Skiing trip to the Victorian Alps, 1926

This silent clip is an excerpt from a longer piece of footage from 1926 that follows the journey of a group of tourists who go skiing in the Victorian Alps.

As the intertitle at the start of this clip suggests, if you live in an alpine region then skiing is not just a sport but a way of life. The footage of skiers making their way through a forest using poles to steer with is quite remarkable.

The final segment of the clip shows Ben, 'a particularly good dog', who has been trained by his owner to retrieve 'lost' skis.

In the full film, the group leaves Bright for Harrietville, Mount Feathertop and Mount St Bernard in horse-drawn wagons.The film includes panoramic views of the mining town of Wandiligong.

Mount Feathertop is located near the Mount Hotham Ski Resort and is noted for its steep summit slopes rather than the rounded top of other mountains in Australia's alpine regions. It can be treacherous and has claimed a number of lives over the years.