Ski Thredbo
About Thredbo
Thredbo mountain resort offers some great terrain for skiers and snowboarders
Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales is one of the most loved ski resorts in Australia. As Whistler is to Canada, so is Thredbo synonymous with snow sports in Australia. Even those who don’t ski will know that Thredbo is a ski village somewhere in Australia.
Thredbo was established as a ski hill of sorts in 1956 when the first rope tows and a few chalets were built – the vision of an hydrographer, Tony Sponar, who was working on the nearby Snowy Mountains hydro scheme.
Today the village has a permanent population of 200 and is visited by over a million people each year. From a few tows, the lift system is now vast as is the state of the art snowmaking that provides 70 hectares of skiable terrain.In fact, Thredbo is 33 kilometres for Jindabyne, the nearest town and about 500 kilometres from Sydney.
Getting to Thredbo ski resort
Thredbo is situated in the Kosciuszko National Park 33 kilometres from the nearest town of Jindabyne. It is 180 kilometres or two and a half hours from Canberra, Australia’s capital city, and 500 kilometres or six and a half hours drive from Sydney.
The drive into to Thredbo is a pleasant one though chains are required to be carried at all times during winter.
Flights to the Snowy Mountains arrive at Cooma. Aeropelican, a regional airline, will commence daly air services from Sydney to the Snowy Mountains Airport, Cooma, starting mid June 2010. The flight from Sydney takes 45 minutes and some airlines provide a shuttle to and from the resort. Taxis are also used to link the airport to the ski resort. Shuttle buses will run between the airport and the resorts.
Snow Alliance is a collaborative shuttle service of several bus companies based in the Snowy Mountains region. By working together, they provide flexible coach services to customers who want to get to the snowfields. Contact Snow Alliance: 1800 280 121.
Where to stay and Thredbo ski resort
Thredbo is a ski resort with an abundance of different styles of accommodation including lodges, apartments and hotels. Many private lodges abound on the mountain as well. The Thredbo Resort Centre is a good place to start the hunt for places to stay: 1300 020 589.
The Thredbo Alpine Hotel is front and centre in Thredbo and is the spiritual hub of the village providing a great location for skiers and boarders. Friday Flat has accommodation clise to the Gunbarrel Express Chair and accommodation is also available on the western side of the Crackenback Chair.
Apres skiing at Thredbo
The Thredbo Alpine Hotel’s Schuss Bar is a natural choice for apres skiers but there are plenty to choose from. After dinner, the Lounge Bar with its open fireplace is great for a nightcap or two or three.
On the mountain itself, there are eateries, such as Kareela Hutte, that serve up a mixture of European and Australian cuisine.
What’s the terrain like at Thredbo?
Many good skiers love Thredbo because of its long runs – it boasts the longest run in Australia. According to the mountain, 67 percent of the terrain is intermediate, only 16 percent beginners and 17 percent for advanced skiers. Thredbo also boasts the most skiable area in Australia with 480 hectares to play on.
The resort has oodles of snowmaking equipment. As long as the weather is cold enough, they can make heaps of the white stuff: about 600000 cubic metres they say (enough to cover 60 football fields.
What’s special about Thredbo?
The village itself is quite beautiful with the Thredbo River winding its way through the village, the mountain runs on one side and the pretty village rising away from the creek on the other.
It’s an exciting mountain both during daylight hours when the action is on the ski mountain and at night, when attention turns to the many bars and restaurants before a leisurely walk home to your accommodation to start all over again the next day.
Visit the official Thredbo website.
At Ski The World, we’d love your comments about Thredbo or any other snow resort in the world. Please write and tell us why you love a particular mountain.
