Thredbo - all you need to know

donthucktoflat

Eats Squid
well guys, since it has been done for mt Buller i thought i may as well do one for Thredbo.


Basically Thredbo consists of one main trail with a couple of trails spearing off half way down. the course starts at the top of the chairlift with a long, fast and VERY loose rocky fire road. this is by far the scariest part of the track and it is VERY important here to keep your line and not lock up your brakes... because you WILL fall. once off this section it heads into the first bit of singletrack. this basically consists of a smallish rock garden (can be jumped) some rollers and a double, followed by a left right combo which spits you out over the fireroad into the rock garden.

the rock garden starts with a little chute and as you can imagine, has some rocks. you then cross another bit of fire road and head into a tight, steep left hand corner down into snakes and ladders. this section of the track is quite technical with a combination of ladders to ride across, some tight switchbacks, a spiral staircase (basically a curved ladder going down) and a couple of small jumps.

from there it is onto a couple of more switchbacks (right, left i believe) and onto a long traverse into the "terrain park". in the terrain park there is a rock jump, a small wooden box jump and the sled saw from the last red bull ride into some NS. the line you take is up to you with the box jump being the fastest (on the racing line, you stay lower) the rock jump being in the middle and the NS and sled saw being the slowest.

the next section of the track is a technical rock garden through some trees. it is quite fast, despite the tightness of it, and is one of the funnest park of the track. there are a number of "a-lines" and "b-lines" through this section. the first is a choice of riding around a tree (requires more slowing down) or to go to the other side of the said tree and do a little "rock ride"(like a wallride on rock). then we head down to a couple of small drops, both with "chicken lines"
bursting out of the trees into the sunshine again throws you straight into a left, right combo turn and then into another left with a short straight. a quick turn right leads into the traverse across to (and in some cases into) magnetic rock which is a quick chicane which leads into another screamingly fast traverse<The lower part of the track has recently been changed as Thredbo are moving a lift tower or something. As you head across after Magnetic Rock, you take a left alongside the trees intead of heading through the trees to the "Tower 10 Switchbacks". This puts you on a fast, grassy, off camber long LH bend before some new switchbacks, then heads back across to pick up the end of the normal track before it enters the final tree section. The new line had only just opened, so the track hasn't really bedded in yet - so some of it is pretty loose and loamy. According to raw nrg, it is staying like this for the rest of the season. you come out here from the new section>(right, left, right then looong left) and into the second last lot of trees.the course from here down is pretty smooth and it is pretty much just a few chicanes until you reach the last lot of trees. you come down two steps into a left handed berm which throws you straight away into a deceptively slow right and you are then just a few turns away from the end drop. the end drop is just a step down onto a pallet with a tricky run in.

there is a tree on the right first (the corner into the drop is a right) and then one on the left. take it to wide and you will smack your ankle on the left tree, too tight and your bars and right ankle will cop a beating. it is actually quite quick but you need to be aware of the trees at all time. after the drop it is into either a wallride or a berm, down the vegie garden (blindingly fast set of stair like things set at angles and then a quick, off camber right into either a double or triple (depends on how you feel) into either a berm and the low finishing tabletop (in a race) or you continue straight on into an extremely
fast off camber left into the big box jump then into the finish area and into the lift line for another run.

riding goes from 9 until 12-12:30 when there is a one hour lunch break, then back into riding at 1-1:30 until the lifts close at 4.

in order to use the lift you must complete a compulsory "cannonball initiation" which costs $199 (incl lift ticket and "the full monty" gear hire (everything you need)). this takes about 3 hours and then the rest of your day is free riding. you only have to do this once. i know it may seem a bit steep but it is well worth it to learn the lines and how to use the lifts (the lifties will be able to tell if you can't use the lift and you will get kicked off the mountain). a normal lift ticket is $69 for one day, $119 for two days and a three day pass will set you back $159. initiation without gear hire is $99

to use the cannonball run it is compulsory for you to wear a full face helmet. body armour is not compulsory but highly reccomended (it is pretty damn rocky up there) you also need to wear sturdy shoes, (not thongs or uggies) but most of you will take that as a given. Hire bike are available from the Rawnrg mountain bike centre which is located behind the valley terminal. the bikes that are available are: Iron horse SGS pro, Iron Horse Yakuza Kumicho and a range of hardtail and kids bikes, all Iron horse.you can also hire Full face helmets (pryme) and body armour (either fox moto chest and back plates or a 661 pressure suit) you can also get 661 shinnies and elbow/forearem guards)

