Thredbo, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Thredbo Village and ski resort
is in the Snowy Mountains
of New South Wales
, Australia
, and a part of the Snowy River Shire.
Thredbo is about 500 kilometres south of Sydney
, accessible by the Alpine Way
via Cooma, Berridale and Jindabyne. The village is built in the valley of the Thredbo River
, formerly known as the Crackenback River, at the foot of the Ramshead Range
.
The town has around 4150 beds but a permanent population of only about 477 people. When the mountain is fully covered by snow
, Thredbo has the longest ski runs in Australia, and this attracts around 700,000 winter visitors annually. In summer, Thredbo is a hiking
and summer sport destination, including rock climbing
and abseiling
, fishing and Cross-country cycling
and hosts a blues
music festival
, boasting approximately 300,000 summer visitors (Figures are ).
Thredbo was developed by a syndicate of people who were at the time working on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. In 1957 the syndicate was granted a head-lease over the area that Thredbo now occupies. Development occurred in following years under Lend Lease Corporation
. In January 1987, Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL) purchased the head lease from Lend Lease. AHL operates the Thredbo village, services, real estate, and lease arrangements as a public company however a range of private businesses as a part of the Thredbo Chamber of Commerce operate around the year providing activities, shopping, restaurants, accommodation, tours and nightlife.
Thredbo is an Australian ski resort set within Kosciuszko National Park in NSW and was modelled on a European skiing town reflecting the heritage of workers on the Snowy Mountains Scheme such as Tony Sponar, who is credited with having established the location as a ski field.
Contrasting with the primarily lodge-based Perisher Blue Thredbo is a town with lodges, shopping and nightlife. Thredbo has 14 lifts (3 hi-speed quads, 1 quad, 5 t-bars, 3 double chairs and 2 snowrunners). It has the steepest overall terrain of any ski resort in mainland Australia and also the highest lifted point (2037m AHD
). From this highest access point at Karel's T-Bar, the lease-holder Kosciuszko Thredbo and private adventure companies have access for backcountry ski tours to Mt Kosciuszko. Thredbo Village sits at the base of the Crackenback Valley and due to its low altitude (1365m) the ski resort does not always retain snow on the lower half of the mountain as a result of higher temperatures, although temperature inversions at night and below zero temperatures enable snow making. Because of this Thredbo has invested almost $6 million in the largest snowmaking system in the Southern Hemisphere, covering some 65 hectares of trail and using a three stage automated process. The system is operated mainly at night to top up the lower half of the mountain and any other high traffic areas. The automated areas include the Supertrail, Friday Flat, High Noon, The Cruiser area's Walkabout and Ballroom, Sundowner, Lovers Leap bypass, World Cup and Lower True Blue.
Thredbo has over 50 ski runs and employs a standard 3-colour grade system; green for beginners, blue intermediate and black diamond advanced. The resort has received some criticism for varying the standards of these grades in different areas of the mountain. The longest continual run is from the top of Karel's T-Bar to Friday Flat and is 5.9 km long; however, this is composed of several trails. The longest single run is the Crackenback Supertrail, which is the longest run in Australia. The most difficult run in Thredbo is said to be Funnel Web, an essentially ungroomed ski trail notorious for its near-vertical middle section and bumps and moguls.
On the third weekend in August every year the annual "Ski in the buff" event takes place. This event attracts thousands of onlookers as a group of people ski down High Noon naked to raise money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
.
The village offers a free shuttle bus service that link the Valley Terminal, Friday Flat and the majority of the ski lodges.
in Thredbo. It runs from the Friday Flat beginners area to a point on The Traverse trail roughly halfway between the Central Spur and the Merritts Spur. The lift was constructed in 1988 as part of a thirty million (Australian) dollar investment into the mountain by its new owners, Amalgamated Holdings Limited. It is unique in Thredbo in that it crosses over other lifts, namely the Easy Does It fixed-grip quad and the Merritts fixed-grip double. This chairlift provides good access to a variety of runs and is convenient to the Woodridge and Friday Flat lodges as well as major carparks.
Two runs, The Glades and Pegasus, run underneath the higher part of the Gunbarrel Express, with the former running into the latter. The lower half is significantly steeper with many concealed obstacles including a creek (and often suffers from only partial cover), and is out-of-bounds.
