News from the lift co

Lift tickets

• Maximum walk-up day ticket price is $149. You can save by buying online, ahead of time.
• July Vic school holidays and Fri-Sun in July and August look to have the highest prices
• The lowest online ticket price is $97
• Midweek deal - ski Tue, Wed, Thur for the price of 2 days. Matching deal on resort entry. This will not be available in Vic July school holidays.

Ski School

• Kids ski school restructure
• Junior workshop 6-14
• Adults 15+
• Ride Tribe 13-17 but must be at least competent intermediate (not early or late season)
• Adult lessons return to 10am
• All day adult learn to ski deal (optional) 

Maintenance and improvements

• Gully has had a makeover and is now capable of 2.3m/sec. It can be slowed and sped up as required
• Eagle has had changes to improve reliability
• Bushfire control works have had a side benefit of summer grooming in the maze

Queen's Birthday Weekend - What's happening?

This is the most snow for opening weekend since 2000.

The village will be in ski in/ski out mode from Friday morning, with no cars in the village. After the weekend they will assess whether there is enough snow to maintain ski in/ski out.

The lift co have said that they will run Gully, Eagle, Halleys, Towers, Drovers, Mousetrap (and maybe the little ski school carpet). They expect all runs off these lifts to be open, plus Broadway and the Ys.

The Falls Creek Alpine Association Mountain Muster function which we hosted last year will be on at Bogong Ski Club in the bowl and you are welcome to attend.

Have a great time if you heading up.

Epic Australia Pass

The Hotham lease issues have been finalised and Hotham is now part of Vail Resorts too. If you have a Hero Pass then you need to decide whether to convert to an Epic Australia Pass. It may be free, or a small fee or even a tiny refund depending on the date that you bought your Hero Pass.

If you convert, you get all the benefits of the Epic Australia Pass but you lose benefits of the Hero Pass. Epic Australia Pass lets you ski at Perisher as well as Falls and Hotham, and at some overseas resorts with some restrictions. Read the fine print and decide which is right for you. Some points to watch out for

• Hero Passes entitle you to 1 free day ticket and 1 free Learn to Ski ticket for friends. This does not apply under an Epic Pass
• Epic Australia Pass entitles you to 6 Bring a Mate discount tickets that only apply at Perisher. Discounts vary
• Seniors over 70 are treated differently by Vail Resorts. For this year, free passes are available under Merlin's conditions (Falls and Hotham only)

You can also choose to upgrade to an Epic Australia Plus pass which has less restrictions on overseas resorts. The Epic Pass is a US dollar pass that will apply to the Northern hemisphere 2019/20 season and our 2020 season. It has the most resorts and least restrictions.

I understand that the deadline to convert is 2 July.

For details see https://www.epicaustraliapass.com.au/passes/epic-australia-pass-faq-2019

Eagle Express is go

The much heralded Eagle Express is operating.

It's a detachable quad, like Halley's Comet/Falls Express. It can whisk us up to the top in just a few minutes (2 minutes & 20 seconds at top speed but it may not run quite that fast). Initially the capacity (skiers per hour) will be the same as with the old lift, but there is an option for the lift co to provide more chairs in future.

A word of warning - the lift has an automatically locking safety bar. It doesn't release until you get to right to the unload.

Getting beginners to Cloud 9

The lift co have acquired a sherpa trailer. Together with it's snowmobile it can carry 9 passengers. It will be used to shuttle beginners from Eagle to Cloud 9. In busy times priority will go to ski school, but otherwise any beginners should be able to use it. I heard that there was a delay in getting it operational. Hopefully will be running soon.

Access

New regulations about chairlifts mean that the base station is positioned a little differently. Sadly this means we cannot walk or ski between the lift and Altitude Apartments (previously Cummings building)

Hopefully we will be able to ski through between the lift and Frying Pan

.

Eagle Chair Replacement

This project is well underway. The bowl is fenced off. Dismantling of the old lift started in late January. Gully car park is full on interesting new bits of chairlift. Helicopters will soon be busy putting the new towers in position.

Check out progress on the webcam

For those who came in late...
It will be a quad detachable in almost the same position as the old chair. The new chair will be much faster and will make it much easier to take beginners up to the excellent learning slope at Monkey Bar. The old lift was 37 years old and parts were very hard to get. A new alignment closer to Cloud 9 would have been lovely, but it was just too hard to get approval. Some parts of the old lift will be moved to Gully.

Extended Season to 8 October

The lift company have extended the season until Sunday 8th October. To allow you to enjoy this to the full, we are pleased to announce that the off-peak season at the lodge will also be extended. Linen service, continental breakfast and room cleaning will be provided. Summer season will now commence on the night of Sunday 8 October.

It's our best season in over a decade. All runs are open, with great cover. Enjoy some lovely September skiing, right up until the end of Vic & NSW school holidays.

Hero Pass 2018

It's on again - if you are a frequent Falls Creek skier or boarder then this deal is too good to miss.

