Season 2018 is off and running

Opening weekend was snowless but a week later lifts started to turn. By the end of June we had all lifts except Lakeside and International. The runs off Summit and Inter are open, but ungroomed. It's a fabulous start to the season with great skiing on the groomers and off-piste.

We've got a new Eagle Express chair, a big change in places to eat,and our beautifully renovated spa is open.

Members are using the new booking system to check out vacancies and grab the opportunity to enjoy this early snow. July and August are very heavily booked but there are still a few spare beds. If you haven't tried the booking system yet, the feedback is that it's much easier than the old system.

Have a great season!

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

.

Our wonderful new spa

Technically it may not be new, but it is unrecognisable from it's previous guise. It really is spectacular now.

Andrew & Justin worked incredibly hard to make it a success so it's only fitting that they got to celebrate.

The shower and toilet cubicles have also been replaced and the sauna woodwork has been restored.

If you haven't used the spa or sauna for a while, now's the time to give them a go.

Games Room TV upgrade

The new 65" TV has been installed in the games room. The old TV has moved next door to the TV room

Rooms 1 and 4 are now doubles

After the successful, and popular, conversion of Room 2 to just a queen, rooms 1 and 4 have been given the same treatment. All 3 rooms have also been given new bed bases with storage.

Justin & Tony finishing the remaining cabinet in Room 4

Harry & Hugh cheesing it up in Room 1

Room 1, complete with new bed

Coffee reminder

We have a Nespresso pod coffee machine for those who prefer espresso style to drip coffee.

Members and guests need to supply their own pods. They need to be Nespresso brand or a compatible style. Piazza D'Oro is a compatible brand stocked by Foodworks at Falls Creek, although choosy coffee-aholics (like me) will probably find thatNespresso pods work better.

What else is new around Falls Creek in 2018

Trial of evening shuttles

There will be a trial of evening shuttles, from 6pm to 9pm from 2nd - 14th July. It will  use the same stops as the daytime village shuttles. This is intended to help people, especially families, get to restaurants around the village. Depending on how this goes, stage 2 of the trial will be another 2 weeks in early August. It would be great to see this as a regular feature, so please consider using it during the trial if it fits in with your plans.

Eateries

The lift company eateries are under new management, the people that run Husky and Astra. Frying Pan Inn and Cloud Nine have been refurbished, with plans for bigger redevelopment after the season. (Had a very nice lunch at Fryers.) Dicky Knees and Maggie's Snacks have been sublet to the Snonuts people. Maggie's has been renamed Blue Brumby and will add Asian fusion dishes to its offerings. Dicky Knees will add Mexican food and drinks.

Snonuts also have a stall at ATS (aka Oversnow)

Gateway Cafe has been taken over by the Easy Eats people who have the stall in the bowl. Menu is burgers, souvlakis, focaccias etc. They also have a stall above Slalom Plaza

Lilli Pilli is a new tea room (and spa) at Pretty Valley

Ski School Changes

Junior Workshop and teenage Ride Tribe are now only available as a full day program. Snowclub is still available as full day or half-day.

On the website there is no price for Junior Workshop or Ride Tribe that does not include a lift ticket. Maybe this just an omission, or....

Beginner transport from Eagle to Cloud 9

As mentioned in the Eagle article, there will be a 9 passenger snowmobile/trailer combination to shuttle beginners between Eagle and Cloud 9. Not sure when it will start

Lift Co Stores/Hires

The lift company shops have been re-branded and in some cases relocated

• Board Lounge is now in the Snowlands building (under Last Hoot)
• Apres Vous has been renamed ālp and movedto the front of QT where Board Lounge was
• Home Base is the main shop at QT
• Base 1 is the village bowl shop
• Base 2 is the shop at Silver Ski
• Peak is the shop at Cloud 9 (in a different location)
• Snowzone is ski valet and school group hire, now where Apres Vous was

New boot fitter

A new business will operate out of the old Gebi's building. Too soon to know much about it.

Personnel

Scott Sanderson is the new head of ski school. Lackie Keavers is the new media manager for the lift co

Working Bee Report

Another productive, and very sociable, working bee was held at the start of May.

