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What about the blog?

We have retired the blog as a separate way of communicating with members. Old news can still be be found at aacfallscreek.blogspot.com

Opening of Bookings 2024

It's almost time to book your winter stays, so this article highlights changes in booking procedures and at the lodge.

There are no major changes in the booking system this year, but there are a few minor tweaks:

  • Room 7 will no longer be included in the rooms available for exclusive single occupancy. It is being converted to a twin room similar to rooms 5 and 12.
  • Some members have asked if waitlist bookings can be confirmed earlier. This needs to be a balance between optimising lodge occupancy, giving members some certainty, and preserving member booking priority. Eligible waitlist requests will now be confirmed in early April, not on 1 June as previously. Eligible means: 
    • only members, spouse and their children, and
    • the preceding midweek is full, and
    • the booking is paid for immediately on request from the booking officer.

Other waitlist requests will continue to be confirmed 19 days prior to stay for members (16 days prior for other AAC members and 15 days prior for guests). See the Book page for an explanation of waitlisting.  

Here are some timely reminders of changes that have been made in the last few years:

  • Sadly we need to be more aware of hackers and scammers. Invoices and emails from the booking system no longer include EFT details. You can log onto the booking system to pay using the Eway secure payment gateway or to see the club's EFT details. If you see EFT details in emails from the booking system, the email has probably been modified by hackers. Do not pay into that account.
  • You are encouraged to nominate an emergency contact by updating your member details in the booking system.
  • Members can register their immediate (non-member) spouse and children in the booking system to make it easier to book them in, especially during the Family priority booking period from 8-14 March. If you haven't already done this then you might like to consider doing it ahead of making bookings for 2024. See Registering Family Members in the booking system for more information.
  • Prompt payment for bookings is expected. The Booking Officer will cancel bookings not paid for in the appropriate time. This is within 7 days for normal bookings and 1 day for approved waitlist requests.
  • Continental breakfasts will be provided on peak season Sundays, not cooked breakfasts. 

The Ski Lodge Details tab in the booking system and the Book tab on the club website cover most of the information you need to make a booking and prepare for your stay. The email that is sent 7 days prior to your stay has important information about your stay, including the door code. Please check these resources to see if they answer your questions before contacting the booking officer.

Renovations update, January 2024

In recent months the bathrooms in Rooms 13 and 14 have been renovated with new basins, vanities, flooring, toilets and shower bases that double as baths for small children.

Here are some photos as the work progressed, through to the finished product.  

AAC FC Room 13 14 bathroom 1 Nov2023    AAC FC Room 13 14 bathroom 2Nov2023   

  AAC FC Room 13 14 bathroom 2 Nov2023  AAC FC Room 13 14 bathroom finished 1 Nov2023

 AAC FC Room 13 14 bathroom finished 2 Nov2023  AAC FC Room 13 14 bathroom finished 3 Nov2023

Meanwhile, work has been completed to find and repair the leak in the spa.

It's now back fully functioning, but from these pictures you can see just how much work it took!  Thanks to all involved. 

AAC FC spa floor plumbing repair 1 Dec2023   AAC FC spa floor plumbing repair 3 Dec2023 

AAC FC spa floor plumbing repair 4 Dec2023   AAC FC spa floor plumbing repair 5 Dec2024

Work has started to convert Room 7 from a double with a single bunk above to two singles, so it will have the same layout as Rooms 5 and 12.

A few photos will be taken over the coming weeks and we'll show the progress and finished product in an upcoming newsletter. 

Minimum fee Green Season weekends

Each year during the green season there are several weekends the minimum fee and occupancy will not apply to open and use the Lodge.

This year these are The Peaks Challenge, a 235 km road cycling event equivalent to a mountain stage of the Tour de France. It's held on Friday 8 March through until Monday 11 March, more details available from the Bicycle Network and Falls Creek

Falls Creek Easter Festival is on from Thursday 28 March until Tuesday 2 April. With cafes and restaurants open, mountain bike shuttles, walks and eggs everywhere, perhaps this is the time to see our mountain without the snow? Check out all the Easter fun here

2023 Interclubs race weekend

Falls Creek hosted the Australian Alpine Clubs Interclubs race weekend on Saturday the 9th of September 2023. Dinner Plain, Perisher, Niseko, Anton and of course Falls Creek were represented.  

The Rosyln Wesche Memorial Cup is the trophy everyone is keen to win, named to honour and remember, Roslyn, who at 18 was the only person killed at Kunama Huette ski lodge when the avalanche hit on Mount Kosciusko in 1956.  

Perisher came third in the Rosyln Wesche Memorial Cup, while Falls Creek won the Masters.

Top results and teams in order were:

1 Anton Huette - James, Thomas, Caitlin - 128.42 seconds

2 Falls Creek B team - Tash, William, James, Harry - 130.23 seconds

3 Falls Creek A team - Ross, Mel, Matt, Tim - 131.44 seconds

4 Falls Masters - Ross, Viv, John, Nigel - 134.92 seconds

Non-essential emails

You may have noticed that the our newsletters are a little different. We are moving away from the bulk email system that has sent out our newsletters for over a decade. Instead newsletters will be sent using the booking system.

We like to think that our newsletters provide useful information and interesting news about the club and Falls Creek. However, in line with the Spam Act, you have the right to opt out of non-essential emails. This mainly relates to our newsletters.

All booking emails and important emails about membership (eg AGM notices and annual subs) are essential emails. If you choose to opt out of non-essential emails, you will still receive these.

