Thank you for your patience about when and if the lodge can open this year. We know that many of you are very keen to know when you may be able to enjoy skiing and boarding at Falls Creek. While the committee has spent considerable time preparing for a season, ultimately we have had to wait for government permissions and guidelines.

Both the lift company and resort management have set final dates for requesting refunds on season passes: 18 June for resort entry passes and 19 June for Epic Australia Passes. This update aims to give you information that might help you decide how much you might ski or board this year.

1. The lift company has announced that
   1. There will be no same-day tickets for sale, only pre-purchased tickets
   2. Multi-day tickets went on sale on 15 June
   3. Day ticket sales open on 24 June
   4. Season pass holders wishing to ski from 24 June to 12 July must book a place but cannot do so until 23 June. There is an allocation set aside for season pass holders but these reservations are “limited, and are not guaranteed”.
2. At Thredbo, when day tickets went on sale on 11 June, all school holiday dates were sold out within hours. It is impossible to predict if this would happen at Falls Creek.
3. We are preparing to open the lodge from 13 July, with a small pilot group of existing bookings in the week prior.
4. The committee has been working on a detailed Covid Lodge Management Plan which is a prerequisite for opening. We are awaiting some final guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services to finalise the plan. If official guidelines are eased, our plan will also be reviewed. We think out approach is cautiously optimistic and are preparing as best we can, given available information.
5. THIS SEASON WILL BE LIKE NO OTHER. When the lodge opens, with our current understanding of the regulations, you need to assume
   1. Bookings will be capped at 20 people
   2. Access to the dining room will be restricted to ensure 1 person per 4sqm
   3. Kitchen access will be limited to short allotted times with only 6 people allowed in the kitchen at a time, for any reason. 1.5m spacing will need to be adhered to
   4. You will not be allowed to have any visitors
   5. The spa and sauna will be closed
   6. The games room sporting facilities will be unavailable. There will be restrictions on the use of the drying and ski rooms. The laundry facilities will be unavailable to guests
   7. You will need to observe social distancing and diligent hygiene and be more involved in cleaning during your stay and prior to departure
   8. You will need to agree in writing to special conditions before bookings could be confirmed. You would need to complete documents on arrival and departure
   9. You will be sent home if you or your guests, including children, do not comply with covid conditions
   10. You would be sent home if you or your guests developed any covid symptoms or if the lodge has to be closed
   11. There is still a risk that you or your guests could be infected with covid-19 
6. When the club can open bookings there will be restrictions
   1. The only bookings accepted will be Monday to Sunday to allow for deep cleaning of the lodge as part of changeover
   2. Check-in time would be no earlier than 2pm Monday. Check-out time would be no later than 11am Sunday. Luggage could not be stored before check-in or after check-out. No return to the lodge after check-out would be permitted
   3. No unaccompanied guests
   4. No sharing of rooms between people who are not partners or do not live together
   5. The accommodation rate will be unchanged. A 6 night stay will be at the normal 7 night rate
   6. People with 2-week bookings will need to depart the lodge between 11am Sunday and 2pm Monday
7. It is not clear what services will be available on the mountain
   1. Village shuttle and the road shuttle will not run
   2. Restrictions on lifts may mean longer queuing times than usual
   3. The number of lifts may be limited, even if snow is plentiful. (There is no guarantee yet that Eagle will operate)
   4. Food and beverage outlets will be restricted
   5. Most mountain businesses will not accept cash
   6. Ski school may be limited. No lessons for children under 6

The committee will finalise the Covid Lodge Management Plan, advise you further about lodge operation for 2020 and open bookings for those who wish to use the lodge under these stringent conditions. The committee will continue to review the operation of the lodge as Covid restrictions change.

Please think very carefully about whether you, your family and guests are willing to accept these risks and conditions. Please refrain from booking if you are not confident that you can enjoy your stay under these circumstances.