Stacking firewood under the lodge has always been a huge task. It's still a big undertaking but we keep finding better ways of doing it with fewer people

John  gets the wood ready

Alan loads the chute

Hope the logs stop in time

and hand over hand

and still at least 4 more pairs of hands from here until it is stacked

The kitchen and all its contents were cleaned

Probably Nikki & Hayley, but hard workers in the kitchen anyway

Final touches were made to the spa area

John B working on partitions for the new toilet

The lockers outside the spa area were given a light facelift

Nigel & Mel transforming the once dingy lockers

Other jobs included

• converting Room 1 and Room 4 to queen beds only (see more)
• 1980s vintage posters in the foyer
• moved the TV in the games room to the TV room in preparation for a new 65" TV and soundbar for the games room (see more)
• storing dry goods (cereal, toilet paper etc)
• neatening shelf in Room 2 and adding more coat hooks
• repaired grout in the hearth tiles
• cleaned bathroom ceilings as needed
• prepare the spa for the season
• update software for lodge internet

If you haven't been to a working bee, or not for a while, we'd love to see you next year. Help keep our lodge in great shape.

Mountain Muster 2018

The Falls Creek Alpine Association (FCAA) is a body that represents ski clubs and other small lease holders at Falls Creek. Every opening weekend they have a get together, known as the Mountain Muster. This year AAC Falls Creek hosted the function.

Over 100 people attended, with catering provided by FCAA. It was a great  chance to showcase our lodge to a broad cross section of Falls Creek regulars and we received many compliments.

AGM and Committee Positions 2018

The AGM went smoothly. All past committee members were re-elected.

The June committee meeting elects the office bearers. There have been a few changes since last year.

During 2017, Garry Hayes and Tony Ryder swapped roles, with Tony picking up Membership and Garry Summer Marketing.

As of the June meeting, Jenny Hughes is the new secretary but will retain responsibilities for IT.

Bronwyn Sigmund is the new Communications Officer.

Lynn Cameron will take up a new Events coordination role and also assist the Treasurer with overdue fees.


President: Nigel Cowie
Secretary: Jenny Hughes
Treasurer: Michal Szkilnik

Lodge Supervisor: Justin Checcucci
Booking Officer: Alan Long
Membership: Tony Ryder
Marketing: Garry Hayes
Communications: Bronwyn Sigmund
Events: Lynn Cameron

This means I am writing my last articles for the blog/newsletter. Please help Bron by providing her with photos, stories and information to share.

Life Member Policy

The committee has formalised the Life Member policy, based on long standing practice. The policy is published on the club website at aacfallscreek.com/rules/32-membership-rules.html.

Life Membership of AAC Falls Creek recognises exceptional service to the club and/or AAC National, usually over many years. The committee relies on members to nominate people who deserve this honour. If you know of someone who you think should be considered for Life Membership, please read the policy and write a submission.

New - Secure Payments Gateway for Bookings

The new booking system makes it easy for the club to offer a more secure way of paying for bookings. The eWay payment gateway conforms to financial industry security standards to protect the privacy of your card details.
We have delayed turning on this facility until the end of the priority booking period for members, AAC members and family.
On or about 15 March this facility will be turned on to allow you to pay easily and securely from within the booking system.

When you receive an invoice for your booking, log on to the booking system, and use menu Members/View My Bookings.

Find the booking you want to pay for and, click on Pay or Cancel Booking at the end of its row.

The booking details will be displayed. Scroll down to the bottom and see a group of buttons. Click Pay for this booking. This will take you to the eWay payment gateway. Enter your credit or debit card details and click Process transaction then wait until you are returned to the booking system page.

Do not attempt to pay before you receive an invoice. Premature payment will not confirm your booking. Similarly, it is safest to avoid paying the outstanding balance because you may inadvertently pay for bookings which have not yet been approved. If a paid-for booking cannot be approved there may be delay in organising a credit or refund.

The User Guide has been updated to include these instructions.

Please don't pay for bookings until you receive an invoice

Bookings need to be approved by the Booking Officer. From 1 February until 15 March, many bookings have to wait in accordance with the booking priority policy before they can be approved.
When you booking is approved, you will be emailed an Invoice. That is the time to pay.

Premature payment will not confirm a booking. There may be delays in organising a credit or refund if the booking cannot be aproved.

