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The Cannonball Mountain Bike Festival is back for its thirteenth year, running from February 10-14 at Thredbo Resort.
With the racing now condensed into four jam-packed days, there is still a prize purse of $120,000 AUD up for grabs, and the festival has loads of live music, brand activations and a star-studded elite field. You’ll have the chance to race alongside some of Australia’s fastest riders like Luke Meier-Smith, Ryan Gilchrist, Caroline Buchanan and more.
We caught up with Tim Windshuttle and Bronte Crawley from Thredbo to get the lowdown on what’s planned for this year.
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Four days of action-packed racing
This year, the racing has been condensed into a shorter block, with the Flow Motion Cup now taking place over one day instead of two. But packed into that are six events that will test a rider’s entire skill set, all in pursuit of the ultimate prize, the King and Queen of Cannonball.
Entires officially close on February 4, but with limited spots available, they sell out every year. 2026 will be no different, so if you want to race, now is the time to enter.
Specialized All-Mountain Enduro | Wednesday, February 11
The racing kicks off on Wednesday, February 11, with the Specialized All Mountain Enduro.
Windshuttle tells us they have tweaked the course, as last year was a bit of a sufferfest, with one of the stages going across the Panorama trail, which contours the top of the resort before dropping down to the Gunbarrel chair.
“The fit people loved it, others didn’t. So for this year, the course will start at the top of the Cruiser Chairlift, racing on Paparazzi and Slayground for stage one,” says Windshuttle.
“Stage two is Dream Catcher until the Dream Run Bridge. Stage three is the lower part of Dream Catcher into the Valley Terminal. So that’s a new race course that we’ve never done before,” he continues.
RockShox Flow Motion Cup | Thursday, February 12
The Flowmotion Cup kicks off the racing on Thursday with a top-to-bottom run of the 5km Kosciuszko Flow Track. While the blue flow trail may not be the most technical in the resort, racing it is an exercise in lactic acid.
With huge bermed corners, rollers and jumps galore, it will test your fitness and mastery of the laws of energy conservation to maintain speed across the rolling traverses.
Maxxis Dual Slalom | Thursday, February 12
Later in the day, the Maxxis Dual Slalom kicks off. This isn’t your beautifully sculpted bermy cornered Crankworx head-to-head battle. Oh no, Thredbo has taken dual slalom back to its roots with the course set up on a grassy ski run full of flat corners, limited grip, plenty of carnage and bucket loads of fun.
This year, the team at Thredbo are throwing in a couple of curveballs to up the jank (read: fun) factor.
“We are going to make the course sort of awkward and difficult. We are going to wet down some of the grassy corners, and fan out kopper logs around the gates. So if you go out wide, you can just hop over one, but if you take the inside, you actually have to hop two of them, so the fastest line will be a bit trickier,” Windshuttle says.
Windshuttle tells us they’ll be bringing the Boost Mobile Snowcat Down with the DJ tower, and DJ Fin will be delivering the vibes for an event that will no doubt be just as fun to spectate as it will be to race.
Oakley Pumptrack | Friday, February 13
A crowd pleaser through and through, the Oakley Pumptrack challenge is running all of Friday, with qualifying in the morning and finals in the afternoon.
Windshuttle tells us the track will be similar to previous years with a few slight tweaks.
DJ Fin will once again be providing the tunes for the racing action, and then the party kicks on at the Pub Bistro, where Live @ Subs will be jumping on stage. You might recognise the drummer of the band, as it’s Matt D’Arcy from Krush, who will be on site the whole week doing complimentary bike washes.
RockShox Australian Open Downhill | Saturday, February 14
The heavyweight bout kicks off on Saturday on the Cannonball DH track for the RockShox Australian Open Downhill.
Racing on one of the country’s most iconic trails, this year’s course will include the upper fire road section, so you’ll be close to the sound barrier by the time you hit the singletrack. Windshuttle says they are still finalising exactly what the course will look like, but if you raced last year, there will be a few new features to conquer.
“We are hoping to make a few race lines through the grass to shorten a few sections and make it a bit quicker. The Snakes and Ladders section and the True Blue section have just had a huge rebuild,” he says.
The whole bottom section is new as well,” he continues.
This race is always hotly contested and is another fantastic one for the spectators. Grab your noise maker and head up hill to heckle the fastest gravity riders in the country.
Deity Whip Wars | Saturday, February 14
To close out the week, Cannonball will once again host the Deity Whip wars in the event village, where they will be debuting a new jump.
“It’s a lot taller, a lot steeper and nowhere near as long,” Windshuttle tells Flow.
