travelled from central Victoria in what is now the Hume region to the Bogong high plains, settling in the area because of its abundance of natural grass fields. These early settlements were often seasonal as the harsh winter made grazing and mining impractical. The communities in the Victorian Alps were disconnected from Australian civilisation, which bread a distinctive way of life epitomised in the famed poem by Banjo Patterson, "The Man from Snowy River". After the Second World War a growing population increased the demand for timber from the Victorian Alps. This added growth to the economy of the area with the building of a series of roads, train-lines and bridges, the most prominent of these being the Great Alpine Road, a 308 km fully paved mountain pass that connects Bairnsdale in East Gippsland, to Wangaratta in Central Victoria. The road reaches an altitude of AHD at a site called the cross, which is the highest section of sealed road in Australia; the site was a popular tourist destination with motorists in the 1920s and 1930s. The introduction of snow-sports to Victoria began in the 1910s, with the government-funded building of the Mount Buffalo chalet. The chalet is the largest wooden building in Australia and was for many years the only ski field in the Victorian Alps. In the decades following skiing in the Alps grew slowly, predominantly centred around ski clubs such as the University Ski club which was founded in 1929 under the name Melbourne University Ski Club. In the early 1960s skiing began to evolve as ski fields started to install tow ropes and Austrian immigrants like Hans Grimus at Mount Buller and Peter Zirknisker at Mount Hotham, opened ski rental businesses and lodges at their respected mountains. Location and features Comprising the Bogong High Plains, Bowen Range, Cathedral Range, Cobberas Range, and numerous other smaller ranges, the Victorian Alps include the Alpine Shire, parts of the East Gippsland Shire, and some parts of the Mansfield Shire local government areas. The Alps are sometimes called the High Plains or High Country. The 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics census showed that the Alpine Shire had 12,337 permanent residents with 49.2% male and 50.8% female, and a median age of 49. The highest peak in the range is Mount Bogong at an elevation of AHD, which is also the highest peak in Victoria. Other prominent peaks within the region