Johnny Abbottsmith – Snowfields Pioneer

Our new publication Johnny Abbottsmith – Snowfields Pioneer is now available in the Bookshop.

Johnny Abbottsmith is a name familiar to many who have travelled the Perisher range from Jindabyne to Mt Kosciuszko.
Starting with a job as a grease monkey at the Hotel Kosciusko in 1936, Johnny became a ski instructor, soldier, Antarctic scientist, ski racer, carpenter, diesel engineer, weather observer, owner of first oversnow transport in Perisher, builder of ski tows and ski lodges, owner of a service station and caravan park, and in later years, opal miner and round- Australia traveller.
This story gives an account of his remarkable life.

Author Peter Southwell-Keely started skiing at The Chalet, Charlotte Pass, in 1946. At that time, the only resorts in NSW were Kiandra, the Hotel Kosciusko at Diggers Creek, the Chalet at Charlotte Pass and Betts Camp.
Since then he has observed the development of all the resorts in NSW.
His previous publication for Perisher Historical Society was “Highway to Heaven: A History of Perisher and the Ski Resorts along the Kosciusko Road”.
He is the author of “Out on the Tops: The Centenary of the Kosciusko Alpine Club”, “White Ground: A History of City Tattersalls Ski Club Boonoona” and “The School of Chemistry,  University of New South Wales”.