Thredbo traveller reviews
Negative reviews
mltj2014
We visited for the Blues Festival, and were disappointed in many aspects of the area. First of all, parking isn't allowed at some of the accommodation, which is understandable given the layout of the site. Our problem is that many people were illegally parked, including someone blocking access to our building when we arrived, but there didn't seem to be any consequences for this, and so the entire driving area was chaos. My suggestion would be to a) issue parking tickets and b) make the roads one way only. The walk down to the village is steep and dangerous due to this lack of traffic control and compounded by the fact that there are no pedestrian walkways. This place needs to be completely re-designed with walkways all over the place, cutting between buildings and with good signage. And we couldn't figure out why the shuttle wasn't running, especially during Blues Fest.
Another bothersome aspect was the fact that there was no air con or even fans in any of the venues, and it was hot and stuffy, especially when people were packed in and started dancing. When my partner asked a staff member why there weren't any fans, he was politely told "We're a winter destination." Hey, Thredbo, you need to make up your mind! Either stop promoting your mountain biking trails and cease the Blues Fest and all other summer events, or equip yourself to be a summer destination.
The most positive thing I have to say (and the only reason I gave two stars and not one) is that every single staff member we encountered was friendly, informed, and helpful. But that fact alone won't get us back to this destination any time soon.
SingaSongOnceaDay
I am surprised nobody has dragged Thredbo in front of the ACCC yet for misleading advertising of their mountain biking business. The official videos and website are completely misleading and don't give you any idea of what you will encounter out there.
The main aim is to get you there. Once you are there, they start warning you but by that stage you already made the trip, paid accomodation, got the kids all fired up - and anyway you saw the videos - it can't be that bad. The problem is that the videos only show you the 1% of the trail that is actually ridable.
It is like a ski resort that only has black runs but advertises to beginners. There are no green runs - no blue runs - just black.
If you are a serious mountain biker and are able to fly and jump over boulders on your bike, you will be fine. If you aren't, stay away. Yes, there is the village trail you can ride, but you didn't come to ride around the village for 5 days.
So we spent a fortune on accomodation, bikes, lift passes and the lot, but didn't really enjoy it. None of our kids ever mentioned this holiday again. Nobody ever suggested that we go again. It is stored somewhere among the memories best to be forgotten.
Edward Pazdersk
https://www.onthesnow.com.au/australia/thredbo-alpine-resort/reviews.html?review_id=37700
My son and I went to Thredbo on Friday 12 May 2017 and wanted to ride the chair to the Eagles Nest for Lunch .... It was closed for maintenance ... Snowgums was running in its place ... so we wanted to ride it up and come back .... I have a Pension card and my son has one as well and also a Companion card and a DWA member card.... the young lady selling the tickets told us that they dont allow any of the above except for my Pension card and that I can ride as many times as I like .... This is a very Disabled Unfriendly Place .... Thredbo Management can you please look into this .... My son had to pay full price for the Ride Up and I got a $8 discount for one ride .... It is sad that a Resort like Thredbo would stoop so low to rip off Disabled people .....
Nic A
https://www.onthesnow.com.au/australia/thredbo-alpine-resort/reviews.html?review_id=22268
we been told goggles and gloves are not available for hire after we purchased the beginner package. How a ski service provider has no service on hiring "compulsory" items and not considering those who have had no ski experience in their life. Cost quite extra to get us fully equipped, not really happy with their cost structure. Another problem is beginner's play ground, which i think called "Friday lift"? is crowd like a Sunday market, kids (from yr 2 to 10) are everywhere and you got be really cautious and force you fall down if you see someone may cross you over. also lots intermediate or advanced level players are gathering that area as well who playing lots "advanced" poses which scares beginners. it's just hard to describe how crowd and mess that scene but just imaging yourself in a Sunday fish market. Pros: The town terminal has better facilities and views, they've got a tourist lift for those who just want have a look on the mountain, has a cafe and restaurant locates on mountain half, bit prices but affordable. again, very crowd. The ski route seems pretty good, rather than the "friday flat" we went, good size and various of ski pass, i'd see thredbo may good for advanced players, not an ideal place for beginners especially for those who only went for a day trip.
