42 - AMB
WORDS: IMOGEN SMITH
PHOTOS: ROBERT CONROY & TIM BRADLEY-SMITH
AN ENTIRE REGION IS GETTING
BEHIND MOUNTAIN BIKING AND
LINKING ITS SINGLETRACK HUBS
INTO ONE GIANT NETWORK. START
PLANNING YOUR SUMMER HOLIDAY
IN THE SNOWYS NOW...
IT’S GOING TO BE BIG.
SNOWY MOUNTAINS
SCHEMING
Fifteen years ago, the Snowy Mountains area was pretty
famous for mountain biking. In 2002 Jindabyne, at the foot of
the mountains, hosted the world’s fi rst ever Red Bull Ride. A
local built a trail between Tyrolean Village east of Jindabyne to
town so he could ride in, then other locals started adding to his
work. Way up at Thredbo, meanwhile, was the only lift-assisted
downhill run in Australia, the Cannonball run, a purely DH
mass of rocks, drops and berms that towered above a cross
country track that hosted rounds of MTBA’s National Series.
Looking at the Red Bull Ride footage today, it’s still a crazy
undertaking. Riders like Andrew Mills and Wade Simmons
picked their way down the side of a hill so steep that at times
it was nearly vertical. Dropping 300 metres over the one
kilometre course, they tackled ultra-technical obstacles like
elevated seesaws and drops bigger than anyone had ever seen
before. If you know where to look (like AMB does) you can still
see the scar the event left on the side of one of the big hills off
the highway as you drive into Jindabyne.
A lot’s changed in the area since then, but mountain biking
has too, becoming an attractive sport for families and people
of all ages. Trails that were once built in secrecy and ridden at
risk of breaking the law are now publicised as major regional
drawcards and built using large government grants. While
Jindabyne has always bred mountain bikers (recently-crowned
junior World Champion Tegan Molloy hails from Jindy), and
Thredbo’s main lift has always run year-round, in the last ten
years alpine resorts like Mt Buller, Mt Baw Baw and Falls
Creek in Victoria began to catch up, and even overtake the
Snowys as high country mountain bike destinations of choice.
This was a bad time to fall behind. Bikes and riding styles
evolved rapidly away from a simple XC/DH divide, and while
casual mountain bikers were happy to do a few laps of a cross-
country style course or ride up and down alpine fi re roads on
their 26-inch hardtails a few years ago, these days they’re
looking for long, gravity-fed fl ow trails to satisfy a thirst for
challenge made all the more attainable by big-wheeled dual-
suspension trail bikes that are light enough to pedal uphill.
Now the Snowys are coming back. A few years ago some
motivated locals tied to different parts of the region –
Jindabyne, Lake Crackenback, and Thredbo – each started
work on trail-building projects. The real leap forward came
when they realised that the unique advantage of the long valley
running from mountains to lake was that they could join their
trail networks together... and that’s exactly what they’re doing.
[see What’s Where box]
The jewel in the crown is the brand new Thredbo Valley Trail
(TVT). Several years in the making, this 20-kilometre trail is
pure joy for riders of all abilities. Snaking down the hidden
valley between Thredbo and Lake Crackenback, the TVT
undulates through gorgeous sub-alpine forest, crossing back
and forth over the Thredbo River on purpose-built suspension
bridges. Although it’s a multi-use trail for walkers and riders,
it’s perfectly designed for bikes with smooth, bermed corners
and plenty of technical elements, and riders make up a huge
percentage of users. Apart from the fact that it’s rapidly proving
to be one of Australia’s most beautiful, accessible rides, the
TVT’s big advantage is that it links two fabulously different
trail networks – Thredbo’s alpine gravity playground and Lake
Crackenback’s gorgeously scenic singletrack – together. The
trail came about when National Parks made a commitment to
improve mountain biking in Kosciusko National Park, and was
funded by a park entry fee levy introduced fi ve years ago.
Further down the valley, the technical Tyrolean Village trails,
including Jindabyne’s original singletrack cut into native bush
on the side of the lake, were joined with the town by a smooth,
scenic shared-use pathway a couple of years ago.A quick pedal south of Jindabyne, Bungarra Alpine Centre’s
privately-owned mountain bike trails have evolved from rutted
four-wheel drive tracks to a growing mountain bike hub with
several gravity trails in the pipeline, as well as the inevitable
off-road link to Jindabyne.