Mount Kosciuszko is a mountain located in the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park. With a height of above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia (not including its external territories). It was named by the Polish explorer Count Paul Edmund Strzelecki in 1840, in honour of the Polish national hero General Tadeusz Kościuszko, because of its perceived resemblance to the Kościuszko Mound in Krakow.

The name of the mountain was formerly spelled "Mount Kosciusko," an Anglicisation; but the version "Mount Kosciuszko" was officially adopted in 1997 by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. The common Australian pronunciation of Kosciuszko, "kozzy-OS-ko", differs from the , koɕˈtɕuʃko "kosh-CHOOSH-ko".

Various measurements of the peak originally called by that name showed it to be slightly lower than its neighbour, Mount Townsend, and the names were thereupon transposed by the New South Wales Lands Department, so that Mount Kosciuszko still remains the name of the highest peak of Australia, and Mount Townsend ranks as second. 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 Mt Townsend.

Reaching the summit

Like many of Australia's highest peaks, Mount Kosciuszko is not particularly difficult to climb. There is a road to Charlotte Pass, from which it is a nine kilometre walk up a path to the summit. Anybody with a modest level of fitness should be able to climb it. Until 1976 it was possible to drive to Rawson's Pass close to 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's Pass, where they must leave their bicycles if they continue to the summit.

The peak may also be approached from Thredbo, which is a shorter (6.5 kilometres) and not very difficult walk and is supported by a chairlift ride year round. From the top of the chairlift there is a raised mesh walkway to the summit to protect the native vegetation and prevent erosion. Both tracks meet at Rawson's Pass for the final climb to the Kosciuszko summit. Australia's highest public toilet was built in 2007 at Rawson's Pass at an altitude of 2100 metres as over 100,000 people are now visiting the mountain each summer with human waste management becoming a serious issue.

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 and the track from Thredbo are marked by snowpoles and provide a guide for cross-country skiers.

Mount Kosciuszko Mount Townsend (behind and obscured by cloud) Snow pole line Head waters of the Snowy River Kangaroo Ridge, Charlotte Pass

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

Higher Australian mountains

Higher peaks exist within territory administered or claimed by Australia but outside the Australian mainland:

• Mawson Peak (2745 m.) on Heard Island
• Dome Argus (4030 m.), Mount McClintock (3490 m.) and Mount Menzies (3355 m.) in the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Gallery

Notes and references

See also

• Mount Townsend

External links

• Mt. Kosciuszko Inc. - a very comprehensive website
• Peakware- World Mountain Encyclopaedia - photo