Family friendly
Couldn't get through on the phone. Huge queues in the office. Booked an extra two days in Thredboland online for my 3 year old and made an error on the dates ($342 for 2 days we aren't even here). Tim and Olivia in the office are refusing to refund me, despite providing 7 days advance notice for the cancellation and only purchasing the ticket a couple of days ago. After experiencing a serious injury yesterday, and investing so much by purchasing our other passes, I expected better customer service and some consideration of my circumstances. Don't book online or you won't be able to make changes or seek a refund. The Terms and Conditions are vague at best.
Ross
We just had a week at Thredbo. From the Tuesday on, in spite of 'good' snow reports on the radio, we kept hitting patches of exposed gravel on so called well covered runs. The daily reports were quite simply misleading, which is disappointing. And the 'cash only' facilities all over the mountain is totally internally focussed - not a care about customers and the fact that it's 2013. And when you consider a 500 ml beer @ $11.00 and a bowl of soup @ $18.00 you need a lot of cash if you have a few 'dependents' in tow. On our last day Gunbarrel had broken down and we had to take a bus to Merrits to get up the hill - it took 90 minutes from arrival just to start our first run. Being honest about the real snow conditions and getting over the 'cash only' mentality would go a long way to improving customer relations. We will go anywhere else next season, but not back to Thredbo.
Neutral reviews
MacAttack720
Great location in summer also with lots of out door activity. We took chair lift to the top (well almost), bit of a hike to the summit.
Wife was a little shared of the chair lift, so for those who feel the same at its worst its approx 4 stories high, so when you cross the wooden bridge (pedestrian) from the village and look down at the Thredbo River thats the height you would be at. Big shout out to the staff who were very supportive in getting the bride to feel comfortable !
huys25
Although in Octber it is off-season, the village is a nice, clean ittle place with a clear mountain river running alongside. A timber bridge crosses high over the river to the skilifts.
Will Hu
https://www.onthesnow.com.au/australia/thredbo-alpine-resort/reviews.html?review_id=11316
Finally, I was able to ski during July, not to mention that I came from Portland Oregon, I could have skied at Timberline during July? I booked a flight from Sydney to Cooma via Aeropelican, they flew a 19 seats twin propeller JetStreamer 21 aircraft. My inbound flight was delayed for over 3 hours due to the fact of early morning fog and Aeropelican only had one aircraft for the route. My outbound flight was a bit bumpy because of the weather condition. Either way, I did not meet other skier on board, I was wondering where are the skiers. Anyway, the other alternative from Sydney to Thredbo was via Greyhound AU for AUD120 each way, it took 7.5 hours each way too. My flight costed AUD150 each way, and AUD 120 round trip for the shuttle to and from Cooma airport to the Thredbo village. Flight duration is 60 minutes as advertised, the shuttle took over one hour each way, and the scenic way was worth the drive. I am not going to mention the cost of lodging and meal, they are disgustingly expensive, more than the most place in North America. When the shuttle bus stopped at the Koscuiszko national park gate, it hit me that why everything was so expensive, because the village is located inside a national park. Overnight, I heard a loud sound similar to ocean surf, it was the snow gun working overnight. Wow, no wonder the lift tickets were expensive too. I followed the shuttle bus driver's advice to get on the lift by 8:30am, there was not much waiting at the Valley Terminal, so it was a breeze to go up on the Koscuiszko express to reach the eagles nest. I took the Supertrail down, under some shadow area, ice has already formed. I ventured around the mountain to gunbarrel in Friday Flat until the snow was gone on some small trails. That was it. I think it worth to ski at Thredbo once for your life time, but it did not deserve my return trip.
anonymous
After skiing in over 20 resorts in North America from December 2017 until April 2018, I have to say that Thredbo stacks up well. It would be nice if it were steeper but in so many ways Thredbo offers a great skiing experience., especially for families.
