celebrate the opening of the "new" lodge

Get your glad rags on and help us celebrate the opening of the new lodge on opening weekend...

The Committee of Australian Alpine Club Falls Creek invites all members of the Club to attend the official opening of the renovated  Lodge.

Saturday 9th June 2012

Official ceremony: 6:30pm

Dinner will be served at 7:30pm in the Lodge,

followed by a Trivia night

The new lodge will be officially opened by Noel Poon, Chairman of the Club during the redevelopment.

There will be a maximum of 60 people attending the event.

RSVP by 1 June 2012	Dress Code
Alan Long Phone: 03 9328 4491 email: mrkflong@bigpond.com	Black Tie Optional/Cocktail

Grand Opening Weekend
Accommodation Package

Accommodation for 3 nights
Cooked breakfast on Sat, Sun, Mon
Dinner Saturday night
Full member: $150
Spouse of member: $150
Members' children (U18): $75
Other adult guests: $250
Other children (U18): $125
AAC Member rate discounts apply
Dinner only: $50 flat rate

looking fantastic

The lodge redevelopment is all but complete. There a few small finishing touches are being done this week, but the project is finishing on time and under budget.
 

It is looking fantastic, and best of all, this redevelopment secures us a 50 year lease.

• The outside has been completely re-clad with Colorbond and highlights of ironbark and stone.
• The roof has been replaced.
• All windows have been replaced with tough double-glazing and insulation has been placed in the walls, improvements which should significantly reduce our gas usage for heating.
• The entrance has been remodelled

 

• The dining room has been extended, re-carpeted and new leather cushions fitted on the banquettes. The new cushion design means more effective seating space and much more comfort.

• The public bathroom near room 15 has been divided into separate rooms for toilet and shower.

• Room 15 has been extended.
• Repairs and improvements have been made such as leaks around the main balcony and a better snow-shedder on the chimney.
• There were many items to comply with bushfire regulations, current building code and other Resort Management requirements.

more pics

A number of people have put in huge contributions to make this a success:

• Noel Poon and David Stogdale in particular have organised the raising of finances that have allowed the project to go ahead. They have also dealt with numerous bureaucratic headaches along the way.
• The Building Committee (John Cameron, Paul Cregan, Michael McKenna, Richard Pocknee, Andrew Rist and Mark Rosenberg) were invaluable in refining the scope of work. Richard Pocknee in particular has put in a huge effort to scrutinise the details of this major building project.
• But most of all, a huge thank you must go to Nigel Cowie who has overseen the building project, with all the effort and responsibility that that has entailed.

early bird deadlines

time is just about up on securing some good deals for this winter

• If you paid a deposit on a Hero Pass, you need to pay the balance by 5pm on Tuesday 1 May. This can be done by phone or FAX but apparently the wait for phone payment can be frustrating.
• If you missed the Hero Pass, you still have an opportunity to buy an Early-bird lift season pass ($1199 for adults) by 30 April
• Early bird resort entry season passes ($260) are available until 30 April

accomodation transfer service

Resort Management have announced 2012 prices for the accommodation transfer service (oversnow). The return price has gone up more than the single price, but increases are pretty modest.

Ticket Prices	2012 price
Village Transfer - One Way Adult	$19.00
Village Transfer - One Way Child	$12.50
Village Transfer - One Way Under 5	FREE
Village Transfer - Return Adult	$33.00
Village Transfer - Return Child	$21.50
Village Transfer - Return Under 5	FREE
Village Transfer - Excess Baggage (per item)	$3.00
ATS -Taxi	$65.00
ECO Bag	$2.00
Seasons Ticket Adult	$155.00

A new service, operated by resort management, was introduced last season using brand new vehicles. Overall it was pretty good. If you are planning to use the service, remember that peak times (especially Sunday afternoons) can be very busy. If you are using the return service, you must book your return trip at least24 hours ahead.

