Mount Kosciuszko Summit

At 2,228 meters (7,310 feet), Mount Kosciuszko is the tallest mountain in mainland Australia. The snow-covered mountain is a popular skiing destination in the winter. In summer, most of the snow melts, leaving spectacular views with beautiful wildflowers. Perfect for avid walkers, or cheat and use the express lift to cut down the distance and difficulty. It’s also popular for mountain bikers in the summer.

The mountain got its current name in 1840, from the Polish explorer Pawel Edmund Strzelecki, who thought the mountain resembled Krakow’s Kościuszko Mound, an artificial hill built in the 1820s as a memorial to the famed Polish-Lithuanian freedom fighter Thaddeus Kosciuszko.

The Aboriginal people of the area had a number of names for the mountain: Some called it Tar-gan-gil, a name associated with the Bogong moths that can be found there. In the Ngarigo language, the mountain has long been called Kunama Namadgi, which means “snow” and “mountain.” In 2019, the Toomaroombah Kunama Namadgi Indigenous Corporation submitted a proposal to adopt Kunama Namadgi as an official dual name for the mountain.