Bookings Open Monday 1 Feb

This year the online booking system will be available for winter bookings from 1 February.

The exception is for June/July Victorian school holidays (26 June to 9 July). Bookings for this high demand period should be made using the old forms. After 1 March any vacancies in that period can be booked online.

There have been some refinements to the booking system and the user guide has been revised to reflect these.

Please use the online system wherever possible for your bookings.

Booking System Improvements

There are some changes to the online booking system. Simple bookings should be quicker and simpler to make.

• Some changes have been made to make it clearer which buttons to click, often in lime green. Most importantly, the system works best when you use the occupancy grid to select dates for your stay, so this has been highlighted.
• You can now select beds as well as dates in the occupancy grid by clicking and dragging on the beds. When you click Make a Booking with your Selection, it takes you to the booking page with the beds already highlighted, ready for you fill in details for each member/guest. 

Making a booking online is easy.
Here is a Quick Start Guide for simple bookings

1. Logon and read the information on the Welcome screen
2. On the Occupancy and Make Bookings page, check if there are vacancies for the dates you want. 
3. Click and drag in the grid to "paint" the dates and beds you want.
4. Click Make a booking with your Selection to go to the Booking page.
5. Verify your Contact Details, especially email address
6. In the Booking Details, for each person you are booking for
   a.    Click on one of the chosen (highlighted) bed in the grid
   b.    Type the Guest Name
   c.    Use Select Group to specify which age/gender group they belong to
   d.    In Comments add children’s ages, or any other pertinent information
   e.    Use the Fee Selector to specify the appropriate tariff for that person
7. If paying by Credit Card, fill in your details and click Charge Card and Save Booking.
8. If paying by EFT (Direct Deposit), note the EFT details, including the booking reference and, click Save Booking and Pay Later . When contacted by the Booking Officer,  make the payment using your bank’s internet banking website or other facility.
9. You will soon receive an automated email to say that your booking request has been received by the system. Your booking is not confirmed until payment has been verified and the Booking Officer sends you an email with the door code. This may take some days (or weeks if prior to opening of bookings).

If the system does not want to allow your booking, please check that your request complies with the booking rules. Most booking problems are due to these rules not being strictly met Eg Is it a standard length booking (week, 5 day midweek or weekend)? For a week booking,does it begin on a Sunday?  Does a 5 day booking begin on a Sunday? Is a weekend booking being made no more than 19 days ahead (Mon) for members , or no more than 15 days (Fri) ahead for guests?

Bookings that do not comply with the booking rules will need to be discussed with the booking officer.

For more detailed instructions, see  User Guide for AAC Falls Creek Booking System

Cycling Weekend - what a great time

Thanks to Angie for organising our first mountain bike weekend and for this report. Thanks to Garry for the pictures.

If you like the sound of this, there is another minimum-fee-exempt weekend on Feb 12-14 and Blue Dirt shuttles will be operating if you want some help getting to the top.

And if you can't come that weekend, Blue Dirt have announced extra dates when shuttles will run (normal summer minimum fee applies)

Cross country skiers set the bench marks – 2016 MTB weekend at AAC-Falls. 

The first AAC- Falls Creek mountain bike (MTB) event was a huge success. A group of AAC-Falls members spent the second weekend of January testing their personal fitness, balance, strength and bikes on the new Falls Creek MTB trails – none were found wanting.

John G has set the bench mark for AAC-Falls by riding from Mt Beauty to the Nordic Bowl (in one day), backing up the following day with a ride up to Cloud Nine, and then descending initially via a single track, and then the road all the way to Mt Beauty.

Angie F gained the highest peak by bike (Mt Mackay) via single track ascent to Cloud Nine and then the road, backing this up the following day with a ride from the lodge to Mt Beauty and a ride from Raspberry Hill to the lodge; her bike’s attraction to the many puddles along this route setting the bench mark for the muddiest bike rider. As John and Angie are both Nordic skiers the challenge has been laid down to Alpine skiers and boarders to beat these bench marks next year.

Additional awards go to Garry H for the longest distance in a single day and the highest number of descents from the Lodge to Mt Beauty (3). However, Garry hasn’t achieved the highest ratio of km to words – that honour goes to Bron.

Falls Creek Management have completed a good number of the new MTB trail network. These include heart thumping elevation changes (Plaza to Cloud Nine and Gully to Summit), and adrenaline pumping descents (you may use your imagination here). For the less experienced (or less fool hardy) there is a very pretty network of “green” trails going in around the Nordic Bowl which are easily accessed from the aqueduct (also rated green). Riders can also cross the dam wall and follow the road and / or aqueduct out to Wallace’s and Cope’s huts.

The social aspects of the weekend deserve a mention. All enjoyed Jenny H's fabulous cooking, Garry and Marks’ ongoing narration of the weekend, Myra’s fabulous organisation of picnic and BBQs, Bron’s bruising walks and Brian’s impressive personal best ride. Mark’s unexpected (and belated) bah mitzvah was toasted and Elvis Presley’s 83 birthday was celebrated karaoke style. 

The committee is to be thanked for supporting MTB at Falls via waiving the $300 min fee for the January weekend, the weekend of Feb 13/14, and Easter. MTB at Falls is a lot of fun. If you aren’t into MTB you can road ride, or simply walk the High Planes and enjoy the Wild Flowers. We look forward to more MTB events. 

More pics

and if you don't know the people involved, we were a mix of downhill skiers, snow boarders and xc skiers. The xc skiers might have been the fittest but we all had a great time

A new cafe in the bowl

We have a new food business in the bowl - Cafe Max (briefly @1542) is now under new management and renamed "be foodstore". They have been open over summer holidays and quickly become very popular with the locals for coffee, cakes, healthy juices and afternoon drinks. (Not sure about their opening hours now)

New proprietors Jason & Melissa have been running Altitude Apartments for quite a while. Initially they are just doing drinks and treats but they plan to serve meals in winter. What's more they plan to stock bread and milk as well as specialty groceries and packaged grog. Hooray!

Room Conversions

The member survey showed that many respondents put a high priority on remodelling more rooms to be twins or doubles rather than the double plus single bunk configuration. The upgrade to Room 5 (twin) has been very popular. There seems to be an increasing demand for twin rooms, especially for members who are less nimble than they once were. Many couples are also not keen on the overhanging bunks.

The committee will move very carefully in converting rooms. We do not want to lose the great flexibility provided by the double plus single bunk configuration. However, data from the booking system shows us that in the last 2 seasons we could still have accommodated the same bookings with less 3 bed rooms, and made staying at the lodge even better for some guests.

Before the winter, Room 12 will be converted to a twin like Room 5, with under-bed storage bins and a wall unit. Sound insulation and lighting will also be improved.

Planning is also underway to convert another 3 bed room, (most likely Room 2) to just a double. Hopefully this can be done this autumn too.

When you go to book online the third beds in those rooms will be not be visible.

The committee will analyse booking data and consider member feedback before considering any further conversions.

AGM Email Communications - Reminder

Don't forget to check that we have your correct email and mobile phone numbers so that you can receive AGM and other notices.

Thanks to those who have already updated.