The Kiandra Snow Shoe Club was founded in the gold-mining district of Kiandra, New South Wales (NSW), Australia by three Norwegians—as early as 1861 by some accounts— and reportedly became the “world’s longest continuously running ski club” as it evolved into the present-day Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club in Perisher Valley, NSW.

As reported by Vaage, Norwegian gold miners introduced skiing in California in the 1850s. A few years later, some moved on to Australia when the news about gold at Kiandra reached California. These Norwegians introduced skiing to Kiandra as a form of recreation, as had occurred in California. The Manaro Mercury of July 29, 1861, reported that young people climbed the hills of Kiambra with [skis] and came back down at high speed.

According to Skiing Magazine, the first downhill races occurred in 1861 and the club was founded in 1870. Between the years 1861 and 1863, the Australian club members constructed and used a short, broad ski, which was designed specifically for skiing downhill and called the “Kiandra kick-in” (referring to kicking one’s boot into the binding strap).

According to Andresen, Jens Olsen from Tjølling, Norway, gave up gold digging and instead set up a ski manufacturing workshop, the first such factory in Australia. Andresen suggests that Jens Olsen was one of the founders of the Kiandra Snow Shoe Club. There were championships held for cross-country skiing and ski jumping, starting in 1878.

In 1929, the club was reorganized as the Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club. At its 1935 annual competition, “orthodox” and “straight” downhill competitions were held. Covering the event, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that, “The Kiandra Club, which was formerly called the Kiandra Snow Shoe Club, is now 65 years old, and is probably the oldest ski club in the world.”

According to Wikipedia