Statistics:
s collapsed at Thredbo Alpine Village at 11.30pm on 30 July 1997. John Cameron, a member of Brindabella Ski Club, and 17 residents of Bimbadeen Ski Lodge lost their lives when Carinya (owned by the Brindabella Ski Club) and Bimbadeen Lodges collapsed when the slope above Carinya Lodge slipped downhill, destroying Carinya. Bimbadeen Staff Lodge was then hit, and it too collapsed. Witnesses reported hearing "a whoosh of air, a crack and a sound like a freight train rushing the hill". The sole survivor, Stuart Diver
, was pulled from the wreckage after lying trapped for three days. Stuart was confined to a small space between two concrete slabs where his wife, Sally, drowned beside him in a torrent of water, which Stuart was able to keep his head above.
The landslide was caused by a water leak from a ruptured water pipe that ran alongside the Alpine Road situated above the two lodges. The leaking water pipe caused the ground to become lubricated allowing the top layer to slip away from the lower part.
Brindabella Ski Club opened its new lodge on 5 June 2004.
for high altitude training in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games
in Beijing
.
, attracting serious racers from across Australia and overseas. There are kilometres of cross country singletrack and firetrail around Thredbo Village, the Thredbo golf course and other trails connecting Thredbo to its neighbouring villages. Two local businesses operate x-country mountain bike tours from Thredbo and across the Snowy Mountains region.
Thredbo is host to the world-renowned downhill track, the Cannonball Run. The Cannonball Run is accessed by taking the Kosciusko Express Quad-Chairlift up to Eagles Nest. From Eagles Nest, the course runs back to the bottom of the chairlift, 600 vertical metres below. With approximately 4.2 kilometres of fast singletrack, rock gardens, a wall-ride, tight switchbacks and multiple drops and jumps, the Cannonball Run is one of Australia's longest downhill courses. The Cannonball Run is host to many races through the summer months, including national rounds, state rounds, the Ironhorse Australian Open, the National Interschools Mountain Biking Competition. Track engineering has made a significant difference to the sustainability of downhill mountain biking in a sensitive alpine environment.
The Thredbo Mountain-cross (MTNX) track, designed by Glen Jacobs, an Australian trail expert, opened in 2005. It is situated on Friday Flat and comprises a start gate, multiple doubles, rollers, berms, moguls, gaps, step-downs and step-ups. The track has hosted numerous races since its opening including national rounds, state rounds and the National Interschools Mountain Biking Competition.
Ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...
is in the Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....
of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and a part of the Snowy River Shire.
Thredbo is about 500 kilometres south of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, accessible by the Alpine Way
Alpine Way
The Alpine Way is a State highway in New South Wales, Australia.The Alpine Way starts near Jindabyne on the eastern side of the Snowy Mountains. It runs south-west past Thredbo and crosses the crest of the Great Dividing Range at Dead Horse Gap...
via Cooma, Berridale and Jindabyne. The village is built in the valley of the Thredbo River
Thredbo River
The Thredbo is a river which runs through Thredbo, New South Wales, Australia. Formerly known as the Crackenback River. Feeds into the Snowy River at Lake Jindabyne....
, formerly known as the Crackenback River, at the foot of the Ramshead Range
Ramshead Range
The Ramshead Range is part of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, Australia. It extends from Dead Horse Gap in the south towards Thredbo. It is not far south of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mainland point in Australia...
.
The town has around 4150 beds but a permanent population of only about 477 people. When the mountain is fully covered by snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
, Thredbo has the longest ski runs in Australia, and this attracts around 700,000 winter visitors annually. In summer, Thredbo is a hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
and summer sport destination, including rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
and abseiling
Abseiling
Abseiling , rappelling in American English, is the controlled descent down a rock face using a rope; climbers use this technique when a cliff or slope is too steep and/or dangerous to descend without protection.- Slang terms :...
, fishing and Cross-country cycling
Cross-country cycling
Cross-country cycling is the most common discipline of mountain biking. While less publicized than downhill cycling as it is more difficult to televise, it garners the highest levels of participation both recreationally and competitively....
and hosts a blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
, boasting approximately 300,000 summer visitors (Figures are ).
Thredbo was developed by a syndicate of people who were at the time working on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. In 1957 the syndicate was granted a head-lease over the area that Thredbo now occupies. Development occurred in following years under Lend Lease Corporation
Lend Lease Corporation
Lend Lease Group is a global property and infrastructure company headquartered in Sydney, Australia...
