Winter has come! It’s time for crisp mornings, warm drinks, shorter days and cosy nights indoors. What better time than to share these winter snapshots from our collection? True or false: the Australian Alps has more snow fields than the Swiss Alps? While you’re debating that one, snuggle into your favourite jumper and enjoy footage of a wombat foraging in the snow and Taylor Swift rocking the Snowys at Thredbo ski resort in 2009.
Winter fun, 1940s style
Australian winter officially starts on 1 June (although a few states usually jump the gun each year). Cosy up with a hot chocolate and come with us to Mount Kosciuszko, 1947. Made only a year 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. 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. Enough to make you shiver a little before burrowing deeper into your doona.
Skiing in the Australian Alps, 1947. Produced by the National Film Board. NFSA title: 1393
On fire at Thredbo
Long before she packed out arenas worldwide with her economy-jolting, culture-shifting, fashion-influencing Eras tour, Taylor Swift was bringing her country sound to the Snowys.
At 19 years old, Swift was already a sensation with two albums out, Taylor Swift and Fearless (which have now topped 6.5 million and 9.9 million global sales respectively). But she was yet to truly break away from her Nashville origins and enter the pop mainstream.
In this clip from CMC Rocks the Snowys, filmed in 2009 at the Thredbo ski resort, Swift electrifies the stage with a spirited rendition of 'You Belong with Me’. She pays tribute to her country roots with a simple black T and jeans over cowboy boots but has a butterfly-from-a-cocoon costume reveal that makes the crowd go wild. This is a performer on the edge of a great transformation, who already has her stagecraft down pat.
The concert was admittedly in autumn, but the Snowy Mountains setting is definitely serving winter vibes.
Explore more memorable musical moments
Taylor Swift performs 'You Belong With Me' in Taylor Swift Rocks the Snowys, 2009. NFSA title: 1628779
A wombat at home in the snow
When you think wombats, do you think ‘effortlessly navigating snow’? This excerpt from a 1982 documentary Snow ... Down Under may enlighten you. The clip focuses on a common (but actually extraordinary) wombat, which is shown digging its way to grassy snacks, burrowing itself a tunnel, and ingeniously placing its back feet in the prints of its front feet to walk through a drift.
The commentary by actor Jack Thompson admits that the wombat is ‘totally at home in his environment’, but also makes light of this frankly adorable creature, and fat-shames it as well. We hope that modern viewers will find its chonk-to-height ratio just perfect, and appreciate the resourcefulness of this snow-booted cutie.
An excerpt from Snow... Down Under, 1982. Courtesy: The Film Joinery. NFSA title: 41338
Wildlife thriving in The Dry
June to August may be the coldest months of the year for most Australians, but for those in the Top End – which includes Darwin, Katherine, Kakadu, and Arnhem Land – it's a season of blue skies and 30-degree days.
This 1960 production by the Commonwealth Film Unit showcases the ways of life and points of interest for tourists in northern Australia during the dry season. It includes the vast abundance of birds, plants and animals that can be found in the Top End and how best to see them. It’s a reminder that the Australian environment offers unique experiences whatever the time of year.
Excerpt from North of the Centre, 1960. Produced by the Commonwealth Film Unit. NFSA title: 17832
Ski culture comes to Australia
This 1957 mini-documentary gives an insight into the mammoth undertaking that was the construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme. Migrants from 30 different nations who came to work on the scheme were accommodated in specially built towns like Cabramurra in New South Wales.
It was European migrants in the 1940s and ‘50s, with their centuries-old traditions, who opened up Australia's alpine regions and turned them into winter playgrounds. An emerging middle class kick-started the Australian tradition of 'heading to the snow'.
The film, made by the Commonwealth Film Unit, captures the early days of this boom – and the exhilaration of shooting down pristine slopes.
Roof of Australia, 1957. Produced by the Commonwealth Film Unit. NFSA title: 19361
Sporting history for Thredbo
Before ski goggles were fashionable and après-ski selfies a thing, Thredbo made Australian sporting history – with iconic SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin reporting on the event.
In 1989, the alpine village in New South Wales became the first and only Australian resort to host a World Cup event in traditional alpine skiing disciplines, placing it briefly among the likes of St Moritz and Aspen. Armin Bittner of West Germany carved out a slalom victory on the slopes, with Lars-Börje Eriksson of Sweden claiming the giant-slalom crown.
At the time, there were whispers of a southern hemisphere Winter Olympics, with feasibility studies exploring the possibility of Australia (with potentially New Zealand in partnership) playing host. While that dream never materialised, this frosty flashback is a reminder of Australia’s moment on the world alpine stage.
Slalom World Cup skiing in Thredbo, SBS News, 12 August 1989. NFSA title: 49242
Want to be the first to hear stories and news from the NFSA?
Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss out.
Main image: C505, Warburton, Victoria. Photo by Long Zheng on Unsplash
Does Australia really have more snow than Switzerland? For some people it comes as a surprise to hear that Australia receives any snow at all!
Cute and cuddly, furry or feathered, slippery or scaly; our collection of Australian native animals - both real and imagined - will charm and delight you.
Whether travelling by runway, railway or road, these films from our collection have you covered. They might even inspire your next cross-country adventure.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.