Tips for using the new booking system

Now that many members have used the new system, we can see that there some things that catch a few people out:

1. Make sure that you are up-to-date with subs and any other payments a few days before opening of bookings to allow time for the booking system to be updated.
2. Scroll to make sure all the dates that you want are visible on the screen before starting to select beds/dates.
3. Before selecting a bed, check which other beds in the room are already booked. Especially important if you are planning to add guests later.
4. At Step 2, you are asked to enter Guest's names. In this context, guests includes members and AAC members. 
5. As you type in the surname, the system will look for matches in its database and suggest these to you in a "drop-down". To get Member or AAC rates, you must select one of the suggested names. Otherwise the name won't be recognised and you will only be offered Guest rates.
6. For winter, the system will enforce the AAC rules for weekend bookings and any other  bookings that are not 5 or 7 days beginning on a Sunday (other than opening  weekend and race weekend). If you try to make such a booking, you will be asked if you would like to be waitlisted. In that case, the beds will not be held, but your interest will be noted and at the appropriate time (eg 19 days prior for members) the booking officer will see if your booking can be approved. This automates the informal practice where members have given the booking officer early notice that there were weekends that they would like if possible.
7. If you wish to book for more than 14 consecutive days (requires committee approval in peak), break up your booking so that no booking exceeds 14 days
8. If all else fails, read the instructions 😉

Do you have any tips to pass on to other members? Share them in the comments below.

Longest Lunch

It's on again on  this Friday 16 March. Barry Iddles from Elk will be catering for the Falls Creek Longest Lunch as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
There are other special activities on offer over the weekend too.

More info

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.

Annual Subscriptions

Just a reminder of these key dates that apply every year

• 15 January: last date to receive $50 Accommodation Voucher (adult members only)
• 31 January: due date for payments.
• 1 February: a late fee of $25 will apply to all outstanding accounts
• 1 April: an additional late fee of $25 will apply to all outstanding accounts

The onus is on members to pay by the due date. If you have not received your invoice by early January, you need to contact Jenny Noye at Proacct (03) 9880 9600.

Members cannot make bookings until subscriptions (and any other amounts owing) have been paid. Bookings for members open on 1 February. Payments may take a few days to be received and recorded in the booking system.

Working Bee 2018

The annual club working Bee will be Sat 5-Sun 6 May.

Working Bee weekend is the time when we get the lodge ready for the upcoming season. Professional services are used for major items, but we rely on members to do many of the tasks. We usually make a few improvements, but much of the work is maintaining and replenishing.

Attendance is optional. People with trade skills are particularly welcome, but all willing hands are appreciated.

Most people arrive late on Friday night. Andrew & Myra provide brekkie & lunch on Saturday & Sunday as well as Saturday dinner. It's great to stock up your locker and catch up with people before the season. For new members it is a great opportunity to meet old hands and quickly feel at home in the lodge. However it is first and foremost a working weekend.

The tasks very from year to year but typically would include

• moving firewood into the store
• stocktaking (eg cereal, juice, toilet paper)
• painting (eg walls, railings, architraves)
• cleaning & organising the kitchen cupboards & contents
• turning mattresses & mending protectors
• minor repairs
• small carpentry jobs
• small metalwork jobs
• checking & replacing light globes
• cleaning bathroom fans
• tidying & cleaning boiler room, ski room
• weeding and other gardening

If you can help this year, please contact our Lodge Supervisor Justin Checcucci

Save the date: AGM

The Annual General Meeting will be on Tue May 22nd at Royal Brighton Yacht Club

Don't forget that AGM notices and associated documents will now be sent by email, not post.

Make sure that your correct email address and mobile number are registered with the club. You can do this online or contact ProAcct jnoye@proacct.com.au or 0398809600.

New Booking System is Here

Winter bookings open on 1 February and you can make those bookings using the new online booking system.

The booking system that AAC adopted several years ago was great for checking availability but relatively few members used it to make bookings.

AAC Anton moved to a new booking system for last ski season and their members have been much more enthusiastic about using it. After careful consideration, the committee decided to move to the same system. AAC Perisher has also decided to move to this system and AAC Dinner Plain is considering it.

Members can find the new system at aacfallscreek.cbdweb.net/memberlogin.php. There are links on the website and also on the blog sidebar under stay with us. You use your surname and debenture number to log on. The system can help you to retrieve your debenture number if you don't know it.

Instructions on using the system can be found via the club website. The system is very easy to use, but please make sure to read the guide if you want to book for Victorian winter school holidays.

Members should receive an email with more information about the system. If you don't receive it on 31st January then it probably means that we don't have a valid email address for you. Please contact ProAcct or the Booking Officer if that is the case.