. In January 1987, Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL) purchased the head lease from Lend Lease. AHL operates the Thredbo village, services, real estate, and lease arrangements as a public company however a range of private businesses as a part of the Thredbo Chamber of Commerce operate around the year providing activities, shopping, restaurants, accommodation, tours and nightlife.
Ski resort
Contrasting with the primarily lodge-based Perisher Blue Thredbo is a town with lodges, shopping and nightlife. Thredbo has 14 lifts (3 hi-speed quads, 1 quad, 5 t-bars, 3 double chairs and 2 snowrunners). It has the steepest overall terrain of any ski resort in mainland Australia and also the highest lifted point (2037m AHD
Australian Height Datum
The Australian Height Datum is a geodetic datum for altitude measurement in Australia. According to Geoscience Australia, "In 1971 the mean sea level for 1966-1968 was assigned the value of zero on the Australian Height Datum at thirty tide gauges around the coast of the Australian continent...
). From this highest access point at Karel's T-Bar, the lease-holder Kosciuszko Thredbo and private adventure companies have access for backcountry ski tours to Mt Kosciuszko. Thredbo Village sits at the base of the Crackenback Valley and due to its low altitude (1365m) the ski resort does not always retain snow on the lower half of the mountain as a result of higher temperatures, although temperature inversions at night and below zero temperatures enable snow making. Because of this Thredbo has invested almost $6 million in the largest snowmaking system in the Southern Hemisphere, covering some 65 hectares of trail and using a three stage automated process. The system is operated mainly at night to top up the lower half of the mountain and any other high traffic areas. The automated areas include the Supertrail, Friday Flat, High Noon, The Cruiser area's Walkabout and Ballroom, Sundowner, Lovers Leap bypass, World Cup and Lower True Blue.
Thredbo has over 50 ski runs and employs a standard 3-colour grade system; green for beginners, blue intermediate and black diamond advanced. The resort has received some criticism for varying the standards of these grades in different areas of the mountain. The longest continual run is from the top of Karel's T-Bar to Friday Flat and is 5.9 km long; however, this is composed of several trails. The longest single run is the Crackenback Supertrail, which is the longest run in Australia. The most difficult run in Thredbo is said to be Funnel Web, an essentially ungroomed ski trail notorious for its near-vertical middle section and bumps and moguls.
On the third weekend in August every year the annual "Ski in the buff" event takes place. This event attracts thousands of onlookers as a group of people ski down High Noon naked to raise money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a recessive X-linked form of muscular dystrophy, which results in muscle degeneration, difficulty walking, breathing, and death. The incidence is 1 in 3,000 boys. Females and males are affected, though females are rarely affected and are more often carriers...
.
The village offers a free shuttle bus service that link the Valley Terminal, Friday Flat and the majority of the ski lodges.
Terrain parks
Thredbo has several terrain parks;- Wombat World- a terrain park for the littlies, which has a few bumps, funboxes and arches. Located on Friday Flat.
- Easy Rider Park- a terrain park for beginners to intermediates, which contains a few jumps and boxes. Located at the base of the Cruiser chairlift. A t-bar runs from the bottom to the top of this park.
- Intermediate park - This park has a series of rails, boxes, big jumps and a picnic table. It's always changing to challenge the rider. Located on High Noon.
- Advanced Park- a terrain park for experienced freestyle skiers and boarders with large jumps, rails and a wall ride. Located on Antons.
- Ridercross- Accessible from Sponars T-Bar & Exhibition.
Gunbarrel Express chairlift
The Gunbarrel Express is a detachable quad chairliftDetachable chairlift
A detachable chairlift or high-speed chairlift is a type of passenger aerial lift, which, like a fixed-grip chairlift, consists of numerous chairs attached to a constantly moving wire rope that is strung between two terminals over intermediate towers. They are now commonplace at all but the...
in Thredbo. It runs from the Friday Flat beginners area to a point on The Traverse trail roughly halfway between the Central Spur and the Merritts Spur. The lift was constructed in 1988 as part of a thirty million (Australian) dollar investment into the mountain by its new owners, Amalgamated Holdings Limited. It is unique in Thredbo in that it crosses over other lifts, namely the Easy Does It fixed-grip quad and the Merritts fixed-grip double. This chairlift provides good access to a variety of runs and is convenient to the Woodridge and Friday Flat lodges as well as major carparks.