Vale Lindsay Allsop

Lindsay Allsop passed away on 18 February, 2012. Lindsay was instrumental in the Falls Creek Huette project, being treasurer at its inception. Lindsay was a Life Member of the club and also a prominent member of Roslyn ski club at Thredbo. Our condolences go to his friends and family.

more redevelopment pictures and progress

Work on the lodge redevelopment is rolling along nicely and results are looking great.

• The structure and roof is in place for the extension of the dining room. This includes an impressive oregon truss where the old wall used to be.

• Work has begun in remodelling the public bathroom. The toilet and shower will now have separate entrances and the finish will be similar to the en-suite bathrooms.
• The iron bark used for cladding and featured posts has a beautiful red colour. Ironbark is also being used on the new entry canopy.

• As sections of roof and cladding are completed, scaffolding is being removed. We can now see how good the new cladding and windows are looking.

• Room 15 has been extended to include the area that was a balcony. The interior panelling has been completed and nicely matches the pre-existing walls.

• The snow splitter that directs snow around the flue from the fireplace has an improved watertight mounting

More pics

redevelopment progress and pics

The new roof and cladding are almost complete and looking great, especially the timber feature sections. New pictures have been added to the photo album .

full steam ahead on lodge redevelopment

Work is well under way on the lodge redevelopment.

• Scaffolding is complete and very complex due to our "interesting" building shape and steep site. Took 7 days to erect! 
  

• Some cladding is complete on the southern and western walls - looks great. 

• The roof will be replaced last as the builders are using it for access.
• The latest design of the balcony floor is very good and should eliminate previous problems with leaking to the entry stairs below.
• The original bedrooms had no wall insulation at all so we are going to see a great improvement with the super thick insulation bats that are going in as part of this project.
• The new windows have already been installed in most of the bedrooms. The frames are metal on the outside, wood on the inside. The double glazing will meet new bushfire regulations and improve insulation.
• The bench cushions in the lounge will be replaced with new leather cushions. A slight change in the cushion design should allow the base cushions to be a little wider/deeper and more comfortable.
• We are taking the opportunity to run new cables for Internet and TV while the cladding is off.

Overall the building works are going great. The project is on budget and on schedule to be ready ahead of the snow season. Members should be very happy with the results.

Thanks to the building sub-committee, especially Nigel Cowie, for their on-going commitment to this project.

more pics

Finance update

Members would no doubt be aware that the Club raised funds from the membership in 2010/2011 by way of a capital raising.
This enabled the Club to borrow significantly less that was originally forecast in the early planning of the lodge redevelopment.
The Club has entered into a loan agreement with Bendigo Bank for the provision of up to $300,000 to assist with the completion of the project.
The Loan is secured by the asset at Falls Creek and there is no recourse to members or guarantees by the Committee.
It is anticipated that the funds will be drawn down gradually during early 2012.
Bendigo Bank was chosen as their package was the most Club friendly of the three proposals we received.
We were delighted to have secured funding for the project as this allowed the Committee to authorise that works commence on site.

During 2011, the Club incurred significant costs related to the preparatory stage of the Lodge redevelopment. These costs will be expensed in the accounts for 2011 which will result in the Club reporting a Loss for the year.
However, the Committee has decided to capitalise the new works into the balance sheet and thus the majority of the capital funds committed to the project will result in an increase in the net worth of the Club.
Our cash flow projections for the next seven years, see us substantially paying down the loan from the Bank.
As Treasurer, I am hopeful of good seasons ahead that will increase patronage, and therefore shorten the life of the loan.

May I remind Members that subscriptions are due in the New Year. Remember that $50.00 accommodation vouchers are available to Full Members who pay by 15th January 2012.


David Stogdale
Treasurer

more season pass deals

If you missed the Hero pass offer last year, the lift company have announced some new season pass deals.

Adult pricing is

• Leap year special $999, pay by 29 February
• Early bird special $1199, pay by 30 April
• Full season pass $1449, after 30 April

There are lower rates for seniors, children, secondary students and tertiary students.

Full details at www.fallscreek.com.au/SeasonPasses