Mountain Biking is truly alive and kicking. If you have your doubts well you have not been down to any of the events over summer at Thredbo Resort which hosts quite possibly the largest mountain sloped, gravity fed event in the country. Four epic days of racing covering disciplines of Enduro, All-Mountain, Downhill, Whip Wars jumping and Pump Track with nearly 1000 riders all frothing to be crowned the winner. It’s not just the elite, there are age groups from the young fearless kids, your middle-aged weekend warriors, women and the big gun names going for glory.
Now big guns names were off the scale this summer with a whole enchilada of international names lining up on the start line. Red Bull rider Brook Macdonald jumped the Tasman Sea from NZ and many others from Loris Vergier, Dean Lucas, Greg Minnaar, Luca Shaw and Steve Peat gave the crowds plenty to be amazed with. Times were fast with conditions dry and dusty for the entire weekend.
The Ahern sibling duo, Kye and Sian, stuck it to everyone in the pro categories for the Maxxis Flow Motion Cup eventually taking out the king and queen titles to boot.
This event is probably maxed out at 1000 riders now unless they start building more runs and utilizing the Gunbarrel chair more, something that organizers mentioned in passing. The village does fill up quickly or you can camp at one of the two campgrounds making the short 10-15min drive up each morning, escaping the crowds during the evening.
But Cannonball is not the only event on offer in this piece of the Australian mountains. Not by a long shot, they also offer The Super Enduro and Australian Mountain Bike Interschools, they both bring in nearly 800 and 700 competitors respectively. Kids are flocking to the sport and for good reason, the healthy lifestyle of sport and being outdoors provides a means to build confidence and meet new friends and build a social community, something the online world seems to be failing at.
My event photography business, Outer Image Collective, with fellow photographer Richard McGibbon have had the pleasure of shooting for Thredbo over the last three years with plans already in place for the 2020 season. We provide images for everyone racing the event, something many competitors and parents have shared their gratitude about as they cannot get onto the mountain themselves or capture the action photos, we work so hard at taking.
So, if you missed out this round make sure you watch the Thredbo MTB Facebook page for when they open registration, I would say early November. I will be there track side, camera at the ready smiling as that first rider approaches and the trail dust begins to rise on another Thredbo MTB summer.