Ticket prices are much cheaper than in the big resorts in North America, especially when taking the exchange rate into account. And Thredbo's snow making keeps the resort running when many in North America do not have the capacity to do so.
In Thredbo car parking is free and within walking distance of the lifts. In the USA many resorts have you paying to park and then you wait for a bus or gondola to get you to the lifts.
Thredbo's grooming is always excellent and the off-piste runs might often be short, but are rewarding. From my experience there are more rocks in the Rockies than at Thredbo, except the Canadian Rockies.
And yes, Thredbo does get good dry powder and good dry windblown. It was a surprise for me that you could spend a week in a big name resort in peak season and not get a powder day. And often the new snow there is sticky and heavy.
In North America we used Snow Forecast every day for our trip planning and found the data accurate and invaluable, as in Japan and at home. Thanks, Ted.
Endless_Winter
https://www.reddit.com/r/skiing/comments/98f8ep/thredbo_best_time_to_go/
Generally August is the best month for skiing in Australia leading into the first 2 weeks of September before the big thaw starts.
Our hills are very representative of the East Coast in the US when it comes to snow conditions. So if you expect that kinda conditions you will not be disappointed.
Our season vary significantly, this season has been a pretty top season. Even tho the East coast like NSW and Queensland are in severe drought, we have had a great season with over the 2m snow depth mark.
This season we have had very limited pre-frontal rain damage with cold air arriving at the same time. Other season, we have had complete wash out's due to tropical rain troughs (Similar to the Pineapple express in the States) hitting and then the cold air arriving later to then be back to the same snow depth before the rain started!
Just yesterday, it was boot deep powder at Perisher (Near to Thredbo), so they would have had similar conditions. Today looks superb!
Check out ski.com.au and snowatch.com.au for Snow Cams and weather predictions.
So to answer your questions,
Typical best snow months - middle to late July to middle of September. Best being August.
Cheapest travel times during the season (or holidays to avoid)? This period is the Peak season so you will be paying top dollar, however it is outside the school holiday periods.
hot tips on combining with a couple days in Sydney? If you are visiting friends, just plan your week down the Snowy's and then work around that.
One thing I can say, Australian skiing is very unique. We are lucky to able to do it for starters and secondly no where in the world can you ski amongst the Gum tree's with not a Pine tree insight.
anonymous
Thredbo has various other winter activities on offer besides skiing and snowboarding at the resort. There are snowshoeing or backcountry ski tours to Mt. Kosciuszko, the “bobsledding” track, leisure centre and swimming pool, ski museum, or you can head to the day spa if your body is feeling a little battered. Thredbo Village also has a little snowplay area where the kids can slide on a tube or toboggan, or build a snowman (or snowwoman if you want to be PC!).
Positive reviews
Donna O'Reilly
https://www.onthesnow.com.au/australia/thredbo-alpine-resort/reviews.html
I had the best ski lesson with instructor Sam Taylor from the UK. He was such a confidence builder. I highly recommend him as he can explain things so you actually are confident to give it a go and it works every time. Will definately have another lesson with him. All staff here have been helpful and happy. Great place thanks for making our holiday awesome.
Jawahar Raja R
https://www.viator.com/en-AU/tours/Sydney/Thredbo-or-Perisher-Weekend-Snow-Trip/d357-2912WKND
The trip was wonderful , thoroughly enjoyed the snowfall !!!
Hui M C
https://www.viator.com/en-AU/tours/Sydney/Thredbo-or-Perisher-Weekend-Snow-Trip/d357-2912WKND
This snow weekend was exactly as described, no hidden or unexpected costs! The crew were very helpful, informative and accommodating. My friends and I enjoyed the trip very much and I can't wait to return in 3 weeks!
Bob
People shouldn't complain about the weather. I don't think Thredbo controls the snow, now do they? But, overall, stay was good. Only went tobogganing and it was fun.
