COLD FACTS JOURNAL OF THE ILLAWARRA ALPINE CLUB
VOLUME 42 MAY 2002 NUMBER 2
COLD FACTS
| PRESIDENT | Stephen Ainge |
| SECRETARY | Jenny Charker |
| TREASURER | Michael Di Leva |
| BOOKING OFFICER | Margaret Fletcher |
| EDITOR | Ian Stuart |
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
2002 Gets Off To A Great Start
Hello to all and welcome to the 2002 Winter season. We have just completed our third and final working bee and left the lodge with the best part of 30cm of fresh snow on the ground. This should augment well for the opening weekend when some of our more notorious and long-term members will gather to celebrate and reminisce 40 years of Illawarra Alpine Club camaraderie. On behalf of the rest of the membership, I wish them a great weekend and extend a big thank you to all those volunteers that helped out on the working bees.
The AGM was held on 14 April. Results for the previous financial year were tabled and accepted. In summary a profit of $20,355 was made from ordinary activities and this was reduced to a $520 loss after an extraordinary amount of $20,875 for sewerage levy was received from the National Parks. We have budgeted for a $20,000 surplus this financial year, the caveat being unknown increases in insurance premiums and additional levies from the National Parks. All loans have been repaid and our current position is for a positive cash flow. The committee elections were held and the results were:
Position Name Responsibility
President Stephen Ainge Club Administration
Vice President Jarvis Fletcher Lodge Maintenance & Club Admin
Vice President John O'Donnell Jr. Lodge Management & Club Admin.
Treasurer Michael Dileva Club Finances
Secretary Jenny Charker Secretary & Admin Procedures
Directors Margaret Fletcher Booking Officer
Tim Lee Club Captain
Karen Irvine Administrative & Financial Assistant
Geoff Mettam Supply & Logistics
Phil Warren Web Site, Marketing & Events Coordinator
Ian Stuart Cold Facts Editor
On behalf of the club I take the opportunity to thank Jarvis for his contribution during his term as president and for his continuing support on committee.
Club person of the year was awarded to 2 people, Michael Dileva and Michael Condon principally for their efforts in computerizing the booking procedure. It is now possible to book on line, which has been a big step forward from the days when we could only call the booking officer in regulated hours. Those of you with Internet access will be able to use this service and source most general club information from our websitewww.iacski.com. There has been a lot of effort go into setting it up, so please make use of it.
As many of you will already know, Steve & Sarah Avery have decided to have a winter out of the snow and we have new managers for this year. John Pihlman and Lisa Kazalac will be taking over the responsibility for feeding and keeping us during the season. They came up to the lodge (with Lisa traveling from Melbourne) for the Food Weekend and stayed the night and shared a few quiet drinks around the bar with those present. If first impressions are anything to go by, I am sure they will make a good team. As they are new and will take some time to get to know the lodge, please help them where you can and continue to direct any queries through the hut captain nominated for your stay.
After some criticism of the club's wine selection, help was sought from one of our long-standing members who had a reputation for expertise in this field. We have tested his choice at the recent working bee and found that there is a significant improvement over some of our previous selections. The down side is that there is still some of the last year's stock to get through before getting to the new. Maybe we can look for alternative uses (e.g. marinating, fondues, cleaning windows) so as to move it out ASAP and not waste it.
It is a key objective of the committee to better serve the interests of its membership and we are looking forward to feedback on how the club can best achieve this. The committee meets nearly every month of the year and you can contact us either by e-mail using the contacts listed on the web site or mail to: P.O. Box 359, Figtree NSW 2525
Looking forward to a year of great snow and good company.
Stephen Ainge
INTERNET and WEB NEWS
COLD FACTS on Web site
As advised in previous issues we are keen to reduce printing and mailing costs by asking people who have access to the World Wide Web and no longer want to receive a hard copy of Cold Facts to let us know and we will let you know by e-mail when it appears on our web site. So now, those of you who have previously requested that you no longer wish to receive Cold Facts by hard copy, are wondering why you've received a hard copy again.
Some people supplied us with e-mail addresses so that we could send out short note type information and the assumption was made that they no longer wanted a hard copy of Cold Facts. This was not, in fact, the case as some people with e-mail addresses do NOT have access to the World Wide Web and as a consequence could not see our web site. They still wanted their hard copy of Cold Facts.
