Thredbo, New South Wales
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Image:Thredbo ski resort.jpg Thredbo (Template:Coor dm) is a village and ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Thredbo is located about 500 kilometers south of Sydney. It is accessible by the Alpine Way. Thredbo 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 250 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, and hosts a blues music festival, boasting approximately 300,000 summer visitors. (Figures are as of 2005. [1], [2])
Thredbo was developed by a syndicate of people who were working on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. In 1957 this 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 the Lend Lease. AHL operates the Thredbo village, services, real estate, and lease arrangements as a public company.
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Thredbo Ski resort
Thredbo is one of Australias leading ski resorts. It is based on a European skiing town. Unlike Perisher Blue it is an actual town with lodges, shopping and nightlife. Thredbo has 12 lifts (3 hi-speed quads, 5 t-bars, 3 double chairs, 1 quad and a carpet). Thredbo also has the steepest overall terain of a ski resort in Australia and also the highest lifted point. Thredbo can be a very good ski resort but because of the low height of its village/base it dosen't always receive snow on the lower half. Because of this Thredbo has invested in the largest snowmaking system in the Southern Hemisphere. The village also has free shuttle busses providing service to the valley terminal, Friday Flat and some of the ski lodges.
Thredbo Ski Runs and Terrain Parks
Thredbo has over 50 ski runs ranging from green (easiest) to black (most difficult) with blue being in between (more difficult). The longest run is the Crackenback Supertrail which is 3.7km long; the hardest is the Funnel Web.
Thredbo has three terrain parks;
- Wombat World- a terrain parks for kids which has a few bumps, funboxes and arches.
- Easy Rider Park- a terrain park for beginners to intermediates which contains a few jumps and boxes.
- Nokia Park- a terrain park for experienced freestyle skiers and boarders with large jumps
Thredbo landslide
See main article: 1997 Thredbo landslide
Eighteen people died when the Bimbadene and Carinya Lodges collapsed at Thredbo Alpine Village at 11.30pm on 30 July 1997. John Cameron, a member of Brindabella Ski Club, and seventeen residents of Bimbadeen Ski Lodge lost their lives when Carinya (owned by the Brindabella Ski Club) and Bimbadeen Lodges collapsed when the slope under Carinya Lodge slipped downhill. 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". One survivor, Stuart Diver, was pulled from the wreckage. He had lain trapped for 3 days in a small space between two concrete slabs beside the body of his wife, Sally, who had been trapped by a concrete beam that collapsed across their bed.
Brindabella Ski Club opened its new lodge on 5 June 2004.
Alpine Training Centre
The Alpine Training Centre, opened in 1996, houses a 50m and 25m indoor swimming pool, wading pool with waterslide, two full size basketball courts, squash court, fully equipped gymnasium, physiotherapist and traverse climbing wall. It has been used by the Australian Institute of Sport for high altitude training for athletes for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
Mountain Biking in Thredbo
In the summer months, Thredbo becomes alive with activity as the unofficial mountain biking season begins. Since the early 1990s, Thredbo has been one of the most popular destinations for recreational mountain bikers, as well as serious racers from all across Australia and overseas. Thredbo is host to kilometres of cross country singletrack and also 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 takes you to the bottom of the Kosciusko Express Quad-Chairlift, 600 verticle metres below, where riders can get straight on for another run. 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 different races through the summer months, including national rounds, state rounds, the Ironhorse Australian Open, the National Interschools Mountain Biking Competition, and other races run by the Canberra Offroad Cycling Club (CORC).
New for 2005 was the Thredbo Mountain Cross (MTNX) track. The track was designed Glen Jacobs, an Australian trail guru, and is situated on Friday Flat, comprising a start gate, multiple doubles, rollers, berms, moguls, gaps, step-downs and step-ups. The Thredbo Mountain Cross track has also hosted numerous races since its opening including national rounds, state rounds and the National Interschools Mountain Biking Competition. The new mountain cross track was built to replace the previous track, which was abandoned and demolished to make way for a residential zone.
While there is no set cross country course, there are kilometres of singletrack and firetrail to be ridden around Thredbo Village, the Thredbo golf course and other trails connecting Thredbo to its neighbouring villages.
The company, RawNRG (pronounced: raw energy) is in charge of the maintaining trails, selling chair-lift tickets and supervising the downhill course. RawNRG is located in Thredbo Village and offers lessons, bicycle and equipment hire and services and repairs. RawNRG is also one of Australia's biggest Ironhorse mountain bike dealers.
Radio stations
Radio stations in Thredo include:
- 2XL 92.1
- Snow FM 92.9
- ABC South East 88.9
- Radio National 90.5
- Racing Radio 106.9