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JOURNAL
OF THE ILLAWARRA ALPINE CLUB |
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VOLUME 44 |
SEPTEMBER 2004 |
NUMBER 4 |
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PRESIDENT |
SECRETARY |
TREASURER |
BOOKING
OFFICER |
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Fiona Montgomery Cremorne 2090 02-9908-1464 (H) 0410 405 358 (Mob)
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Jenny Charker 02-4226-4269
(H) |
Michael Di Leva Figtree 2525 02-4228-3720 (H) 02-4275-6947 (W) |
Karen Irvine PO Box 359 Figtree 2525 02-4272-1410 (H) 7.30-9.30pm please enquiries on email bookings@iacski.com |
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EDITOR – Ian Stuart Ph: 02-9412-1402 Fax: 02-9412-3043 Email: coldfacts@iacski.com |
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Web site: |
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Illawarra
Alpine Club Lodge: |
Tel: 02-6457-5240 |
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Lodge
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Business
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Print
Post Approved: |
PP
248890/00023 |
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Late news: Currently at least 11
vacancies for the last week of the season if you want a last minute stay. There’s
still a lot of snow there. As at 15/9/04; Snow Depth (as measured at Spencer's
creek) 204.5cm In this issue: On
behalf of the Booking Officer Hello fellow skiers! I am writing this report having just returned from 2
sensational weeks at the lodge where there was more snow in Smiggins than we
knew what to do with. Excellent
skiing conditions continue in the mountains and we even had 12cm of powder
snow one night….enough to bring a smile to the face of the powder hound
himself - Timmy Lee (and the rest of us I might add). Competition We have had a very successful competitive season
this year having won the Smiggins Bowl for the first time since 1997. This is a fantastic achievement for
the Club and a big congratulations to all those who were part of the
team. The Senior Illawarra
Interclub also saw IAC as being the premier snowboarding club …. No,
that is not a typo; IAC won the individual and team snowboard event. Congratulations as well to our 2004
Club Champions – Gavan Fletcher and Penny Ainge and the Junior
Champions Andrew Dengate and Alexis Dengate. We had a terrific spring
day for the race. This year the
sun was shining and we could actually see where we were going (most unusual
for the IAC Championships!). It
was a good thing we could see actually as the Slalom was more like an ice
skating race than a ski race – very slippery! Thankfully the GS was a bit softer. Geoff Sturday has all the detailed results from the
Smiggins Bowl, Senior and Junior Interclub and IAC Championships later in the
Club Captain’s report, so read on. Fire Safety Those of you who stay at the lodge during the winter
season will be familiar with the Hut Captain’s welcome speech and the
fire procedures that are explained every week. I was staying in the lodge when the
fire alarm went off, and I have to say that not many people actually did what
they were supposed to do.
This is a very important issue and I want to reiterate to everyone
that if the fire alarm does go off IT IS NOT A DRILL. We do not conduct fire drills at the
lodge, so if you hear the alarm you must assume it is real and exit the lodge
as quickly as possible. The fire
procedures are:
As we have hinted in a previous issue of Cold Facts,
we are planning to renovate the The layout of the new look
The major highlights of the renovation are as
follows: -
bathrooms
will be similar to the main bathrooms in look at feel with tiled & heated
floors -
creation
of 4 ensuite showers with a larger vanity / basin area & power outlets -
a
separate hot water system installed under Siberia to service these showers
only, which will take the
pressure off the existing hot water systems -
toilet
installed at the end of the hallway – resulting in reduced noise and
odour issues in the bedrooms -
sliding
doors from the ensuites to the bedrooms -
general
layout of the bedrooms will be changed to make better use of the available
floor space and provide greater hanging & storage areas. I really think that this will be a huge improvement
to I would like to thank Andrea Wilson (a club member and
Architect) for the work that she has done on the plan so far and for
suggesting some creative ideas as to how to use the space we have. Andrea has certainly helped us to look
outside the square! Lodge Management Our lodge managers John and Bea have decided that
they would like to experience a summer season for the first time in quite a
while. They will be in John has kindly offered his fantastic cooking
services to anyone who is using the lodge over the summer, and if you would
like, John will cater and cook for you during your summer stay at cost price
(i.e. cost of the food). If
you would like to self cater / cook etc then that is fine also. Please let Karen Irvine know if you
would like John to cater for your summer stay when you make your booking. Brazilian Blast Details of the social event of the year have been
mailed to you all and you will find the details again later in Cold
Facts. Mark it on your calendar
for Saturday 23rd
October. We would love to see a full house at this
year’s event, so get in early to secure your tickets. Hopefully I will see you at the Brazilian Blast! Fiona Montgomery This information came in, from Graeme Anderson of
