Cannonball final day!! According to the previous day’s weather report, there would be full cloud cover, and I’d be shooting in misty clouds. Those are some of my favourite conditions to shoot in the mountains. Instead, I awoke to deep blue skies. Oh well, the weather is always a bit more unpredictable in the mountains.
Aus Open Downhill: Racing
Since there were no clouds to play in and I had shot up high the day before, I decided to stay towards the end of the track. There is always a good atmosphere around the wallride, so I wanted to finish up in that area. I shot a few of the low jumps during practice, the wallride for the Elite/U19 practice. For the bulk of the race, I shot a small rock drop I knew everyone had to do, and they usually look good doing it. For the U19’s and Elites, I came back down and embraced the crowd. I managed to knock out 3 slightly different angles this year. Last year, my gear got trampled by over-eager kids, and I was almost run down by a wayward rider, but this year I stayed out of harm’s way, and a better fence meant my gear was safe too.
Deity Whip Wars
Finishing off the week’s events was the Deity Whip War. Another fast and furious event with riders showing off their best whips and other tricks on the last jump of the Cannonball track. It is also another crowd favourite, with them gathering on the hill to watch. I managed to knock out 3 slightly different angles this year. Last year, my gear got trampled by over-eager kids, and I was almost run down by a wayward rider, but this year I stayed out of harm’s way, and a better fence meant my gear was safe too.
So here are the final images from Thredbo’s Cannonball for 2026. I shall be back down there in a couple of weeks for Interschools to do it all again. In the meantime, if you haven’t already seen it, swing over to the full gallery on the Outerimage website here and check out all that Gil and I captured over the week.