We apologise for the inconvenience but it is now too difficult to unscramble the egg so Mike DiLeva is compiling a new list and we need to get any of you with an e-mail address and/or access to our web site to send a note to treasurer@iacski.com indicating which of the two points below applies to you.
1) If you have an e-mail address and would like to receive information that may arise from time to time - specials on accommodation or late news that may be of interest to Club members etc. BUT still want to receive a hard copy of Cold Facts.
2) If you have an e-mail address AND you have access to the Club web site AND no longer wish to receive a hard copy of Cold Facts. In this case a note will be sent to your e-mail address advising that Cold Facts has been published online and supply you with a link to the latest issue online.
We apologise once again for the inconvenience but, for anyone we have an e-mail address for, until you advise differently we will assume that Option 1) applies.
Lodge e-mail
If you want to send an e-mail to the lodge this year we have now set up an e-mail address for this. It is lodge@iacski.com . This is to be used for lodge business only.
On-line booking form on the web page
As per the presidents message said we are keen to promote the use of the new web site and its new functionality. For all those people amongst us who have access to the web site, there is a new facility to make your bookings online. This was developed earlier this year and integrates with the Booking Officer's program. It has certainly made things a lot easier for the Booking Officer and should make things easier for you as well when you come to make bookings. For those that don't know or can't remember it, the web address is www.iacski.com Have a look and please feel free to submit suggestions.
To access the online booking facility, you will need a userid and a password. The userid is your new Member ID, which should now be used for both online and normal bookings as mentioned above. Your password is a PIN that Mike Di Leva has sent separately to all who have advised us of their e-mail address.
WORKING BEES
Lodge Maintenance
Just got back from the last working bee for the season. Well how about all the snow that's fallen!! Isn't it great to see. This was only one of the many highlights from the weekend. Others included another visit from the fire brigade as we set off the alarm under Siberia again. They're getting to know us well now...
We met the new managers, John and Lisa, and they appear to be a very nice couple and I'm sure they will fit in with the Illawarra spirit and do a fantastic job. New curtains are up and definitely retain the heat which was required and will be appreciated by all. Good job Margaret who spent a couple of days earlier this month sewing them up at the lodge so they fitted first time.
People who attended last weekend:- Wayne Moore and daughter Helen, Andrew and Cate Thomas with son Oliver, Ian Fitcher, Geoff Mettam, Stephen Ainge, Fiona Montgomery, Karen Irvine, Johnathon Mandl and son Eric, Craig Mason and Phil Warren. A big thank you from the committee for all these people who volunteered their services. Special mention should go to Jarvis Fletcher and Ian Fitcher for their work under Siberia and the conditions they had to endure. Fantastic effort fellas.
Below is a list of tasks completed from last weekend:
Tasks remaining to be done include;
Overall a very successful weekend, if not a bit cold. Thank you to everyone who assisted. The lodge is ready to go for winter, so bring on more snow. If you want to put your name down for future work parties please contact Phil Warren on 02-4228-4430.
SKIS and STUFF under Sibera
There is lot of 'junk' under Siberia in the form of old skis, etc. If you have 'lost' any skis or equipment that you thought you had left in the loft a few years ago it may be under Siberia. About 5 years ago all ski gear was taken down from the loft and put there. On the work party we just had Jarvis, who was working under there, 'found' a pair of his old skis that had 'disappeared'. You may have something in there as well.
If you're going to the lodge this year and are missing anything go and take a look or if you can't make it and know someone who is going down ask them to have a look for you. If the stuff hasn't been claimed in the next couple of seasons we're going to have to dispose of it by other means.
Philip Warren
X-C Summer Grooming
The X/C trail grooming work, on April 20/21, weekend saw a select few attending but much more work than usual being achieved. There were two main reasons for this. The first was that we arranged with NPWS to have a petrol driven air compressor and nail gun to assemble the fence panels. With the aid of this, 6 people were able to assemble 100 fence panels before lunch on Saturday. Last year, for example, it took about 10 people most of Saturday to assemble about 60 fence panels and paint about half of them.