“All the feedback from the top riders (like Remy Morton and David McMillan, who will be competing) has been that it’s much better for a whip comp. I am excited to see that for this year, they’re getting a lot more airtime, not travelling as far but going further up,” he says.
Of course, this one is invite-only, so park up next to the jump and enjoy some wild airborne antics in the afternoon.
But the weekend doesn’t end on the Whip Wars jump, with Hockey Dad headline the closing party at the Alpine Bar, and then DJ Fin and Just Carlo are hosting the kick-ons at Keller Bar.
Race with the Pros
It’s not often that you get to stump up next to World Cup winners, but that’s precisely what you get at Cannonball.
Already confirmed to be racing in Thredbo are Luke Meier-Smith, Ryan Gilchrist, Jackson Connoly, Ellie Smith, Troy Brosnan, Jack Moir, Sian A’Hern, Kye A’Hern, Caroline Buchanan, Jackson Frew, Ed Masters, Jenna Hastings, and Oliver Zwar, with more riders to be confirmed.
You’ll have a chance to ride with them through the weekend, and Thredbo is also hosting a poster signing on Wednesday evening at The Alpine Bar.
King and Queen of Cannonball
The piece de resistance of Cannonball is the Kind and Queen of Cannonball. This is a points-based overall contest that awards the rider who can harness the broadest skill set across the weekend.
Previously, you had to race every event to be in the running for the crown; however, last year, the team at Thredbo tweaked the rules so that everyone was in the running. The more races you run, the more chances for points. Last year, Luke Meier-Smith and Sian A’Hern were coronated in the Pro category, but the Cannonball Monarchy is not just reserved for the elite category; a male and female rider will be crowned in every age group!
Specators and non-riders | There is plenty to do!
Of course, you don’t actually have to race any of the events to enjoy the atmosphere, and all of the chairlifts are spinning, and the majority of the trails are open across the weekend.
For those who don’t want to race at all, you can still come and mountain bike, cut up the dance floor and enjoy the festival without having to enter. Unless it’s official practice or racing, all the tracks will be open,” says Crawley.
If you are coming to spectate, the Pump Track, Dual Slalom, Downhill and Whip Wars are your best bet.
In the village, there will be heaps of brands in attendance, showing off all their latest bits and bobs. In previous years, we’ve even seen unreleased bikes on display down near the Thredbo River‚ you never know what you’re going to find.
“SRAM and RockShox will be here providing tech support not only to their riders, but all competitors using their products. There will also be some suspension clinics throughout the week. Specialized Bikes will have bikes on display, and we’ve also got Oakley, Lusty, Maxxis, the Boost Mobile Hub and activations. Krush will be set up by the bike wash, and will be giving free bike washes, and Balter will be providing the beers,” says Windshuttle.
He also mentioned that a heap of other brands would be attending, including Dharco, Velocirax, Dirty Surfer, Stark Future Motorbikes, and more.
As we’ve mentioned in the schedule, there will also be live music every day, with DJ Fin at the decks across the week, Live @ Subs playing at the Keller Bar, and Hockey Dad headlining the Cannonball Closing Party.
Cheer on the Aussies at the Olympics
While it’s not strictly Cannonball related, the winter Olympics are just about to kick off. We love an opportunity to root for the home team, and the one and only Scotty James is a favourite in the Snowboard Halfpipe.
“On Saturday the fourteenth, we’ll be hosting an Olympic Watch Party in the Kozi Room. It’s at 4:30 am, so it’s an early one, but there will be a lot of people keen to watch, and hopefully he’ll get on the podium,” says Crawley.
How to enter?
Entries for all the events at Cannonball are now open. Each event has a limited number of slots and sells out each year. Entries will close on February 4. If they don’t sell out, so if you would like to race, giddy up.
Folks who have a Gravity Pass will get a 20% discount on event entries, and all event entries are also available, which is only a squidge more than what a five-day lift pass costs.
For more info, head over to the Thredbo website.
Photos: Nick Waygood / Thredbo Resort
The post Four Days Of Racing In The Alpine | Cannonball MTB Fest returns to Thredbo this February appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.
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[[{“value”:”The Cannonball Mountain Bike Festival is back for its thirteenth year, running from February 10-14 at Thredbo Resort. With the racing now condensed into four jam-packed days, there is still a prize purse of $120,000 AUD up for grabs, and the festival has loads of live music, brand activations and a star-studded elite field. You’ll
The post Four Days Of Racing In The Alpine | Cannonball MTB Fest returns to Thredbo this February appeared first on Flow Mountain Bike.”}]] Read More Flow Mountain Bike
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