Two runs, The Glades and Pegasus, run underneath the higher part of the Gunbarrel Express, with the former running into the latter. The lower half is significantly steeper with many concealed obstacles including a creek (and often suffers from only partial cover), and is out-of-bounds.
- Base elevation: 1365m
- Base location: Friday Flat
- Terminal elevation: 1791m
- Terminal location: The Traverse, approx. halfway between Cruiser terminal and Antons base.
- Length: 1679m
- Vertical Rise: 426m
- Average gradient: 1 in 3.9
1997 Thredbo landslide
Eighteen people died when the Bimbadeen and Carinya lodgeLodging
Lodging is a type of residential accommodation. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, safety, shelter from cold temperatures or rain, storage of luggage and access to common household functions.Lodgings may be self catering in which case no...
s collapsed at Thredbo Alpine Village at 11.30pm on 30 July 1997. John Cameron, a member of Brindabella Ski Club, and 17 residents of Bimbadeen Ski Lodge lost their lives when Carinya (owned by the Brindabella Ski Club) and Bimbadeen Lodges collapsed when the slope above Carinya Lodge slipped downhill, destroying Carinya. Bimbadeen Staff Lodge was then hit, and it too collapsed. Witnesses reported hearing "a whoosh of air, a crack and a sound like a freight train rushing the hill". The sole survivor, Stuart Diver
Stuart Diver
Stuart Diver is a ski instructor and was the sole survivor of the 1997 Thredbo landslide.At 11.35pm on 30 July 1997, 3500 tons of rock and mud slid down the side of Thredbo taking two ski lodges with it. The landslide killed 18 people, one of whom was Diver's wife, Sally...
, was pulled from the wreckage after lying trapped for three days. Stuart was confined to a small space between two concrete slabs where his wife, Sally, drowned beside him in a torrent of water, which Stuart was able to keep his head above.
The landslide was caused by a water leak from a ruptured water pipe that ran alongside the Alpine Road situated above the two lodges. The leaking water pipe caused the ground to become lubricated allowing the top layer to slip away from the lower part.
Brindabella Ski Club opened its new lodge on 5 June 2004.
Climate
The elevation of Thredbo Village is 1380m and average snowfall is 2.04 metres. Conditions can change rapidly and snow has been recorded in all months.Thredbo Leisure Centre
The Thredbo Leisure Centre, opened in 1996, houses a 50 m and 25 m indoor swimming pool, wading pool with waterslide, the infamous mission inflatable, two full size basketball courts, fully equipped gymnasium, squash courts, physiotherapist and traverse climbing wall. It has been used by the many high profile athletes, including the Australian Institute of SportAustralian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport is a sports training institution in Australia with world class facilities and support services. The Institute's headquarters is situated in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The 66.0 hectare site campus is in the northern suburb of Bruce, but some of the...
for high altitude training in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.
Mountain biking
Since the early 1990s, Thredbo in summer has been popular for recreational and competitive mountain bikingMountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
, attracting serious racers from across Australia and overseas. There are kilometres of cross country singletrack and firetrail around Thredbo Village, the Thredbo golf course and other trails connecting Thredbo to its neighbouring villages. Two local businesses operate x-country mountain bike tours from Thredbo and across the Snowy Mountains region.
Thredbo is host to the world-renowned downhill track, the Cannonball Run. The Cannonball Run is accessed by taking the Kosciusko Express Quad-Chairlift up to Eagles Nest. From Eagles Nest, the course runs back to the bottom of the chairlift, 600 vertical metres below. With approximately 4.2 kilometres of fast singletrack, rock gardens, a wall-ride, tight switchbacks and multiple drops and jumps, the Cannonball Run is one of Australia's longest downhill courses. The Cannonball Run is host to many races through the summer months, including national rounds, state rounds, the Ironhorse Australian Open, the National Interschools Mountain Biking Competition. Track engineering has made a significant difference to the sustainability of downhill mountain biking in a sensitive alpine environment.
The Thredbo Mountain-cross (MTNX) track, designed by Glen Jacobs, an Australian trail expert, opened in 2005. It is situated on Friday Flat and comprises a start gate, multiple doubles, rollers, berms, moguls, gaps, step-downs and step-ups. The track has hosted numerous races since its opening including national rounds, state rounds and the National Interschools Mountain Biking Competition.
External links
- Wikiski directory of every ski lift to operate at Thredbo.