Thredbo MTB…The Season of all Seasons
Posted on 4 May, 2017
The Thredbo Mountain Bike Park has again raised the bar for the 2016/17 MTB season. The expansion of our trail network continues, putting Thredbo at the forefront of Gravity Bike Parks in Australia. Thredbo MTB events have also soared to great heights this season boasting the biggest gravity inspired events in the country.
Trails
Thredbo Resort in cooperation with trail building company Dirtart have unveiled Stage 1 of the Thredbo All Mountain Trail. Received well by riders this trail brought a new genre of mountain biker into the resort. The All-terrain/enduro rider could now experience top to bottom single track on a short travel bike. The section between Antons T-Bar and the Gunbarrell Chairlift top station was also completed later on in the season and is regarded as one of the best pieces of trail in Australia.
Aiding our instructors and providing guests with more progressive learning opportunities has been the construction of our beginner Skills Park Area on the Valley floor. This versatile area has everything to move forward as a rider, with berms, rollers, rock gardens and small drops all inter connecting.
Events
The Cannonball MTB Festival descended on Thredbo Resort in December with a staggering 560 riders, making it the undisputed king of MTB events in Australia. Some of the biggest names in the sport, competing across five events for a share in over $50k in cash and prizes. Australian stars such as Troy Brosnan, Josh Carlson and Tegan Molloy were in the line-up along with NZ rider Brook McDonald who made the journey over to see if he could take down the Aussies. In the main event, The Australia Open Downhill, current form and local knowledge paid off for Troy Brosnan and Tegan Molloy taking out the pro field wins.
Our new event the Thredbo Super Enduro show cased the diversity of trails in Thredbo. This new concept developed by Thredbo MTB saw around 300 riders race our three gravity trails in a 5 hour time slot. Riders could start on any of the tracks they wanted within the time frame. The combined time of the three runs compiled the results. With no start times, start lists and the flexibility of multiple runs, saw this event being highly acclaimed by riders as a chilled and relaxed form of racing.
Over 400 students from over 60 schools from around the country descended on Thredbo for the Australian MTB Interschools in early March to compete in four events across the weekend to determine the top individual, team and overall school champion. The Interschools MTB Champs is regarded as a foundation and stepping stone for young riders going on to race at a National or international level.
The holiday season was buzzing with activity once again with many families having a crack at mountain biking for the first time. The TVT was a hot favourite providing a gentle ride down the valley before jumping on the Thredbo shuttle bus for a lift back to the village. Kids were kept busy with the MTB Freeriders day camps along with the Pump Track Workshops run on the Village Green Pump Track. We also saw a number of riders taking on one of the country’s biggest undulating descents, around 30 kms of trail from the top of the All Mountain trail through to Lake Crackenback Resort.
Clinics
PMBI certified instructors were again on hand helping all level of riders. Beginner, intermediate and advanced riders were all catered for with beginner riders focusing on braking, body position and cornering whilst the advanced refined their skills on the rock gardens, jumps & drops of the Cannonball Downhill.
The Gravity Girls Clinics were a massive hit this summer. Our monthly clinics were regularly booked out. Claire Whiteman, Tegan Molloy, Indi Boer, Jo Larkin and Louise Cook again ran a laid back fun social day with a focus on gravity skills and techniques. It was great to see the increase in female riders at Thredbo this summer. The Gravity Girls program is set to expand in the coming years.
Thredbo MTB thanks all of the riders supporting the Bike Park, events and rider programmes. We are continuing our pursuit of trail excellence with more development in the pipeline.
We’ll see you all back on the hill on November 18.
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Thredbo sits on the traditional land of the Monero – Ngarigo people who have looked after this land, water and community for over 60,000 years. We thank them for all they have done and continue to do to look after their country, a special place which we all love and respect.