This year we are working with a new NPWS ranger, Andrew Miller. He lives in the cottage on the Edmondson's farm so they have a very good (close) working relationship with both he and Andrew Harrigan. Pat and Sue report that they are making a lot more headway with the parks this year with these two guys in regards to X/C skiing. They are hoping to have National Parks people out skiing around the X/C tracks this year collecting feedback from the users. KCROS is also lobbying to get better reporting on the radio about cross country track setting - i.e. Which tracks have been set and/or which ones are the best. But I digress..... this leads me to the next saving.
Andrew Miller was quite surprised that we had been paining the fences previously and with a stroke of genius agreed that we no longer had to paint them. Another victory for common sense. Once the panels were assembled we extended both ends of the fence we put up last year, just behind the substation at the top end of the Smiggins car park. Over Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning we added about 30 panels to each end. The remaining panels were then transported over to Perisher for use on a later grooming weekend.
Attendees this year were (members) Ian Stuart and children, Pat and Sue Edmondson, Atta Ihsche, (associates) Fiona Stuart, Rosie Gilliver and Joe Paveley and their children.
Editor
FROM THE BOOKING OFFICER
We have 2700 beds booked so far, which is a record for early May. Still odd vacancies here and there. Plenty of beds available from Sunday 21 July to Thursday 25 July inclusive. Also beds from Sunday 8 September. So don't despair, send those bookings in soon, and bring your guests along to enjoy the great Illawarra hospitality.
Don't forget that unaccompanied children will need to have a parental consent form completed before their booking will be confirmed. A copy of it is now available from the web site. Simply download and print the form to fill in. If you do not have web access please contact the booking officer for a copy. It can then be mailed or faxed.
New Member ID
All members have been assigned a Member ID, which enables me to easily call up all your details. It is the four digit number. Whether you are booking using the traditional method or online, please supply your new Member ID. As you have all received a hard copy again this issue please make a note of the number on the mailing label. If you have forgotten or misplaced your Member ID or PIN, e-mail Mike on treasurer@iacski.com and he will respond or telephone him. His phone numbers are on the front of Cold Facts.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 2002 (all dates inclusive)
WINTER: NSW, ACT, SA: Saturday 6 July to Sunday 21 July
QLD: Saturday 22 June to Sunday 7 July
VIC: Saturday 29 June to Sunday 14 July
SPRING: NSW, ACT, SA Saturday 28 Sept to Sunday 13 Oct
QLD, VIC: Saturday 21 Sept to Sunday 6 Oct
Labour Day Holiday in NSW: Monday 7 October 2002
RATES FOR 2002 PER PERSON PER NIGHT 2 PM - 2 PM
WINTER SEASON - OPENING - Friday June 7 CLOSING - Monday October 7
ALL RATES INCLUSIVE OF GST
| DATE | RATE $ |
Member Adult |
Member Child |
Guest Adult |
Guest Child |
| Fri June 7 Sat July 6 |
Special Rate 1 |
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| Sun July 7 Sat July 20 | Shoulder Rate 2 |
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| Sun July 21 Sat Sept 7 |
Peak Rate 3 |
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| Sun Sept 8 Sat Sept 21 |
Shoulder Rate 2 |
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| Sun Sept 22 Mon Oct 7 | Special Rate 1 |
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| * REMEMBER: No food or linen supplied during Summer Rate periods | |||||
| Thu Oct 10 Sun Dec 31 |
Summer Rate * |
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# N.B. : All children 4 years and under (members and guests) will pay a special rate of $12 per night during winter.
: Children under 3 years will only be permitted in the designated Toddlers' Weeks which are Friday June 28 to Thursday July 4 inclusive
And Sunday Sept 8 to Thursday Sept 12 inclusive
Margaret Fletcher
CLUB PROGRAMME FOR 2001
JUNE
7 Lodge opens for winter season (Queen's birthday long weekend)
28 - 4 July Toddlers week (#1)
JULY
6 - 21 School Holidays NSW, ACT, SA
9 - 11 IAC Junior race training (All IAC Juniors welcome)
16 - 18 IAC Junior race training (All IAC Juniors welcome)
15 - 19 IAC Advance group training (selected juniors only)
15, 17, 19 IAC Junior X/Ctraining (Mike Edmondson & Atta)
AUGUST
14 KAC Cross Country Classic
17 Snowy Mountains Classic
17 Senior Interclub race (Host club - IMBAC)
19 - 23 IAC Advance group training (selected juniors only)
24 IAC Senior / Junior Championships.
2 week break between Champs and Bowl.