Published: 17 June 2020

• covid

Your committee has recently met to discuss this issue and how this virus may affect the operation of the lodge, currently and over the upcoming snow season.

At present, the lodge is open to guests with manager Andrew Rist and family in residence.

The current Health Department guidelines dictate the following:

• Anyone who has travelled overseas or come in close contact with someone who has travelled overseas must self- isolate for a minimum of 14 days before visiting the lodge.
• Anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 must not visit the lodge.
• All guests of the lodge must apply good hygiene practices such as washing hands frequently and maximising personal space

There are no clear guidelines from the Department of Health on how many guests are allowed to stay in the lodge at one time, however maximising personal space may require the committee to restrict the number of guests staying at the lodge and the sharing of rooms. We will have further to say on this once further official guidance is received.

The last thing the committee wants is for members and guests to come to the lodge if they shouldn’t be there or if they feel uncomfortable being there. As such the committee has decided to offer a full refund for all accommodation which is cancelled for COVID-19 related reasons. This does not imply that members can make bookings without a real intent to stay and then cancel at the last minute. This would be a costly for the club in a year where our finances will be stretched already.

As you know Department of Health guidelines are evolving and we will need to change our practices in line with them. We will update you with changes as they occur.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we have a good season and as many of us as possible get to enjoy it.

Nigel Cowie

President

Published: 18 March 2020

• covid

For those that have driven up to Falls Creek and other Resorts when it's been snowing, you will have noticed that sometimes the signs will say fitting chains to two-wheel-drive (2WD) and when the snow is really heavy the signs will say fitting chains to 2WD and four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles. For those of us that own 4WD and All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) vehicles, we have enjoyed the freedom of usually not having to fit snow chains unless it's been really heavy snow and/or ice. Well, from this year onwards, unless you have recognised 'snow tyres' on your 4WD/AWD vehicle, you might still have to fit chains to your vehicle 4WD/AWD.

Coming into this winter, rumours around the mountain have been rife with comments about 4x4 and AWD vehicles needing to be fitted with snow tyres to avoid having to fit snow chains when the conditions require. Snow tyres are prevalent in Europe but not so much here in Australia. Snow tyres are not the same as All Terrain (AT) tyres or even traditional Mud and Snow tyres. Snow tyres have a special tread pattern and a special soft compound that improves performance when driving in snow and ice.

The Alpine Resorts (Management) Regulations 2020 was released last year with an important update regarding the fitting of snow chains (see page 30). Essentially, VicRoads have created a new 'class of vehicle' which is "vehicles that have Snow Tyres fitted to all wheels of the vehicle". In addition, there are other important changes as follows:

• Firstly, the new VicRoads regulations will include a requirement that wheel chains comply with the European ON-V5117 Standard. Ladder chains will not be approved
• There is likely to be a special classification for AWD vehicles fitted with identified winter/snow tyres in relation to wheel chain fitting
• Winter/snow tyres will be required to comply with ECE 117.02 snow test and be identified by the 3PMSF ‘snow flake’ alpine symbol
• All terrain tyres, and tyres with only the Mud + Snow (M+S) marking, will not be recognised in this new classification.

How do you tell a snow tyre? It will have on its sidewall (the side of the tyre) the 3PMSF 'snow flake' alpine symbol of a mountain with a snowflake inside it like this:

So what does all this mean? The bottom line is, depending on the snow conditions when you are driving up the mountain, even if you are in a 4WD or AWD vehicle, the likelihood of you having to fit your chains is higher than prior years, unless your vehicle is fitted with the recognised 3PMSF 'snow flake" snow tyres.

So, with a snow forecast that is very positive for 2021, our recommendation is to make sure your snow chains meet the regulations and if you don't have recognised snow tyres, then you might want to practice fitting your chains before you leave. And, most importantly, consult your owners' manual regarding whether to fit your snow chains to the front wheels, or the rear wheels of your vehicle, regardless of whether you drive a 2WD, 4WD or AWD vehicle.

