Though skiing in Australia began in the northern Snowy Mountains in the 1860s, it was the construction of the vast Snowy Scheme from 1949, with its improvements to infrastructure and influx of experienced European skiers among the workers on the Scheme, that really opened up the mountains for the large scale development of a ski industry, and led to the establishment of Thredbo and Perisher as leading Australian resorts. The construction of Guthega Dam brought skiers to the isolated Guthega district and a rope tow was installed there in 1957. Charles Anton, a snowy worker identified the potential of the Thredbo Valley.