SEPTEMBER
7 SMIGGINS BOWL/SHEILD - (Host club - Muniong)
8 - 12 Toddlers week (#2)
14 Junior Interclub race (Host club - IMBAC)
OCTOBER
7 Lodge closes for winter season (Labour Day long weekend)
10 Lodge opens for summer Bookings
26 (date change) IAC End of season Party & Presentation (still same venue)
FROM THE CLUB CAPTAIN
Race Update - May 2002
The lodge is looking great all those lucky people that have been on working bees know that. All we need now is some great early snow. I might add that I did get to Whistler Canada in February. The snow was wonderful. Heaps of it. The same has been ordered for Smiggins (The Olympic resort).
Snow boarding will be part of the Bowl (points collected) and Shield (no points) for 2002 and I would think it will be included in the Interclub races in the not to distant future. If we have some serious people that would truly like to get involved with snow boarding (I mean try it) talk to myself or one of the committee people while at the lodge and we will try to arrange something. We do need a team for the Bowl in September. If we have enough snow boarders we will try it in the champs in August but there will be an IAC TROPHY INTRODUCED FOR SNOW BOARDING FOR IN 2003.
We seem to have good booking for all race weekends which is great to see. If you're not booked in and would like to come please work on it . (Especially the Bowl)
Junior Race Training - 2002
We will have the usual training in July holidays and at the end of August - see Club Program.
Advanced Group Downhill Cross-country
Gavan Fletcher Annika Sturday
Annika Sturday Andrew Brown
Lyndsey Ainge Lauren Di Milia
Lauren Di Milia Andrew Dengate
Andrew Brown Gavan Fletcher
Andrew Dengate Lyndsey Ainge
Brittany Ainge Krista Sturday
Alexis Dengate Karina Brown
Carrin Di Milia Andrew Brown
See you all at the lodge.
Tim Lee
OTHER NEWS
Food Safety and Food Handling in the Lodge
Personal Hygiene – Basic Washing Hands
We are all now required to wash our hands before and after the preparation of food, before setting the tables before meals and after going to the toilet.
New Hygiene Colour Coding Systems at the Lodge.
Food Handling and Food Contamination are an important issue in the lodge. Recently introduced Health and Safety Regulations will impact on all Food Handling premises, this includes all users of IAC.
An increased awareness of the probability of food contamination has been paralleled with the introduction of essential Food Handling Standards. Compliance with these standards is now law. The standards relate to the way we handle, prepare and store food and the health and hygiene of the people involved in food preparation and serving.
Colour Coded Cutting Boards in Kitchen
Colour coded cutting boards have been installed in the kitchen. Each colour board is to be used for particular food types to reduce the risk of cross contamination. The plastic boards are easily washable by hand or through the dishwasher. They should be stored in the rack provided and not in contact with each other. A colour chart is on the wall of the kitchen to identify the use of each cutting board.
Colour Coded Cleaning Products.
Colour coding of cleaning equipment will also help reduce the risk of cross contamination between food preparation areas, bathrooms and general living areas. We have installed coloured mops with the same coloured mop buckets to be used in three areas.
1. Red for Bathrooms
2. Green for Kitchen Areas
3. Blue for General areas
Colour coding is the start of our clubs policy to provide a clean and hygienic lodge for everyone to enjoy. Please note the information boards and use all equipment in the areas that they are intended.
Enjoy your time on the snow, not crook in bed.
Jenny Charker
NEWS FROM PERISHER BLUE - (from their web site)
General Mountain Improvements
$750,000 worth of mountain improvements during summer focused on snow fencing, another 1.5 kilometres installed at Mt. Perisher's Interceptor area to improve connecting trail cover into Blue Cow and at Blue Cow and Guthega. More snow fencing means the snow is collected right where it's needed making it possible to push onto runs and t-bar tracks in high traffic areas ensuring we can make the most of early falls, which along with snowmaking can provide some excellent early skiing and snowboarding. The new fencing brings the total to 10km covering most key interconnecting areas. More new mobile fan guns aid the snow coverage helping to concentrate snowmaking exactly where its needed most.