SLOPES, after the hardcopy of Cold Facts had come back from the printers so
it is only going to be seen by people viewing the newsletter on the web. The original email came from Alex_Dobes@ipart.nsw.gov.au
and was titled IPART releases Perisher issues paper and calls for submissions
by 25 October With the following message: At 10 am today, IPART released
the attached issues paper, [LINK
to - DP77.pdf] Discussion Paper 77, with submissions due by 25 October. Please call
me if you have any queries. Please read Graeme’s emails and write a
letter. I will be lobbying for the committee to send one on behalf of the
club as a whole but the more individuals, the better. Editor TO ALL MEMBERS
AND ASSOCIATES; We attach the IPART Notice. It would not hurt if individual Clubs just commented
along the lines that our costs have risen heavily over the last 10 years, and
the proportion of our income now that goes to Rental and MSU and Insurance
and Fire protection does not leave room for further increases. Lodges get old
and have to be heavily maintained and reserves have to be built up to allow
for this. These are not profits,
but just keep our premises usable in the long term. Bunk accommodation is a
thing of the past. Our younger
members are price conscious and do not have the loyalty bonds that older
member did who built the Lodges. So they add the costs and go elsewhere. More and more we serve the family
market that are looking for lower costs with children to pay for. We also feel that we pay a
disproportionate share of the total costs of running the valley, whereas day
trippers just pay their entry fee, and none of this goes to the MSU
costs. Generally a ground swell
in this regard would not hurt. It
would be very nice if some 50 odd letters went in warning that we are not a
bottomless pit. [the following email was sent a couple of days
later]
Ed IPART, WHO TO
WRITE TO Sorry I did not spell it out. The IPART inquiry, if it follows other IPART
inquiries, will end up as an increase in charges to US. All the calculations are for the
purpose of increasing fees, not reducing them. SLOPES will be sending in a SLOPES
type presentation, but to add depth to the feeling that we are already paying
enough, I though that Individual Club members might send in, direct to IPART,
their own expressions. THE ADDRESSES
TO WRITE TO ARE IN THE IPART PAPER.
A main problem is that in We have all being paying rent at 6% a year on land
that was supposedly fit for use, with services provided. But now we have to
pay for roads, water supplies, sewage plants etc which means that the capital
services were not actually provided.
Running costs we agree we should pay for, but capital costs are for
the benefit of the land owners, the government, and should be paid by the
government, not the current users.
Add up the differences over 30 years and you have a lot of money that
has been treated by NPWS as revenue and diverted to other NSW Parks. Government think that snow using
people can be taxed without recourse. But the problem is that we, the lodge
dwellers, are running into competition on a world wide basis, and it is
harder and harder to balance our books.
We need to give the impression that our 25,000 direct people and
55,000 including associates and friends do not think we are getting a fair
deal, particularly compared to Graeme
Anderson On behalf of the Booking Officer Bookings now at 2629. Out of interest, this is made
up of 1622 members; 1046 senior & 576 junior and 1007 guests; 641 senior
& 366 junior which means we’ve been pretty full for the whole
season. From now until the end of
the season there are a few spots although there are at least 11 beds
available for the last week. Summer bookings now open for availability after 8th
October. There are plans for a few working bees over the summer period so check
out the Maintenance Report and try to get down to help Tony and the
crew. I’m sure they would love to see you there. You still get a
weekend down in the mountains and you don’t have to pay!!!
Alternatively you could go for a non working bee/relaxing holiday and avoid
these weekends altogether. As Fiona said in her report the lodge management
team will be staying on over summer so you could even get your meals bought
and cooked for you as well – just need to pay for what’s on the
menu by the sound of things. Ed Race Update
- September 2004 It has been a hectic period with 4 interclub race
weekends and junior training since the last issue of Cold Facts. There has
been plenty of snow all season and our racers have put in some top performances. Interclub
Races On 31/7/04,
weather and snow conditions were great as Illawarra hosted the Smiggins Bowl and Shield races in Centre Valley Perisher. Cross country racing was held on well
groomed Smiggins tracks. A
modified "FIS penalty points" system was used to break a tie
between Illawarra and Snow Country with IAC winning the "Bowl"
trophy by a whisker. Congratulations to all members of this team with GS,
slalom, snowboard and XC skiers all contributing to the Club's success. Good to see Tim Edmondson back in the
winner's circle on XC skis. Our
juniors took out the Junior Shield event but combined with results from the
Ladies, Gents, Veterans and Snowboard events Illawarra finished tied second with
IMBAC behind the Smiggins Shield winners - Snow Country. The Brian
Donegan Memorial Senior Illawarra Interclub was held on 21/8/04 in cold and windy conditions
on the Upper Roller Coaster course in Blue Cow. In a surprise result, Illawarra took
out the Snowboard Team trophy with Craig Mason the fastest individual.