Safe driving everyone! 

Published: 09 June 2021

To prepare the Lodge for what is hopefully going to be a bumper snow year, a dedicated team descended on Falls Creek on the weekend of May 1 and 2. With plenty of painting, cleaning, sorting and filling the firewood cabinet, the Lodge is looking 'spic n span' and ready for another season!

Thanks to JB for this selecton of photos of everyone hard at work!

Falls Creek's "The Bachelor" getting some painting in.

Lynn in her Aussie green & gold wicket keeping gloves. 

 Risty showing his prowess on the ladder.

Reeve supervising mum and Tash.

John and Lodge Manager, Julia, checking for tadpoles.

 Will, renovating the BBQ with new knobs and a deep clean.

David "Mr Lighting" illuminating the drying room.

Published: 16 May 2021

Notice is given that the 2021 Annual General Meeting of AAC Falls Creek Inc will be held:

DATE: Tuesday, 18 May, 2021
VENUE: via Zoom videoconference
TIME: 7:30 pm - Annual General Meeting to commence

RSVP by 9 May 2020 is essential

AGENDA

1. Apologies
2. Receive and adopt the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting
3. Business arising from the Minutes
4. Correspondence
5. Receive and adopt the Committee's Reports
6. Receive and adopt the Profit And Loss Account and Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2020
7. Proposed New Annual Subscription & Levy for 2022
8. Receive and adopt the Auditor's Report
9. Appoint an Auditor for 2022
10. Election of the Committee
11. A.A.C. Business
12. General Business
    • Covid-19

Preparation and conduct of the meeting

• To be admitted to the meeting you must RSVP by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 5pm Sunday 9th May. Prior to the AGM you will be sent a link to join the meeting.
• The meeting will be kept as succinct as possible. We also need to make voting as uncomplicated as possible, while ensuring that it is done faithfully.
• Therefore all nominations, proxies, items of general business must be submitted to the Chairperson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 5pm Sunday 9th May. Any proposed Motions must also be provided to the Chairperson by this date.
• You are strongly encouraged to send any questions to the Chairperson by the same date. There will be an opportunity to submit some questions on the night but questions with notice will be more manageable with the technology.
• If you will be attending the meeting, please prepare in advance. Install Zoom on your computer, tablet or phone and use Zoom’s facilities to test that your audio and video are working. If you have a headset with microphone, please use it to reduce background noise.
• Please keep your mic muted during the meeting unless the chairman recognises you to speak. The chairman or his assistant may mute you if necessary. We prefer having all cameras active during the meeting but you may be asked to “mute” cameras if there are difficulties.
• Voting may be a bit laborious. Please be patient if votes need to be counted.
• The meeting will be conducted in accordance with the amended Rules of Association adopted by the Special General Meeting on 13th April 2021.

Election of committee members

The committee recommends that a total of 7 committee members be elected (3 executive members plus 4 ordinary committee members). At the committee meeting after the AGM, the committee elects members to specific positions. At the time of this notice, all current committee members are intending to stand again.

Documents

• Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting can be downloaded from aacfallscreek.com/pdf/AGM2021/MinutesAGM2020.pdf
• Proxy Forms may be downloaded from aacfallscreek.com/pdf/AGM2021/ProxyForm2021.pdf
• Nomination Forms may be downloaded from aacfallscreek.com/pdf/AGM2021/NominationForm2021.pdf
• Financial reports (including Auditor's report) can be downloaded from aacfallscreek.com/pdf/AGM2021/FinancialStatements.pdf
• Committee reports can be downloaded from aacfallscreek.com/pdf/AGM2021/CommitteeReports.pdf

Jenny Hughes (Secretary)
C/- ProAcct Advisors & Accountants Pty Ltd
PO Box 140 BALWYN VIC 3103
Phone: (03) 9880-9600
Fax: (03) 9880-9699
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published: 02 May 2021

The Special General Meeting on 13 April approved the proposed changes to the Rules of Association. Thanks to all those who took part.