The t-bar electrification program continues with the Cow t-bar and Cow Pastures j-bar at Guthega having their old diesel motors replaced this summer. The new electric drive stations run smoother, quieter and are nonpolluting, part of the resort's overall environmental plan to reduce fuel emissions.
Another state-of-the-art new snow groomer brings the snow grooming fleet to 20 machines, including specialised winch cats and pipe/terrain park adapted models that allow the team to groom pretty much anywhere they want to - for example, they can smooth out a run as steep as Kamikaze.
Last but not least and not of quite so much concern to skiers and boarders, but certainly important to smaller local residents, is the construction of more pygmy possum crossings so they can freely move from habitat to habitat beneath popular runs like Zali's and sidesaddle at Blue Cow.
Following is part of a recent article from the Financial Review
Perisher-Blue in $360m facelift
It has been a long time coming but billionaire Kerry Packer might finally get his wish - a $360 million alpine development at his Perisher-Blue ski resort. A $100 million mountain expansion of Perisher-Blue, 73 per cent owned by the Packers' private company, Consolidated Press Holdings, is to start next summer, while plans for a $260 million village await final approvals before building begins in the summer of 2003-04. The move comes as speculation continues about whether the Belgiorno-Nettis family might be close to selling its 27 per cent stake in the NSW ski resort. Entrepreneur Brad Keeling, and US millionaire George Gillett Jnr of the US group Booth Creek, the fourth-largest ski resort owner/operator in North America, are said to be interested in buying the Belgiorno-Nettis stake. Perisher resort manager Ashley Blundell confirmed the first stage of the mountain development would begin next summer. "Negotiations with the Government show that after those bits and pieces that need to be detailed are done it is only a matter of time," he said.
Improvements to the mountain will include:
The $260 million village development will include a 20 to 30 residential apartment component and commercial operations including a cinema, restaurants, a rock climbing wall, baths, a spa and ice-skating rink.
Detailed models and plans will be lodged with relevant government bodies in December with the hope that approvals will make way for construction in November 2003. Mr Blundell said the resort with the "most reliable snow and best facilities in the country" needed "a heart" to bring it up to international standards. Promising snow falls combined with cold conditions have alpine resorts hopeful of a bumper ski season this year.
NEWS FROM SLOPES
We recently received a note from Bert Sheridan of SLOPES to all member lodges about SKI LIFT CONCESSIONS (15% from normal retail prices) from Perisher Blue. These tickets are advance payment as per "BONUS SEASON" prices and are only available when associated with an accommodation package so it seems that this year Perisher Blue is treating SLOPES lodges as having accommodation packages. These are only available for certain weeks and certain types of tickets. Suffice it to say that in the end the booking manager needs to be involved to confirm that any members or guests are staying at a SLOPES lodge so speak to Margaret.
Details of the arrangement are; Booking prior to June 1 with 50% deposit and balance of payment 30 days before hand upon which a voucher will be issued to be redeemed for the ticket when you arrive. Things like lessons and Skitube tickets can be built into the deal as well. Sound like there are still a few hoops to jump through but for the savings it could be well worthwhile getting organised ahead of time.
Further detail available on their web site; www.perisherblue.com.au/winter/prices
General ticket prices available here as well. For those without access to the web or want to know more about the special deals you can call 1300-655-811.
There will also a 5% rebate that will be passed back to the Lodges, at the end of the season, based on the value of tickets sold. SLOPES will coordinate the 5% refund and will not retain any monies.
FOR SALE
One pair 210cm 'TRAK' X/C touring skis. Fishscale bases. Steel edges. Hardly used. Have mid-weight Rottafella 3 pin (75mm) bindings and poles. Contact Ian Stuart. 0412-517-572 and make an offer.
MEMBERSHIP CHANGES
Marriages
Congratulations to Graeme Warren and Diane (nee Power) for discovering the joys of holy matrimony on Saturday the 4th of May.
Resigned
Valda Thompson
Acceptances
Steve and Sarah Avery - Accepted membership offered by the committee. Here is a copy of the letter they sent to the committee and in turn, all members.