Illawarra finished third behind Steelmakers and Maranatha in the combined
team results. Another cold day on the Upper Roller Coaster course
in Blue Cow greeted the skiers on 4/9/04
for the Brian Donegan Memorial Junior
Illawarra Interclub. In this
event, the Illawarra junior team came in second overall behind Port
Kembla. Team results had our team
second to IMBAC in the GS, second to Port Kembla in the XC and fourth behind
Maranatha (1st), IMBAC (2nd) and Port Kembla (3rd) in the Snowboard. The combined individual male and
female champions were Andrew Brown and Annika Sturday. It was extraordinary that all 8 of our
juniors competed in the three disciplines - alpine, snowboard and cross
country - many after only one or two days on a 'board. Club
Championships Our club championship races were held on 28/8/04 at the Lindner course in
Guthega. Weather was fantastic
but on arrival, all 30 racers were confronted with a very icy slalom course.
However, after the first run, the surface had softened slightly and with
increased confidence, the competitive spirit really began to show. Following the slalom event, Tim Ainge
opened the GS course with a fast time that displayed the benefits of FIS level
training and racing. Everyone
seemed to enjoy the day and celebrated in typical Illawarra fashion after the
results were announced. An
outstanding effort by Andrew Dengate made him the "Top Gun" for
2004. Overall placing’s were:-
Details
of all races will be available on the web as soon as possible. Interschool's
Races Andrew Dengate succeeded in getting to the Nationals
in Div 2 Alpine and performed very well.
Alexis Dengate, Gavan Fletcher and Annika Sturday also performed well
but did not get past State level.
Lucy Ainge (skiing up a division) won the Div 1 Alpine and came second
in Div 1 Skiercross at the Nationals.
Lucy also had recent success in coming 3rd in both GS and Slalom at
the recent U18 FIS Nationals. She
heads to Mammoth in November for 6 months of intensive race training and
development. Best wishes for
success from all at IAC Lucy! Junior Race
Training Our juniors continued their development with the
second week of race training at Blue Cow during the week 23-27 August. Heidi Ainge teamed up with a second
instructor, Rod, to teach our young team. She showed her commitment to our
Club's aims and ensured that the program worked with a flexibility that
challenged the older, more experienced members of the squad and also brought
dramatic improvement in the racing skills of our new starters this year -
John Hallahan and Whimbrell Wilson.
Lyndsey Ainge and Annika Sturday move on from the team this year as
they soon turn 17. Both have
performed well and have been great ambassadors as racers for our Club. End of
Season At this time, I would like to say thanks to all who
have contributed to the club racing and skier development activities this
season. I have appreciated the
efforts of all who made themselves available for the interclub race events
and the Club championships - both the racers and the officials without whom
the events cannot go on. A special thanks to the juniors in the race training
group and their parents who commit and deliver in lots of ways to the success
of the program. Being available
to race in all interclub events and taking a week off school for training
shows a high level of commitment to the sport and the Club by both the racer
and their family. Observing these
youngsters as racers and as Club representatives, I believe that they are a
credit to the Club and to themselves. The committee is now reviewing some aspects of the
junior development program and will soon advise of any changes for
next year. In the meantime,
I would be happy to register any expressions of interest in the junior racer development program and/or attempt to answer questions
about what the program objectives, expectations and commitments are.