The minutes of the meeting are at aacfallscreek.com/pdf/SGM2021/Minutes_SGM2021.pdf

The amended Rules can be found at aacfallscreek.com/xDocs/rules/Rules2021.pdf or via the Member page on the club website

Save the date - AGM  on 18 May

This year's  AGM will again be a videoconference. We hope that next year we will be able to have a meeting where peolple can attend in person, or by videoconference. 

Published: 19 April 2021

Sorry, couldn't help myself with an Easter pun!

Easter 2021 at AAC Falls Creek was a sight to behold! Fantastic weather, pristine walking and riding trails, beautiful views and most importantly, people in the Lodge!! It really was great to be back at Falls Creek, our home away from home.

Granted, for those travelling from Melbourne the drive was longer than usual with plenty of complete stops on the Hume highway to keep you on guard, but thankfully it seemed most took their time and kept their cool.

A huge thanks again to John B, Jenny H and Justin C for all they did getting the Lodge COVID-friendly for Easter, it was great to see everyone socially distancing, disinfecting and checking in using the QR code when they arrived.

Wish you were there? Well here's a selection of photos which hopefully let's you feel like you were there and might inspire you to visit in 2022.

Published: 06 April 2021

Notice is given that a Special General Meeting of AAC Falls Creek Inc will be held:
DATE: Tuesday, 13 April, 2021
VENUE: via Zoom videoconference
TIME: 7:30 pm – Special General Meeting to commence
RSVP by Friday 9 April 2021 is essential

AGENDA

1. Apologies
2. Update the Rules of Association

Special Resolutions to be voted on

A. That the proposed changes to replace the term President with Chairperson be adopted

B. That the proposed changes to better support videoconference annual general meetings be adopted

C. That the proposed change to update the means of giving notice be adopted

D. That the proposed change to the example age for a progressive debenture/joining fee payment be adopted

Preparation and conduct of this special general meeting

• To be admitted to the meeting you must RSVP by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 5pm Friday 9 April. Prior to the meeting you will be sent a link to join the meeting.

• The meeting may only address items on this notice.

• All proxy forms, must be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 5pm Friday 9 April. Proxy Forms may be downloaded from aacfallscreek.com/pdf/SGM2021/ProxyFormSGM2021.pdf

• If you will be attending the meeting, please prepare in advance. Install Zoom on your computer, tablet or phone and use Zoom’s facilities to test that your audio and video are working. If you have a headset with microphone, please use it to reduce background noise.

• Please keep your mic muted during the meeting unless the chairman recognises you to speak. The chairman or his assistant may mute you if necessary. We prefer having all cameras active during the meeting but you may be asked to “mute” cameras if there are difficulties.

Jenny Hughes (Secretary)
C/- ProAcct Advisors & Accountants Pty Ltd
PO Box 140 BALWYN VIC 3103
Phone: (03) 9880-9600
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

​Note: The AGM is planned for Tue 18 May.

________________________________________

Explanation of Proposed Changes

Why do we need to change the Rules?

Elections for committee members have rarely been required. When the Rules of Association (aka the constitution) were updated in 2014 to comply with new legislation for Incorporated Associations, we simply adopted the default election procedure from the Model Rules provided by government. Our focus at the time was more on ensuring that our membership and debenture provisions were properly included in the new Rules.

In 2019 and 2020, however, the club was in the fortunate position of having more willing candidates than positions to fill. The election in 2019 showed some weaknesses in the procedure laid down in the rules. In 2020 the AGM was held as a video conference. It became clear that while the Rules allowed for members to attend the AGM and vote using technology, this was not well supported by some of the other rules pertaining to AGMs and elections.