Negative reviews
mltj2014
We visited for the Blues Festival, and were disappointed in many aspects of the area. First of all, parking isn't allowed at some of the accommodation, which is understandable given the layout of the site. Our problem is that many people were illegally parked, including someone blocking access to our building when we arrived, but there didn't seem to be any consequences for this, and so the entire driving area was chaos. My suggestion would be to a) issue parking tickets and b) make the roads one way only. The walk down to the village is steep and dangerous due to this lack of traffic control and compounded by the fact that there are no pedestrian walkways. This place needs to be completely re-designed with walkways all over the place, cutting between buildings and with good signage. And we couldn't figure out why the shuttle wasn't running, especially during Blues Fest.
Another bothersome aspect was the fact that there was no air con or even fans in any of the venues, and it was hot and stuffy, especially when people were packed in and started dancing. When my partner asked a staff member why there weren't any fans, he was politely told "We're a winter destination." Hey, Thredbo, you need to make up your mind! Either stop promoting your mountain biking trails and cease the Blues Fest and all other summer events, or equip yourself to be a summer destination.
The most positive thing I have to say (and the only reason I gave two stars and not one) is that every single staff member we encountered was friendly, informed, and helpful. But that fact alone won't get us back to this destination any time soon.
SingaSongOnceaDay
I am surprised nobody has dragged Thredbo in front of the ACCC yet for misleading advertising of their mountain biking business. The official videos and website are completely misleading and don't give you any idea of what you will encounter out there.
The main aim is to get you there. Once you are there, they start warning you but by that stage you already made the trip, paid accomodation, got the kids all fired up - and anyway you saw the videos - it can't be that bad. The problem is that the videos only show you the 1% of the trail that is actually ridable.
It is like a ski resort that only has black runs but advertises to beginners. There are no green runs - no blue runs - just black.
If you are a serious mountain biker and are able to fly and jump over boulders on your bike, you will be fine. If you aren't, stay away. Yes, there is the village trail you can ride, but you didn't come to ride around the village for 5 days.
So we spent a fortune on accomodation, bikes, lift passes and the lot, but didn't really enjoy it. None of our kids ever mentioned this holiday again. Nobody ever suggested that we go again. It is stored somewhere among the memories best to be forgotten.
Edward Pazdersk
https://www.onthesnow.com.au/australia/thredbo-alpine-resort/reviews.html?review_id=37700
My son and I went to Thredbo on Friday 12 May 2017 and wanted to ride the chair to the Eagles Nest for Lunch .... It was closed for maintenance ... Snowgums was running in its place ... so we wanted to ride it up and come back .... I have a Pension card and my son has one as well and also a Companion card and a DWA member card.... the young lady selling the tickets told us that they dont allow any of the above except for my Pension card and that I can ride as many times as I like .... This is a very Disabled Unfriendly Place .... Thredbo Management can you please look into this .... My son had to pay full price for the Ride Up and I got a $8 discount for one ride .... It is sad that a Resort like Thredbo would stoop so low to rip off Disabled people .....
Nic A
https://www.onthesnow.com.au/australia/thredbo-alpine-resort/reviews.html?review_id=22268
we been told goggles and gloves are not available for hire after we purchased the beginner package. How a ski service provider has no service on hiring "compulsory" items and not considering those who have had no ski experience in their life. Cost quite extra to get us fully equipped, not really happy with their cost structure. Another problem is beginner's play ground, which i think called "Friday lift"? is crowd like a Sunday market, kids (from yr 2 to 10) are everywhere and you got be really cautious and force you fall down if you see someone may cross you over. also lots intermediate or advanced level players are gathering that area as well who playing lots "advanced" poses which scares beginners. it's just hard to describe how crowd and mess that scene but just imaging yourself in a Sunday fish market. Pros: The town terminal has better facilities and views, they've got a tourist lift for those who just want have a look on the mountain, has a cafe and restaurant locates on mountain half, bit prices but affordable. again, very crowd. The ski route seems pretty good, rather than the "friday flat" we went, good size and various of ski pass, i'd see thredbo may good for advanced players, not an ideal place for beginners especially for those who only went for a day trip.
