong Perisher Valley Pine Valley Providence Portal Rhine Falls Rocky Plain Snowy Plain The Brothers Wambrook

National parks and other natural features	Kosciuszko NP Valentine Falls

Rivers and other watercourses	Berrima Burrungubugge Cooma Back Eucumbene Goorudee Gungarlin Ingeegoodbee Jacobs Little Thredbo Mowamba Pinch Snowy River Thredbo

Dams and/or associated reservoirs	Eucumbene Guthega Island Bend Jindabyne Jounama Rainbow Lake Three Mile

Mountain ranges	Snowy Mountains Charcoal Rams Head Suggan Buggan

Attractions	Alpine Way Barry Way Big Trout Blue Lake Friday Flat Camp Kiandra Lake Albina Lake Cootapatamba Mount Kosciuszko Mount Townsend Perisher Ski Resort Selwyn Snowfields Skitube Alpine Railway Smiggin Holes Snowy Mountains Highway Snowy Scheme Museum

Main Article: Local government areas of New South Wales

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