The videoconference AGM was very successful, allowing members to participate who had previously been unable to attend in person. The Committee has determined that even after the pandemic has subsided, AGMs should encourage remote attendance. Accordingly the Rules should be revised to explicitly include measures that were beneficial in the running of an AGM that includes members attending via technology. After reflecting on the ballot process for videoconferences it became clear that further improvements to the process should be considered in future, such as the possibility of using preferential voting. The proposed rule changes address all these considerations and should be treated as a group.

While reviewing the Rules, some other minor items were identified that we would like to update.

Summary of the proposed changes

The specific changes proposed are detailed in aacfallscreek.com/pdf/SGM2021/Detail_of_Proposed_Changes.pdf .

The current Rules of Association can be found at aacfallscreek.com/xDocs/rules/rules2014.pdf .

Improve support for video conference AGMs

Rule 40 Use of technology

• Allow modified procedure where a video conference or similar is used for a meeting

Rule 43 Adjournment of general meeting

• Allow adjournment if there are serious technology problems

Rule 35 Annual General Meetings

• Allow election of committee and possibly some resolutions to be voted on before the AGM. Allow finalisation of results after the meeting closes.
• Allow a deadline for proxies prior to a meeting so proxy voting is efficient during a videoconference, including validation of the proxies

Rule 57 Nominations

• Allow for a deadline for nominations prior to the AGM so that a ballot can be organised if required

Rule 59 Ballot

• Allow for a ballot process other than the simplistic paper process that was in the model rules
• The new wording provides scope for a ballot to be held before the AGM, with announcement of the results at the AGM, or possibly soon after the AGM. There is also scope to move to preferential voting without mandating it

Rule 39 Proxies

• Allow for a situation where there is a direct ballot of members and proxy votes will not be used

Rule 46 Determining whether resolution carried

• Allow for electronic equivalent of a written poll in a videoconference

Other proposed changes

In revising the Rules, we also identified a number of minor changes that would be beneficial

• Use the term Chairperson rather than President (numerous occurrences throughout the Rules)
• Remove faxes as a means of giving notices and make allowance for direct electronic messaging such as SMS (Rule 80 Notice Requirements)
• Change an example of when junior membership payments may be due from 17 to 18 to reflect our current practice. It is only used as an example so this is not essential, but it would be clearer (Rule 12 Debentures)

________________________________________

Published: 16 March 2021

After a thorough recruitment process, we are extremely pleased to announce the new AAC Falls Creek Lodge Managers are Julia Mitas and Craig Moegel.

Julia and Craig are Falls Creek locals and have previous experience managing a member lodge on the mountain. Julia will have primary responsibility for the day to day management of the Lodge while Craig will also provide assistance as required. For those that have visited “The Pass” for a coffee or snack, you may recognise Julia from there, while Craig is well known as Falls Creek Ski Patrol Leader and SES volunteer.

Julia and Craig are planning on moving into the Lodge in March and we will provide further updates as details are finalised.

Welcome Julia and Craig!

Published: 16 November 2020

Usually in summer the club needs to apply a minimum fee of $300 to cover the costs of opening and closing the lodge. This can be an obstacle for small groups wanting short stays. For the last few years we have waived the fee at popular times to encourage members and guests to enjoy Falls Creek in "green" season.

Unfortunately some of the minimum fee free opportunities were lost due to the bushfires. To make up for this, no minimum fees will apply for the rest of the green season (to end April 2020). Mountain bike shuttles run every weekend till 26 April, or ride the trails anytime under your own steam. Autumn walking and fishing are great or just explore the High Plains or tour the valleys below with an #EmptyEsky.

The fires did not touch the resort or mountain bike trails. The road across the Bogong High Plains is open all the way to the Omeo Highway and many tracks have reopened. (Some further parts of the Bogong High Plains closed see https://www.ffm.vic.gov.au/media-releases/park-and-forest-closures for details)

 #RollonBack to the high country and have a great stay at AAC Falls Creek

Published: 10 March 2020