Five things we learned from Thredbo Resort's new world class winter training facility
Australia's Thredbo resort upped the freestyle offerings partnering with Stomping Grounds Projects to offer a private Superpipe and 65-foot jump to support athlete development ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Milano-Cortina 2026.
While winter operations have concluded at Australia’s Thredbo Resort, the buzz over the new snowboarding and freeskiing training facilities is still very much ongoing. The winter of 2024 saw Thredbo elevate its action sports facilities for Olympians and professional athletes, with a brand new 22-foot halfpipe, and for the second year in a row, constructing a massive 55-plus foot training jump and pro-level rail setup. The resort also upped the opportunities for progression for local riders, with the addition of a new 13-foot mini pipe.
Find out how Thredbo in partnership with the Stomping Grounds Projects, has positioned itself as one of the preeminent training facilities ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Milano-Cortina 2026.
Thredbo debuts Australia’s first Superpipe
Thredbo resort is now on the map as home to one of the world’s best training Superpipes. This August saw the resort team up with the Stomping Grounds Projects, the same builders behind the pre-season (October) training facility high up in the glacier town of Saas Fe, Switzerland, to build a perfect 22-foot Superpipe—the first of its kind at Thredbo.
The rope-tow accessed Superpipe hosted training sessions for the best snowboarders and freeskiers in the world including the Crystal Globe winner from Australia, Valentino Guseli, Olympic champions Chloe Kim and Hirano Ayumu, two-time Olympic medallist Scotty James, and Hirano Kaishu to name a few.
Thredbo shared that the goal of this Superpipe is to provide a training facility for athletes inclduing Beijing 2022 silver medallist James to train for the Olympics without leaving Australia.
Thredbo and Stomping Grounds Projects debut even bigger 65-foot training jump
The winter of 2023 saw Thredbo host the biggest jump in the Southern Hemisphere, a massive 50-foot plus booter that saw the likes of Olympic Champions Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Anna Gasser and Mark McMorris dialing in new tricks. This exclusive training jump for the world’s best snowboarders and freeskiers was back for 2024 and even bigger, measuring in at a massive 65-feet.
While unseasonable temperatures ended the training session prematurely, the jump still saw athletes dial in new tricks that we can expect to be unveiled once the competition season gets underway and will undoubtably be back for the 2025 season.
Scotty James signs on as Thredbo ambassador focused on uplifting the next gen of Aussie athletes
Ahead of the winter season, Thredbo announced that it has partnered with two-time snowboarding Olympic halfpipe medallist James as the resort's new winter ambassador. James grew up competing at Thredbo and has made a point of returning to ride. But now with this partnership, James has officially focused on helping to make Thredbo the place for progression for top-tier pros like himself and to support the development of the next generation of Aussie athletes.
Thredbo and Scotty James introduced new 13-foot halfpipe to encourage youth progression
James’ first act as the new Thredbo ambassador was to donate a new mini pipe cutter. The new 13-foot halfpipe, dubbed “MOOKi’s Mini Pipe" opened to the public this season and saw the first Mini Pipe Cup competition with 200 young snowboarder learning from the four-time Olympian. James was on site, hosting the event, putting on a demo for the kids and presenting the awards.
Thredbo freeriders ramp up their rail game in Stomping Grounds Projects park and Antons Terrain Park
Beyond the halfpipes and massive training jump, Thredbo maintains an impressive park complete with competition-level rails. Great Britain’s Mia Brooks and Beijing 2022 Big Air bronze medallist Tess Coady shared social media posts lapping the park as part of their training.
The private Proving Grounds Projects also includes a pro-level rail setup which saw impressive training runs from PyeongChang 2018 slopestyle silver medallist Laurie Blouin.
Coady even hosts a season-closing park contest, the Bush Doof, utilizing the progressive rail and jib features from the park to close out Thredbo’s season in style.