Family friendly
Couldn't get through on the phone. Huge queues in the office. Booked an extra two days in Thredboland online for my 3 year old and made an error on the dates ($342 for 2 days we aren't even here). Tim and Olivia in the office are refusing to refund me, despite providing 7 days advance notice for the cancellation and only purchasing the ticket a couple of days ago. After experiencing a serious injury yesterday, and investing so much by purchasing our other passes, I expected better customer service and some consideration of my circumstances. Don't book online or you won't be able to make changes or seek a refund. The Terms and Conditions are vague at best.
Ross
We just had a week at Thredbo. From the Tuesday on, in spite of 'good' snow reports on the radio, we kept hitting patches of exposed gravel on so called well covered runs. The daily reports were quite simply misleading, which is disappointing. And the 'cash only' facilities all over the mountain is totally internally focussed - not a care about customers and the fact that it's 2013. And when you consider a 500 ml beer @ $11.00 and a bowl of soup @ $18.00 you need a lot of cash if you have a few 'dependents' in tow. On our last day Gunbarrel had broken down and we had to take a bus to Merrits to get up the hill - it took 90 minutes from arrival just to start our first run. Being honest about the real snow conditions and getting over the 'cash only' mentality would go a long way to improving customer relations. We will go anywhere else next season, but not back to Thredbo.
Neutral reviews
MacAttack720
Great location in summer also with lots of out door activity. We took chair lift to the top (well almost), bit of a hike to the summit.
Wife was a little shared of the chair lift, so for those who feel the same at its worst its approx 4 stories high, so when you cross the wooden bridge (pedestrian) from the village and look down at the Thredbo River thats the height you would be at. Big shout out to the staff who were very supportive in getting the bride to feel comfortable !
huys25
Although in Octber it is off-season, the village is a nice, clean ittle place with a clear mountain river running alongside. A timber bridge crosses high over the river to the skilifts.
Will Hu
https://www.onthesnow.com.au/australia/thredbo-alpine-resort/reviews.html?review_id=11316
Finally, I was able to ski during July, not to mention that I came from Portland Oregon, I could have skied at Timberline during July? I booked a flight from Sydney to Cooma via Aeropelican, they flew a 19 seats twin propeller JetStreamer 21 aircraft. My inbound flight was delayed for over 3 hours due to the fact of early morning fog and Aeropelican only had one aircraft for the route. My outbound flight was a bit bumpy because of the weather condition. Either way, I did not meet other skier on board, I was wondering where are the skiers. Anyway, the other alternative from Sydney to Thredbo was via Greyhound AU for AUD120 each way, it took 7.5 hours each way too. My flight costed AUD150 each way, and AUD 120 round trip for the shuttle to and from Cooma airport to the Thredbo village. Flight duration is 60 minutes as advertised, the shuttle took over one hour each way, and the scenic way was worth the drive. I am not going to mention the cost of lodging and meal, they are disgustingly expensive, more than the most place in North America. When the shuttle bus stopped at the Koscuiszko national park gate, it hit me that why everything was so expensive, because the village is located inside a national park. Overnight, I heard a loud sound similar to ocean surf, it was the snow gun working overnight. Wow, no wonder the lift tickets were expensive too. I followed the shuttle bus driver's advice to get on the lift by 8:30am, there was not much waiting at the Valley Terminal, so it was a breeze to go up on the Koscuiszko express to reach the eagles nest. I took the Supertrail down, under some shadow area, ice has already formed. I ventured around the mountain to gunbarrel in Friday Flat until the snow was gone on some small trails. That was it. I think it worth to ski at Thredbo once for your life time, but it did not deserve my return trip.
anonymous
After skiing in over 20 resorts in North America from December 2017 until April 2018, I have to say that Thredbo stacks up well. It would be nice if it were steeper but in so many ways Thredbo offers a great skiing experience., especially for families.