When up in Thredbo it is a good idea to take plenty of spare stuff. i'm talkin chain links, rear derallieur, tubes, multitool (with a chainbreaker), tubes, a separat allen key set (with long handles for anything that is tight), more tubes, spare shifter etc etc etc. of course, if you don't have any of this stuff that is OK but be warned.. IT WILL COST YOU, so if you have the spare stuff, take the spare stuff. it is not neccesary to take up tubes and a pump but when i was up there last i got 2 flats in one run and 2 flats in 2 other runs. luckily on all these runs sombody rescued me and it was the Rawnrg crew who do sweeps all day with spare tubes and tools.

there are heaps of places you could stay up in thredbo. The place i usually stay when up there is the house of ullr. (not a typo). the cost in summer is $40 per person per night which is pretty good for a ski resort. this includes breakfast. there is a restaurant there for dinner which offers reasonably good food for decent prices. there is also a bar.it is located about 500m away from the valley terminal just behind the Rawnrg servo. it is also right next to the thredbo village so there is easy access to services (doctor, etc) and retail shops (clothing, food etc)

there are heaps of places to eat in thredbo. the most common place is probably either in the pub or the many food shops around it. just walk up the stairs and you have a choice of about 5 places to eat. as you can expect it is all ridiculously overpriced but there are bbqs so if you bring meat and salad stuff and bread, you can have quite a cheap weekend

when driving to thredbo from the north it is neccesary to head through Jindabine. it is simple to get there, just head over the jindy dam wall, and stay on that one road until you pass snowy mountains grammar. the next left (not the one with the roundabout) is where you want to turn off (signposted). just head along this road till you get to the national park entrance, pay your entrance fee and keep on driving until you get to the thredbo turnoff (well signposted) (it is the third marked turnoff to
the right i think, after the ski tube turnoff and the crackenback resort turnoff).

then you want to drive past the friday flat base station until you see a servo with lots of bikes outside and some seedy lookin guys working there (jks jks..., please don't kill me Ray) from there you will see a loooong carpark space. you will notice on the right (when facing away from the way you came) there is a grassy slope and a big grass area, well walk until you get to a bridge over this grassy area and you will see the hire bikes and the Rawnrg shop. go into the shop and talk to whoever is there (preobably gillian (ruthless or ruthlessgirl on here, i forget)) who will sort you out.

The riding season in thredbo runs from late in november until VEry early may (this year the season ends on the 1st) the weather in Thredbo is generally beautiful in summer although when the weather is bad... the weather is BAD. the week before interschools it actually SNOWED:eek: so take some warm gear just in case.

Thredbo has long been the location for the Australian interschools, the NSW
interschools, and many national and state rounds (and even for a world cup round!!) so it is a supergood track. if you do visit this fantastic place remember, it is in a national park so try not to destroy any of the native flora and fauna (trees and animals), don't ride off trail and just generally don't be a dickhead. having a riding area such as this is not a given and if you fuck around with the wilderness you WILL get us kicked out of the park.

for further info on other trips and activities in and around thredbo:
www.thredbo.com.au
for more info on the riding side of things
www.rawnrg.com.au


if i missed anything please add it here
 
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VTSS350

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Mate that was one long lone post.

I was a great read and had all the info that people will need. Well done.

I just came back from threadbo, it was awesome. I had one fall just before the last tree section. I was traveling at about 60k and hour. Got the corner before it all wrong and the bumps down into the fast straight section unsettled me then OTB in a flash.

I bent a 3week old set of easton monkey bars. Not happy to say the least.
 

Tomas

my mum says im cool
Goes without saying, but if you deathgrip the brakes though the first bit, you wont be able to grip the bars after bunnywalk trees (the area after the terrain park). The arm pump/finger cramping is shocking to say the least.

Bring heaps of spares. I guarentee you'll need them.

Make sure you hit the wide lines on the berms, otherwise youll get caught seriously short out when it flips back around the other way.

Try and follow someone who has done it before section by section down. There are a few really cool lines that can be taken if you know where they are.

When there are smooth flat traverses, pedal like a mofo to keep your speed up, but also try and relax your fingers. GIve them a wiggle to get the blood circulating.
 

Daver

Kung Fu Panda
roasted said:
first rule of thredbo: outside line. almost always.
Agreed. Rule 1.5 would have to be bring more spares than you can think of. A second bike would be perfect as you strip it for the parts if needs be.
 

