Bogong High Plains Rd to Falls Creek is now open all hours

FCRM advise that Vicroads and Police have okayed the road to be open night and day.

There are still 2 sets of traffic lights where the road is reduced to one way (near Clover Dam and just below Turnback) and you should be cautious throughout the drive.

Falls Creek Rd Daylight Hours Only

* update: closure is now 6pm to 6am (not 7:30am as stated below) *

The Falls Creek road will be closed at 6pm every night until further notice.FCRM have provided the following advice:

The Victorian Police and VicRoads have directed that the Bogong High Plains Road between Falls Creek and Mount Beauty will be closed between 6pm and 7.30am each night for the immediate future.

Many of you have likely witnessed the numerous landslides and fallen trees along the Bogong High Plains Road to Mount Beauty resulting from the recent severe weather.

While there has been a considerable cooperative effort among many agencies to reopen the road, there still remains areas of some risk due to landslides and trees that are in imminent danger of falling.

VicRoads has determined that the risks posed by these areas are manageable during daylight hours. They have determined however, that the risk is unacceptable during the night due to restricted vision.

The road between Falls Creek and Mount Beauty will therefore be closed at 6pm every night. Cars must leave the resort by 545pm to ensure this occurs.  There will be no exceptions to this rule. 

This is a decision made exclusively by Vic Police advised by a qualified VicRoads assessor.

All systems are Go!

The road is open again, although drivers are warned to be be extremely cautious. Ski Patrol reported that the base has frozen and there has been a  nice top up of fresh snow.

Road Closures due to Severe Weather

The extraordinary weather over the last few days has affected access to Falls Creek. In particular, there have been some landslips on the road from Mt Beauty to Falls Creek and the road was closed for much of Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday afternoon there were escorted convoys to allow traffic on and off  the mountain. The road is now closed again and the following advice has been provided by FCRM.

As at 610pm Sunday September 5
Due to severe weather conditions and as a precautionary measure to travellers , the Bogong High Plains Road has been closed to all traffic by Victoria Police.

Escorted vehicles were allowed outbound and inbound access to the resort, but it is expected the road will again be closed to general traffic until re assessment on the morning of Monday September 6.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANY UN-ESCORTED TRAVEL OCCUR ON THE BOGONG HIGH PLAINS ROAD UNTIL THE ROAD IS OFFICIALLY OPEN. YOU WILL FACE FINES IF THIS OCCURS.

It is suggested any travellers in transit arrange accommodation in Mt Beauty or stay in Falls Creek overnight. If there is any change to these circumstances, you will be notified as soon as Resort Management is made aware.

There are also road closures on access roads to Mt Beauty. Specific details change as water levels rise and fall in different places. Access to and from Mt Beauty has been possible, given some route planning to avoid the closures. Vic Roads is updating its road closure bulletin several times a day. You can check it at http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/TrafficAndRoadConditions/EmergencyConditions/ExtremeWeatherLatestRoadInformation.htm 

Good things come to those that wait

After a slow start to the season, Falls Creek now has over 175cm of snow and more snow is expected over the next few days. All lifts are running and even the Maze is open. Who would have thought it just a few weeks ago?

There are some great offers to entice us to make the best of this late season.

Spring season pass
Falls Creek are offering a spring season pass that covers Falls and Hotham from 28th August to the end of the season.
Adults $549
Secondary students $449
Children (6-14) $275
Details at  www.skifalls.com.au/springseasonpass

Value season day tickets
From Sept 13th, adult day ticket price drops to $80 ($64, $40 for students, kids)
Details at www.skifalls.com.au/Tickets Passes

Off-peak rates at AAC
Off-peak rates at AAC Falls Creek lodge start this Sunday 29th. For adult members, that's a week for $189 or a weekend for $63 . (Details of other rates) There are still rooms available all through the rest of the season, although they are filling up. See the Booking Status for the latest information.

Living in an Igloo

Jenni Frendo sent this in today from the lodge:

we took this photo out of our bedroom window today, the snow has fallen off the roof all week, until the last one which just kind of sat there on top like a surf wave! we truly live in an igloo!!
snow is perfect right now - we just can't see it very well, too foggy!

2010 annual race

*** more pictures added 23 August ***
A beautiful day and beautiful snow for a fun morning's racing. Everybody made it through both runs without any falls or missed gates.

The post race dinner was a great night with everybody mixing and enjoying the great spread that Greg and Jenni put on.

Thanks to John, Noel, Greg and Jenni for a great day.

More pics

If you have pictures to share, please contact us at aacfallscreek(at)gmail.com

Sam Barker Memorial Shield for Children 12 and under
1 William Cowie 
2 James Cowie
3 Natasha Poon

Adult Men
1 Ross Barker
2 Darby Kitchin
3 John Cameron

Adult Women
1 Melissa  Cameron
2 Viviene Wall
3 Marj Pit

Snowboard
Harry Stogdale

Special Awards
Fastest Guest: Davide Allidi
Slowest Instructor: Ian Farrow

Full Results

sled dog race - village road closures

There will be a sled dog race in the village on Tuesday night 17th August. It should be a great spectacle, but it will impact on village access and parking.

Half of the Slalom North carpark will be roped off from Sunday night.

On Tuesday night the course must be free of all traffic including pedestrians, from approx 7pm to 8pm. If you are planning to go out on Tuesday night, be aware that some roads will be cordoned off.

The race course will be:
1. From bottom of Falls Express, up Wombats Ramble and right onto Pretty Valley Road,
2. Across Pretty Valley Road to the top of Ory's Trail,
3. Down Ory's trail (past the Brown Tank) and entering the village at Frueauf,
4. Down Schuss Street taking a right onto Slalom Street in front of Julian's,
5. Down Slalom Street and back into Slalom Plaza.

When there are no race teams approaching Marshalls will permit traffic through the cordoned off intersections. However, the Marshalls will remove all traffic from the race course when race teams are approaching.

FCRM also warn that the dogs are not the patting kind.

Village in Oversnow mode

Once more there is enough snow in the village for ski-in/ski-out and oversnow operation.

Election Day - No polling booth at Falls Creek

The Australian Electoral Commission is not intending to have a polling booth at Falls Creek. If you are planning on being at Falls on 21 August your options are:

• go to an early voting centre to cast your vote before you leave home
• apply for a postal vote (must be received by AEC by 19 August)
• vote in a nearby town (eg Mt Beauty or Tawonga)  if you are on your way to/from Falls Creek on the day

AEC poster
More info at www.aec.gov.au