To opt-out of non-essential emails from AAC Falls Creek, log on to the booking system and go to menu Member/View My Details

At top right you can tick the Opt out of non-essential emails box and the click Save Updated Member Details

opt out box

Email from other AAC clubs

Each AAC club makes its own judgement about which emails are non-essential. If you opt out and later opt in again, other clubs may not know until you log in there again.

Village News, January 2024

Retaining Wall - Falls Creek Alpine Resort has completed work to solidify the retaining walls below the Lodge along Falls Creek Road. A couple of pictures of machinery in action are below. 

AAC FC retaining wall works 2 Nov 2023  AAC_FC_retaining_wall_works-Nov_2023.jpg

Stormwater and drainage improvements above, around and beside the Lodge are also underway, photo below shows the downhill, fire escape side of the Lodge. 

AAC FC drainage above lodge

Landslip roadworks progress - check out the ABC News story on remediation of the landslip which closed the Bogong High Plains Road to just one lane of traffic during 2023. Works are on schedule to have both lanes open before the ski season. Fingers crossed it’s safe to re-open both lanes. 

Vale David Risby - former President of the Falls Creek Alpine Association (FCAA, the Chamber of Commerce for the village), passed away on 10 January 2024. Read the FCAA tribute here

Early end of season announced - Wed 20 September

Falls Creek Ski Lifts have announced that the season will end on Wed 20 September because "this last week of warm and windy weather, along with the forecast of more of the same, with some rain, means we will not be able to operate safely past this Wednesday".

Time to start planning your Green Season visit to the lodge. 

Race Results 2023

The race was held in foggy conditions on Father Fosters. A good course, with few icy sections but very low visibility.

Thanks to Ella B for the video

Sam Barker Memorial

Sam Barker podium - 12 and under

  1. Reeve R
  2. Carrie H
  3. Gerard B

Women

women's podium

  1. Melissa C
  2. Emma P
  3. Natasha P

Men

men's podium

  1. Ross B
  2. Mathew W
  3. Tim C

Masters - Women

masters women's podium

  1. Vivienne W
  2. Bronwyn W
  3. Lynn C

Masters - Men

masters men's podium

  1. Ross B
  2. Gerard G-S
  3. John C

Overall Results

14

Ross B

36.31

37.85

1:14.16

 

17

Mathew W

36.81

37.55

1:14.36

+0.20

19

Tim C

37.97

38.22

1:16.19

+2.03

18

Harry C

38.55

37.88

1:16.43

+2.27

20

William C

40.04

38.86

1:18.90

+4.74

15

Melissa C

38:91

40:16

1:19.07

+4.91

15

Gerard G-S

40.06

39.11

1:19.17

+5.01

5

Emma P

41.46

44.05

1:25.51

+11.35

8

Natasha P

42.75

43.15

1:25.90

+11.74

24

Jonathan G-S

47.00

45.18

1:32.18

+18.02

23

Andrew R

46.52

46.15

1:32.67

+18.51

6

Vivienne W

45.55

47.74

1:33.29

+19.13

22

John C

45.42

48.21

1:33.63

+19.47

7

Sophie W

51.11

52.10

1:43.21

+29.05

30

Malcolm M

54.55

49.41

1:43.96

+29.80

13

Jess M

56.45

53.88

1:50.33

+36.17

10

Bronwyn W

56.58

58.31

1:54.89

+40.73

33

Paul B

56.84

58.59

1:55.43

+41.27

31

Robert H

59.23

57.71

1:56.94

+42.78

25

Noel P

1:00.50

1:00.46

2:00.96

+46.80

32

William H

1:02.93

1:00.28

2:03.21

+49.05

11

Susan H

1:01.29

1:02.14

2:03.43

+49.27

3

Reeve R

1:03.87

1:04.47

2:08.34

+54.18

1

Carrie H

1:06.04

1:09.53

2:15.57

+1:01.41

9

Lynn C

58.26

1:21.78

2:20.04

+1:05.88

2

Gerard B

1:10.78

1:16.84

2:27.62

+1:13.46

12

Deborah K

1:21.40

1:25.25

2:46.65

+1:32.49

A great start to the season

June snowfalls meant that most lifts were open for school holidays. And by 13 July, even International was running. 

snowfall graph

This graph from This Week in Falls Creek still tells the story of our June snow against the average year. There is still time to grab a few vacancies in August and plenty in September

The resort is trying to reduce waste so information is mainly online. The Insider Guide has all the most important info about Falls Creek, including taril maps, ski lesson information, places to eat. You can download it here of via a QR code poster in the foyer at the lodge. There is also a QR code for making bookings for the Windy Corner toboggan slope.

Jess is posting some beautiful photos as the season unfolds. You can see images like this at @lodgemanageraacfc on Instagram.

summit

 

 Also check out @aacfc on Instagram and @fallshuette on Facebook for more snowy goodness

 

Emergency contacts - add one in the booking system

A member became ill during his lodge stay and had to be transported to hospital. Everything turned out OK, but it made us think about how we could contact next-of-kin or another emergency contact in a similar situation. We recommend that you add an Emergency Contact to your member record in the booking system.

In menu Members->View My Details you can insert in the Comment field something like Emergency Contact: Fred Bloggs 0412 345 678. Then hit the Update button near top left. In an Emergency the booking officer or other authorised club officials can then look up that record.
emergency contact

This is a recommendation for the peace of mind of you and your family/close friends. It is by no means compulsory.

(If you choose to write an Emergency Contact in the Guest Notes for a specific booking, it may not be found for other bookings. Putting it in the member details should make it easier to find)