Skit

Likes Bikes
Good work on the guide for those like me who haven't been there yet.

So.....the state round coming up - do we all need to do this initiation cannonball crap before hand if we haven't been to threadbo before? Or are race entrants exempt for whatever reason? I think that between race entry (which includes lift fee, yes?) prob $80-100ish, accom for 1 or 2 nights $40-100 and then $200 for the inititiation, plus say $xx(x) fuel, thats a bloody expensive weekend.

I know it's not meant to be cheap, but is this how it's going to be?

And was it good scheduling to make this round just a few weeks after another "away" race in Kempsey? Fark we are going to be broke afterward, who will be able to afford fixing their bikes?!
 

donthucktoflat

Eats Squid
Skit said:
Good work on the guide for those like me who haven't been there yet.

So.....the state round coming up - do we all need to do this initiation cannonball crap before hand if we haven't been to threadbo before? Or are race entrants exempt for whatever reason? I think that between race entry (which includes lift fee, yes?) prob $80-100ish, accom for 1 or 2 nights $40-100 and then $200 for the inititiation, plus say $xx(x) fuel, thats a bloody expensive weekend.

I know it's not meant to be cheap, but is this how it's going to be?

And was it good scheduling to make this round just a few weeks after another "away" race in Kempsey? Fark we are going to be broke afterward, who will be able to afford fixing their bikes?!
if you are racing you don't hasve to do the initiation but you will have to do an instruction course so you learn how to use the lifts.race entry will (should) include your lift fee for the duration of the race.
 

Skit

Likes Bikes
Okay DHTF, so this instruction course you speak of - do you think we'd be smart to turn up on friday to get that out of the way so we get plenty of prac time in on saturday? I'm thinking that there might be a few people who will need to do this - If it takes any significant amount of time, or if the lift operators only run say, groups of 5 at a time through it, it could take a bite out of saturday practice, if lots of people need to do it. And the course is free?

On the bright side, at least turnaround time is sweet on the lifts, no 40+ min waiting for shuttles. Thanks for the help, haven't been to a ski field track yet hence the Q's. (come to think of it, haven't even been skiing in Oz at all!)

scott
 

lotec

Banned
donthucktoflat said:
in order to use the lift you must complete a compulsory "cannonball initiation" which costs $199 (incl lift ticket). this takes about 3 hours and then the rest of your day is free riding. you only have to do this once.
pfffffffffft i didnt do it :p
 

roasted

Likes Bikes and Dirt
thats pretty much only if you arent racing.

I bulshitted my way through it (free, but still legit)
 

donthucktoflat

Eats Squid
Skit said:
Okay DHTF, so this instruction course you speak of - do you think we'd be smart to turn up on friday to get that out of the way so we get plenty of prac time in on saturday? I'm thinking that there might be a few people who will need to do this - If it takes any significant amount of time, or if the lift operators only run say, groups of 5 at a time through it, it could take a bite out of saturday practice, if lots of people need to do it. And the course is free?

scott
for a race practice you don't actually do the full initiation, they just pull you aside and teach you how to use the lifts, it doesn't take the full 3 hours to learn lines etc as everyone is using teh course at once.
 

Skit

Likes Bikes
donthucktoflat said:
for a race practice you don't actually do the full initiation, they just pull you aside and teach you how to use the lifts, it doesn't take the full 3 hours to learn lines etc as everyone is using teh course at once.
No worries, I figured as much but wanted to be sure. Thanks for the info.
 

lotec

Banned
yea probably should have done that, a few guys tried to teach me but i still ended up with my bike which weighs 47 pounds resint with most of its weight on my leg the whole way up and almost fell over when i jumped off up the top because the pain was so intense :mad:
 

leight

Likes Bikes
donthucktoflat said:
in order to use the lift you must complete a compulsory "cannonball initiation" which costs $199 (incl lift ticket). this takes about 3 hours and then the rest of your day is free riding. you only have to do this once.
correct me if I'm wrong but the cost of the initiation including one day lift ticket is only $99, not $199.
 

spyderman_au

Likes Bikes and Dirt
waste

:mad: Other than the instruction on how to use the lift the initiation is a waste of 4.25 hours if you are unlucky, like I was last weekend.

Get out of it at all costs. Waste of more than half your lift ticket. :mad:

;)
 
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