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The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southeast Australia. The range comprises an interim Australian bioregion, IBRA Version 6.1 data and is the highest mountain range in Australia. The range straddles the borders of eastern Victoria, southeastern New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. It contains Australia's only peaks exceeding in elevation, and is the only bioregion on the Australian mainland in which deep snow falls annually. The range comprises an area of .
The Australian Alps are part of the Great Dividing Range, the series of mountain and hill ranges and tablelands that runs about from northern Queensland, through New South Wales, and into the northern part of Victoria. This chain of highlands divides the drainage of the rivers that flow to the east into the Pacific Ocean from those that flow west into the drainage of the Murray–Darling Basin (and thence to the Southern Ocean) or into inland waters, such as Lake Eyre, which lie below sea level, or else evaporate rapidly.
The Australian Alps consist of two biogeographic sub regions: the Snowy Mountains, including the Brindabella Range, located in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory; and the Victorian Alps, located in Victoria. The latter region is also known as the "High Country", particularly within a cultural or historical context.
Formation of the Australian Alps was largely complete by around 100 million years ago, but during the past 90 million years, a number of minor uplift episodes occurred, with occasional eruptions of basalt lava from small volcanoes, which flowed across the landscape and down some of the valleys, filling in the low-lying areas to form the flat landscapes of these high plains.
During the Pleistocene ice age, commencing around 2 million years ago, when ice caps formed on many high ranges around the world, as well as at the poles, small glaciers were formed on the very highest parts of the Australian Alps, mostly in the vicinity of Mount Kosciuszko. Whilst no glaciers remain today, evidence of their past presence can be found in the numerous tarns and cirques found in that region, such as Club Lake, Blue Lake, and Hedley Tarn.
The range's natural ecology is protected by large National Park, in particular the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales and the adjoining Alpine National Park in Victoria. These are managed cooperatively as the Australian Alps National Parks by agencies of the Australian government and the state governments of this region.
The Australian Alps also contain the only skiing areas of mainland Australia. Along with the town of Cabramurra, New South Wales, these are practically the only permanent settlements in the area. Several medium-sized towns can be found in the valleys below the foothills, such as Jindabyne, New South Wales, Corryong, Victoria, and Mount Beauty.
The Australian Alps are not as high or as steep as the European Alps, New Zealand's Southern Alps, or the Andes Mountains, and most of their peaks can be reached without using mountaineering equipment.
Among this wide variety of different species of wildlife, there are different habitat requirements for each of the mentioned species, regardless of whether it is native or introduced. In addition to rock outcrops and decaying logs, there is often vegetation that provides food and shelter or a combination of these factors. Consequently, topography, soil type, and temperature determine the type of vegetation in an area and how animal populations are distributed.
Certain native flora in Australia have evolved to rely on bushfires as a means of reproduction, and fire events are an interwoven and an essential part of the ecology of the continent. In some eucalypt and banksia species, for example, fire causes seed pods to open, allowing them to germinate. Fire also encourages the growth of new grassland plants. Other species have adapted to recover quickly from fire.
Nevertheless, damage to surrounding human habitations and Australian fauna can be extensive and occasionally catastrophic. The 2003 Canberra bushfires severely affected almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory's pasture, forests (pine plantations), and nature parks. After burning for a week through the Brindabella Ranges above Canberra, the bushfire entered the suburbs of the city on 18 January 2003. Four people died and more than 500 homes were destroyed or severely damaged. The Victorian Black Saturday bushfires were particularly intense in parts of the Victorian High Country and destroyed several towns, including Kinglake and Marysville. The fires killed 173 people, Australia's highest-ever loss of life from a bushfire. Statewide, the fires burned out over 400,000 hectares and destroyed 2,029 properties.
Some of the more noteworthy huts include Moscow Villa, Valentine Hut, Seaman's Hut, and Mawsons Hut. In recent years many huts have been lost through lack of maintenance and bush fire, as occurred with the Pretty Plain Hut and Mount Franklin Chalet, which were destroyed by the Canberra bushfires of 2003.
Mount Bogong, with its peak at 1986 m above sea level, is the highest peak in Victoria. The surrounding Bogong High Plains is one of the largest areas of snow country in Australia. It includes the leading resorts of Falls Creek and Mount Hotham. Recreational and practical skiing was being practised in the Victorian Alps by the 1880s and 1890s with skis made from local timbers, and making use of single steering poles. Skiing began at Mount Buffalo in the 1890s, and a chalet was constructed in 1910. Australia's first ski tow was constructed near Mount Buffalo in 1936.
Cross-country skiing is possible in the ACT, as well as in New South Wales and Victoria, but downhill skiing can only be done in New South Wales and Victoria:
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