Thredbo Mountain Bike Park Trails Report
Mountainwatch | Tim Windshuttle
It’s been a one hell of a summer so far at Thredbo Mountain Bike Park. With record numbers, new trails and the Cannonball MTB Festival, it has been a massive few months of non-stop action.
We caught up with Thredbo MTB Operations Manager and all round bike destroyer Tim Windshuttle for an update on the trails so you’re in the know before your next trip to Thredbo. If you’re a first timer, get down there and give it a crack…we did are we’re hooked!
All-Mountain Trail?
The biggest news of late has been the opening of the long awaited upper All-Mountain Trail. Starting high above the tree-line behind Eagles Nest Restaurant, the All-Mountain trail weaves through giant granite boulders, over river crossings and spectacular rock gardens all with unbelievable views down the Thredbo Valley. Graded as an intermediate trail, it still offers advanced riders plenty of technicalities when ridden at speed whilst the more intermediate rider can cruise through the trail at a steady pace enjoying the views. After traversing through the Central Spur slopes it starts to drop down to the twisted old snowgums below & meets the Anton’s T-Bar track where a temporary access trail is currently in place taking you through to the top of the Gunbarrell Express Chairlift. The legends at DirtArt are currently constructing this final section of trail which takes you through the famous Michaels Mistake area that all Thredbo snow lovers know well. This section of trail will be the most exciting piece yet, diving into unreal terrain and will complete the Thredbo All-Mountain Trail in its full length of over 10km.
Kosciuszko Flow Trail
Kosciuszko Flow Link is now OPEN!
?Providing an alternative to the gravel ‘fire road’, riders can now utilise the new link trail which mirrors the upper All-Mountain then turns off into an epic flowing single-track with big berms, smooth rock features and a couple of river crossings. The trail currently comes out on the fire road corner with construction underway to extend the link trail the whole way to Black Sallees Restaurant, linking up with the current start of the Kosciuszko Flow Trail. Check out the Thredbo MTB crew riding the new link trail at sunrise earlier this week…
The lower Flow Trail has been getting a work out of late with many upgrades & rebuilds now complete. The Supertrail switchbacks which has been regarded as the toughest section of the Flow Trail has had a make-over removing most of the awkward rocks that were tricky to navigate and re-instating all the berms that were catching riders out. Once out of the switchbacks and traversing towards True Blue, riders are welcomed with two new progressive tabletops offering the advanced riders plenty of air time whilst the intermediates can roll through without wheels leaving the ground and also progress their jumping skills. Machine work will continue on the Flow Trail in the coming weeks ensuring it is stays in the best condition since its inception.
Cannonball Downhill
As we start to prepare for the upcoming MTBA National DH Series the Cannonball has gained some much needed love ensuring a world class level race track is in place. The re-route at Karella Hutte that opened back in early December has been getting great reviews with the downhillers commenting on the flat out speed coming into the visually appealing man-made rock garden located directly underneath the Kosciuszko Express chair. Heading in to Snakes & Ladders we have completed some rock work with the aim of regaining more flow but sticking with the rough nature of this section.
Down on the lower slopes the high speed turns exiting Bunnywalk trees have been built up and are now running scary fast when ridden off the brakes. The River Rapids has also been built up keeping with the bike park style of the trail.
Stay tuned for more MTB updates in the coming weeks…
