Charlotte Pass

Charlotte Pass
Overlooking Charlotte Pass Village
Location	Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
Nearest city	Canberra (city and major airport) Cooma (town and airport) Jindabyne (small town and small airport)
Vertical	209 m (686 ft)
Top elevation	1,964 m (6,444 ft)
Base elevation	1,755 m (5,758 ft)
Skiable area	50 ha
Lift system	5 total; 1 triple chairlift, 4 surface lifts (1 T-bar, 2 platter Lifts, 1 moving carpet)
Terrain parks	1 small, movable
Snowmaking	Mobile units
Website	http://www.charlottepass.com.au/

Charlotte Pass (often erroneously referred to as Charlotte's Pass), elevation 1,837 metres (6,027 ft), is a location, snow resort and village in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The pass is located in the Kosciuszko National Park where the Kosciuszko Road crosses Kangaroo Ridge. Charlotte Pass is the closest village to Mount Kosciuszko.

Charlotte Pass Village (elev. 1,760 metres (5,770 ft)) is located at the base of Kangaroo Ridge to the south east of the pass. It is the highest permanent settlement in Australia and the location of one of Australia's oldest snow resorts. It is the coldest location in Australia, with a record low of −23.0 °C (−9.4 °F) and winter temperatures which regularly drop below −10 °C (14 °F).

The pass and village are named after Charlotte Adams who, in 1881, was the first European woman to climb Mount Kosciuszko.

Charlotte Pass provides access to some of Australia's highest alpine terrain and was formerly a stop off point for public vehicular access to Mt Kosciuszko, though the road now terminates at the Pass. Being an alpine area the area is subject to extremes in temperature, and is a recognised environmentally sensitive zone.

The Snowy Mountains region is thought to have had Aboriginal occupation for some twenty thousand years. Large scale intertribal gatherings were held in the High Country during summer for collective feasting on the Bogong moth. This practice continued until around 1865. The area was first explored by Europeans in 1835, and in 1840, Edmund Strzelecki ascended Mount Kosciuszko and named it after a Polish patriot. High country stockmen followed who used the Snowy Mountains for grazing during the summer months. Banjo Paterson's famous poem The Man From Snowy River recalls this era. The cattle graziers have left a legacy of mountain huts scattered across the area. Charlotte Pass itself is named after Charlotte Adams who, in 1881, became the first European woman to climb Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest peak.