Thredbo

Postcode: 2625

Thredbo is a village and ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy River Shire. Thredbo is about 500 kilometres south of Sydney. It is accessible by the Alpine Way. It is built in the valley of the Thredbo River, formerly known as the Crackenback River, at the foot of the Ramshead Range.

The town has around 4150 beds but a permanent population of only about 300 people. When the mountain is fully covered by snow, Thredbo has the longest ski runs in Australia, and this attracts around 700,000 winter visitors annually. In summer, Thredbo is a hiking and summer sport destination, and hosts a blues music festival, boasting approximately 300,000 summer visitors. (Figures are as of 2005.)

Thredbo was developed by a syndicate of people who were working on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. In 1957 this syndicate was granted a head-lease over the area that Thredbo now occupies. Development occurred in following years under Lend Lease Corporation. In January 1987, Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL) purchased the head lease from Lend Lease. AHL operates the Thredbo village, services, real estate, and lease arrangements as a public company.

Thredbo is one of Australia's leading ski resorts. It is modelled on a European skiing town. Unlike Perisher Blue it is an actual town with lodges, shopping and nightlife. Thredbo has 12 lifts (3 hi-speed quads, 5 t-bars, 3 double chairs, 1 quad and a carpet). It has the steepest overall terrain of any ski resort in Australia and also the highest lifted point (2037m AHD). Thredbo is regarded by some as the best NSW ski resort when fully covered, but because of the low altitude (1365m) of its base, the resort does not always keep snow on the lower half as the temperatures are too high to sustain it there. Because of this Thredbo has invested in the largest snowmaking system in the Southern Hemisphere that runs mainly at night to top up the lower half of the mountain and any other high traffic areas. The system has been expanded in 2006 at a cost of $2 million and has been partially automated so that snow can be made at an instant. The automated areas at the moment include the Supertrail, Friday Flat, Walkabout at Merrits, High Noon and Sundowner. The village has free shuttle buses running to the Valley Terminal, Friday Flat and some of the ski lodges.

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