Thredbo: an Australian ski resort that doubles in summer as an adventure playground
Mountain biking for all levels, hiking, canoeing – and, yes, skiing – is making this New South Wales town a destination of choice
The first thing you notice about Thredbo are the crows. There are entire murders of the noisy, shiny creatures. Morning slumber is punctuated by the mournful and slightly risqué calls of faark, faaark, faaaaark!
The second thing you notice about Thredbo are the hellishly fit people. Everywhere you look, the activewear mob are out in force, pedalling mountain bikes, trekking to summits, paddling canoes and – when the snow falls – carving up the slopes on boards and skis. Entire families are at it, everyone from toddlers to octogenarians in compression tights and beanies.
It’s enough to make you cry, “Faark!”
Since it was established, in 1957, a year after the first ski lifts were installed and lodges opened, Thredbo has been Australia’s premier outdoors destination. Midway between Sydney and Melbourne, the alpine village was largely built by Europeans, foremost among them Czechoslovakian ski instructor Tony Sponar, who worked on the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme and was looking for a place where he could enjoy a ski and some schnapps.
The Euro influence can still be seen in chalet names – Alpenhorn and Winterhaus, for example – and the BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz SUVs in the car parks.