$799 for a 2018 season pass valid at Falls & Hotham. Kids & Seniors only $459.

Pay a $99 deposit by 5pm on 9 October and the deposit in April

The side benefits are a little different - best check the details if they are important to you

More info at fallscreek.com.au/heropass

Spring Pass

Today, Fri 25th August, is the last day to pick up a spring lift pass.

There's a metre and a half of snow and the runs are all in great shape. Spring Pass lets you ski from Mon 4th Sept till the end of the season. $449 for Adults and $269 for Kids and Seniors

Hero Pass deadline extended to Monday

Apparently they had some technical problems with the online store so the lift company has extended the deadline for Hero Passes to Monday 17 October. (I haven't seen a time, but probably safe to assume 5pm as it was for the original deadline).

Only $99 now and $650 in April ($49 + $380 for kids and seniors).

Hero Passes on sale

It's on again - if you are a frequent Falls Creek skier or boarder then this deal is too good to miss.

$749 for a 2017 season pass valid at Falls & Hotham. Kids & Seniors only $429.

Pay a $99 deposit by 13 October and the deposit in April

More info at fallscreek.com.au/heropass

6 Day Anytime Lift Tickets

If you can't justify a season ticket but want some flexibility, the 6 Day Any Day lift ticket might be what you are after

$499 for adults,
$279 for kids and seniors

and now kids up to 17 are still charged as kids
valid for Hotahm as well as Falls Creek

only available until 31 March

More

6-day anytime lift tickets

The lift company have announced a 6 Day Anytime ticket, valid for Falls and Hotham. This offer is only available online until 27 April.

$499 for adults
$425 for youth 15-18
$249 for kids and seniors (65-70)

If you don't come often enough to justify a season pass, this could be a good flexible option.

More

2015 Hero Pass

It's on again, same price as last year: $749 for an adult season pass, that's less than half the full price of $1549.

Pay $199 by 1 October and $550 by 30 April 2015. ($99+$330 for kids and seniors)

Details at skifalls.com.au/HeroPass

Lift Co Deals: First-Timers, Dads and Big Kids

The lift company have announced some great September deals. Why not book into the lodge to take advantage of the these offers.

First Timers

Just announced is the lift company's BFF Plan. If you buy a lift ticket in September, you can introduce a first-timer to skiing or boarding for free. They get a two hour first-time ski or snowboard lesson, 1 day access to first-timer lifts, and 1 day ski or snowboard rental. There are lots of conditions (mainly seem to be about making sure it is only for genuine first timers).

See skifalls.com.au/BFFPlan for details

Dads

Father's Day is Dads ski (or board) free day if they have a child (any age) with a lift ticket for the day

See skifalls.com.au/DadSkisFree for details

Big Kids

Usually child tickets are only for 14 and under, but this September all kids up to 18 can ski and board at child prices

See skifalls.com.au/BigKids for details

Early Bird reminder

Special early bird deals on season passes for lifts and resort entry expire tomorrow 30th April.

If you paid a deposit on a Hero Pass last spring, your credit card should already been charged for the balance.

Early Bird Season Pass

If you missed out on ordering a Hero Pass, you can still save money on a season pass.

Adult season pass is $1249 if you buy by 30 April, $300 off the full price.

see fallscreek.com.au/SeasonPass for details

Resort Management have not yet released information about resort entry season passes.

Winter Olympics special - 5 day any day ticket $399

If you are not planning on skiing or boarding enough to get a Hero Pass for this season, you might be interested in this deal from the lift company.

Th pass is valid for any 5 days in the 2014 season - they don't have to be consecutive. Offer is only open until the Sochi closing ceremony.

see http://www.skifalls.com.au for details

Hero Pass - closes 10 October

It's on again. Pay a $199 deposit now and the $550 balance in April to get your season pass. Children, secondary students and seniors  pay $99 now and $330 in April.

If you intend to ski or board more than 7 days at Falls and Hotham in 2014, this is a great deal.

Details at www.heropass.com.au

International and Lakeside are Go!

Our trusty pomas are set to turn from Saturday 10th. And there is more snow forecast over the next few days. Jane's Weather is forecasting that it could be as much anywhere from 40cm - 90cm by Monday.

I'm grinning ear to ear because I'm at the lodge next week

Early Bird Passes

Lifts

If you have not already committed to a Hero Pass for the lifts, you can still get an Early Bird Pass.

Available until 5pm April 30th

• $1229 for adults
• $689 for children and full time secondary school students (aged 15-18 yrs)
• $775 for full time tertiary students

Valid at both Falls Creek and Hotham from Saturday 8 June through until Sunday 29 September 2013.

more info on lift season passes

Resort Entry

Available until 5pm April 30th

• $270 if bought online - break even in 8 days
• $247.50 for seniors, if bought online 

Note that there will no longer be free entry for seniors 65+. However they are eligible for a 10% discount, even if they have younger passengers.

more info on resort entry passes