Thanks again. Phone 02-9810-8414 or email me at Geoff
Sturday During this winter there have only been a few small
issues concerning maintenance within the lodge. The element to the dishwasher
needed replacing; a few lights (normal) and one squeaky tap so I can safely
report that all is well. As for this summer we do have a lot to do to bring
the lodge up to standards. The floor sanding of the dining room will be done
in between the working bees so it doesn’t interfere with any other
projects. All of the outside of the lodge will be painted this summer by a
painting contract who will be appointed within the coming weeks. Also beds
and steps to bunks are to be varnished, bunk rails removed and reglued to
ensure safety of occupants. Most of the inside of the lodge could do with a
coat of paint. No colour has been set yet but its thought a lighter colour
(i.e. cream) throughout would make it a bit brighter in the rooms and common
areas. Working Bees - November 6-7 -
February 12-13 Food weekend - May 21-22 I expect to see you all there. Just remember the
more the merrier!!! Please feel free to call or email me if you are able to
attend any of the weekends. maintenence@iacski.com or
0418-423-091. The majority of work will only be painting. I look forward
to seeing a full lodge or I will come looking for you with my trusty violin
case. Tony Di Milia BRAZILIAN BLAST! Tickets are selling fast! All is set for a fantastic
evening of entertainment, finger food, ambiance & dancing! If you and
yours intend to attend, you’d better get your replies in fast and
secure your spot. The limited numbers are becoming more limited as we have
already had a fantastic response…. And remember…. Although the website is still
under construction, you will find many interesting changes, sometimes on a
daily basis. There are 5 new links to photo pages and up to date information
on social events, huts, racing, vacancies and Cold Facts. So become a regular visitor to www.iacski.com and stay up
to date with the latest from your ski club! All the best and see you at the
party!!! Viola Hallahan - WebChief! Lodge News, Members please note: Firstly, skis & boots should NOT be left in the
lodge over summer - all ski gear should be taken home. Any skis-boots left in the ski storage
room without being in a bag & clearly identified will be moved down under
Geoff Mettam SENIOR
MOMENTS – IAC PART 2 – HELI SKING – CMH KOOTENAY,
NAKUSP And onto the Kootneys. A town called Nakusp, where
“Team Illawarra” was based for our HeliSki week. Canadian Mountain Heli-Ski were our
guides and on the ferry ride in we met Mikey. Fiona was smitten. “Well if all the guides are as
good looking at that young man I’ll be very happy”. Heli-skiing is not cheap, basically
$1,000/day. The package includes
100,000 vertical feet for the week.
Our first 3 days were picture postcard days,
“fan-bloody-tastic”.
One of CMH’s mottos is “Canadian Rockies - the best skiing
in the world”, and as the guides are wont to say “it’s the
most fun you can have with your boots on” and they’re right. 3 days, 70,000ft vertical knocked off,
the budget is cracking. Days 4
and 5 in the trees as the weather closed in and we couldn’t access the
tops of the ridges and glaciers, 120,000ft, budget busted wide open (you pay
for extra vertical). Lost a day
because of weather, then cleared for day 7 and ended up at 140,000
vertical. Worth every cent
(pardon, that should read “dollar”, heli-ski operators do not
deal in cents!). Without doubt
the BEST skiing in the world. Memorable moments; apart from the whole damn
thing! Day 1, run 1, our guide
Conrad says “just ski to the left of my tracks”, from the top of
the ridge, a foot of untracked powder, wide open spaces. This is what we paid for!; Day 2 up on
the Monashees and Frig Glacier, not quite as challenging skiing wise, but
fabulous scenery; Day 4 with guide Jeff in the trees, he promised things
would get better and better, and as the snow got heavier, it got deeper and
better; Same day, Snakebite with holes, Geoff launches off a cliff /
waterfall finds himself airborne, lands, heel release, buried!!….. and
the reaction from Dengate and Lee following. “Stay there whilst I take a
picture! Oh, are you alright?” and of course, ‘senior
moments’ all over the Canadian Rockies. Why “Senior Moments”? As Bob says, “When you’re
over 50 “amenity locations” become VERY important to
you.” As Fiona says, “Every
time we come along to the top of these cliffs and chutes there’s yellow
snow everywhere!” It’s just “boys marking their
territory”, and all over Canada IAC has marked theirs. Just ask Fiona which places she
marked! Geoff
Mettam Outdoor safety - LINK
to Outdoorsafety.pdf The attached PDF is designed
to be printed and taken with you on outdoor activities (X/C skiing, bushwalking)
as a handy guide. You can print it double sided and it folds into 3. I picked
this up quite a few years ago when visiting the Grand Canyon in the Editor JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ Once again, The Washington Post published its yearly
contest in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for various
words. And the winners are... 1. Coffee (n.), a person who is coughed upon. 2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much
weight you have gained. 3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having
a flat stomach. 4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while
drunk. 5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent. 6. Negligent (adj.) describes a condition in which
you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown. 7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp. 8. Gargoyle (n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash. 9. Flatulence (n.) the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by
a steamroller 10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline. 11 Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam. 12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified demeanor
assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you. 13. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his
conversation with Yiddish expressions. 14. Pokemon (n), A Jamaican proctologist. 15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), The belief that,
when you die, your soul goes up
on the roof and gets stuck there. |
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