During the summer, only 3-4 of Thredbo's ski lifts are operating and these cater to hikers and mountain bikers with bike trails replacing the snow pistes. The longest ski lift at 1.8km is the Kosciuszko Chairlift which takes visitors from Thredbo town at 1365m to the Eagle's Nest restaurant at 1930 metres. From there, it is a 2km hike over steel walkways to Mt Kosciuszko Lookout and a further 4.5km to Mt Kosciuszko summit. In the 30C temperatures, we settled for the lower lookout.
The vista at the top of the chairlift is relatively flat compared with mountain ranges elsewhere, even if it does rise to 2228m at Mt. Kosciuszko summit and the views are less dramatic. On descent, we then took a second gondola, the Merritt's Gondola which deposits riders in the middle of a forest with even fewer views. The day's pass however includes all lifts.
Incidentally, for those wondering why the National Park has a Polish name, Kosciuszko National Park is named after the Polish freedom fighter Tadeusz Kościuszko to honour his legacy with the name given to Australia's highest peak in 1840 by Polish explorer Paweł Edmund Strzelecki. Strzelecki believed the mountain's shape resembled the Kościuszko Mound in Kraków, which was built to honor the patriot.
Views of and from the mountain and the surrounding Park can be seen here.