Thredbo XC

Nearing the ceiling of Australia the trails of Thredbo can cover a lot of altitude. The XC loop starts on the eastern side of the township and was well marked. It followed some multi-use trail firstly heading east then climbed the hillside for the remainder of the trail in a westerly direction. As these are multi use trails you have to be vigilant for walkers which used the trails in both directions. A part from the walkers the loop is not heavily used by MTBers, there is probably a few good reasons. Firstly the designated loop has a heap of climbing and I mean granny gear type of stuff. Also don't head down there with your super fast semi slick tyres either, a proper set of knobs were needed just for traction when climbing. The second reason for the lack of use would have to be the popularity of the gravity fed adrenalin rush, but I will get to that soon. Back on the XC loop, it crossed a variety of terrain from hard packed dirt to loose gravel, grass, rock and timber platforms The trails are graded for difficulty with most of the loop in the moderate category and it is not till you reach the heavily timbered section on the western end that it hits difficult. The technical DH sections of the loop are studded with large rocks, roll-overs and stairs, still all within the realms of a XC bike. I recommend getting out on the loop during the early morning or late afternoon as the trails are virtually empty. The XC loop at Thredbo is part of the National Series and makes a fun and tough track.