Ticket prices are much cheaper than in the big resorts in North America, especially when taking the exchange rate into account. And Thredbo's snow making keeps the resort running when many in North America do not have the capacity to do so.
In Thredbo car parking is free and within walking distance of the lifts. In the USA many resorts have you paying to park and then you wait for a bus or gondola to get you to the lifts.
Thredbo's grooming is always excellent and the off-piste runs might often be short, but are rewarding. From my experience there are more rocks in the Rockies than at Thredbo, except the Canadian Rockies.
And yes, Thredbo does get good dry powder and good dry windblown. It was a surprise for me that you could spend a week in a big name resort in peak season and not get a powder day. And often the new snow there is sticky and heavy.
In North America we used Snow Forecast every day for our trip planning and found the data accurate and invaluable, as in Japan and at home. Thanks, Ted.
Endless_Winter
https://www.reddit.com/r/skiing/comments/98f8ep/thredbo_best_time_to_go/
Generally August is the best month for skiing in Australia leading into the first 2 weeks of September before the big thaw starts.
Our hills are very representative of the East Coast in the US when it comes to snow conditions. So if you expect that kinda conditions you will not be disappointed.
Our season vary significantly, this season has been a pretty top season. Even tho the East coast like NSW and Queensland are in severe drought, we have had a great season with over the 2m snow depth mark.
This season we have had very limited pre-frontal rain damage with cold air arriving at the same time. Other season, we have had complete wash out's due to tropical rain troughs (Similar to the Pineapple express in the States) hitting and then the cold air arriving later to then be back to the same snow depth before the rain started!
Just yesterday, it was boot deep powder at Perisher (Near to Thredbo), so they would have had similar conditions. Today looks superb!
Check out ski.com.au and snowatch.com.au for Snow Cams and weather predictions.
So to answer your questions,
Typical best snow months - middle to late July to middle of September. Best being August.
Cheapest travel times during the season (or holidays to avoid)? This period is the Peak season so you will be paying top dollar, however it is outside the school holiday periods.
hot tips on combining with a couple days in Sydney? If you are visiting friends, just plan your week down the Snowy's and then work around that.
One thing I can say, Australian skiing is very unique. We are lucky to able to do it for starters and secondly no where in the world can you ski amongst the Gum tree's with not a Pine tree insight.
anonymous
Thredbo has various other winter activities on offer besides skiing and snowboarding at the resort. There are snowshoeing or backcountry ski tours to Mt. Kosciuszko, the “bobsledding” track, leisure centre and swimming pool, ski museum, or you can head to the day spa if your body is feeling a little battered. Thredbo Village also has a little snowplay area where the kids can slide on a tube or toboggan, or build a snowman (or snowwoman if you want to be PC!).
Positive reviews
Donna O'Reilly
https://www.onthesnow.com.au/australia/thredbo-alpine-resort/reviews.html
I had the best ski lesson with instructor Sam Taylor from the UK. He was such a confidence builder. I highly recommend him as he can explain things so you actually are confident to give it a go and it works every time. Will definately have another lesson with him. All staff here have been helpful and happy. Great place thanks for making our holiday awesome.
Jawahar Raja R
https://www.viator.com/en-AU/tours/Sydney/Thredbo-or-Perisher-Weekend-Snow-Trip/d357-2912WKND
The trip was wonderful , thoroughly enjoyed the snowfall !!!
Hui M C
https://www.viator.com/en-AU/tours/Sydney/Thredbo-or-Perisher-Weekend-Snow-Trip/d357-2912WKND
This snow weekend was exactly as described, no hidden or unexpected costs! The crew were very helpful, informative and accommodating. My friends and I enjoyed the trip very much and I can't wait to return in 3 weeks!
Bob
People shouldn't complain about the weather. I don't think Thredbo controls the snow, now do they? But, overall, stay was good. Only went tobogganing and it was fun.