1. Jason Haynes was Australia’s first pro rider to appear in Transworld.

2. ‘Cloud seeding’ began in 2004 to assist in snowfalls for Australian resorts.

3. The average snow depth at Spencer’s Creek (NSW) has only hit the 350cm mark twice – in 1964 and 1981.

4. Bushfires in January 2003 destroyed 254,000 square miles – almost 3 times the size of Britain – and caused the evacuation of the Thredbo Village and Guthega townships.

5. Torah Bright was born in Cooma, about an hour from the resorts of NSW, and became the only Aussie to win the TTR tour in 2007, as well as a host of other events (including the 2009 Winter X-Games halfpipe).

6. Holly Crawford became the first Aussie to claim a medal in a FIS world Cup event in Korea in 2009.

7. Gum trees are unique to the Australian landscape and can be found at many of the ski resorts.

8. Aussie Robbie Walker appeared in Transworld’s 2008 film ‘These Days’ and is fast becoming a favourite in the US media.

9. Australia has more snow-covered terrain than the whole of Switzerland.

10. Australia’s first ski club was formed at the goldrush town of Kiandra in 1861.

11. Snowboarding started to appear at Buller in 1987, though in very small numbers. Since ‘88 was such a bad season, numbers did not increase, and in 1989 boarders were prevented from using the southern slopes because of the steepness of the terrain. From 1990 onwards snowboarding has had access to all areas.

12. Australian Ryan Tiene had the closing part in the Sandbox Film ‘All Day Every Day’.

13. Mt Kosciusko is Australia’s highest mountain at 7310 ft (2228 m) and is only a 6km walk from the top of Thredbo’s Kosciuszko Express Chairlift.

14. Australian website boardtheworld.com is amongst the oldest resort review sites in the world, having begun in the early internet days of 1996.

15. Unlike other countries, where mountain animals hibernate during winter, in Australia you can still see wombats and wallabies during the snow season.