Skiing in the Australian Alps

Made soon after the Second World War ended, this promotional film from the National Film Board has an air of determined cheerfulness, focusing on rowdy fun like tobogganing and flare-lit night frolics in the snow at Mount Kosciuszko. The mood of the piece is fluid, switching from lyricism (‘black shadows on a field of white’) as the camera lingers on herringbone patterns and silhouettes, to a big-band soundtrack accompanying pratfalls on the ‘Grand Slam’. There’s a patriotic point to this promotion: Australia can hold its own with the Old World. The Australian Alps, we learn, have a greater snow area than Switzerland.  

This snow-dome time capsule gives us an insight into the evolution of ski fashion. There are no puffas, goggles or beanies here, even for the experts – just chunky-knit sweaters, slacks and bare heads.