SAVE THE DATE - Annual General Meeting

June ‘11

The Club’s AGM will be held on 26 July at the Royal Automobile Club of Australia,  and the Club's Annual Reports will be emailed out to all members shortly.

It would be great to see as many members as possible at the meeting and should any member wish to get more involved in the Club, they are encouraged to consider nomination to the Club's Board of Directors.

Thredbo Refurbishment

The first stage of the Thredbo lodge refurbishment was completed on time and on budget, which enabled a large group to utilise the lodge over Easter. The new look in The Club living area is fantastic and one can envisage how the whole lodge will look now we have a blueprint for the future. The new carpet and painting in the other units has really given the whole place a brighter, cleaner look.

See below some photos of the living area of The Club taken in late May. The only real way however to get a feel for what's in store for the rest of the Lodge is to check it out for yourself.

Update for Members

March ‘10

Dear Members,

We have another season upon us and it is a good time to write to members to let you all know about a few things that are happening in the Club.

Firstly, this is hopefully the last time we mail out a full run of our Annual Subscription notices. Next year we are going to be notifying members electronically. Since introducing our online website and booking site we have been moving towards a greater use of the internet both for reasons of cost and effectiveness. As email becomes more widely used it makes sense for us to contact our members this way, and it means that we can contact whole families through one contact point, or individual members as need be.

Following on this trend we will also no longer be mailing out copies of the Sydney Ski Club Annual Report. The Federal Government in 2007 amended the law relating to company Annual Reports to allow for the publication through a website and ours will be available at www.sydneyski.com.au when completed.
We anticipate having a small number of printed copies available on request for those who cannot live without their own copy of this must read publication. Contact the Club by email, phone (see Contact Us on our website) or by mail.

Notices of our Annual General Meetings will still be mailed to all members.

Electronic Payments:
We have now introduced credit card payments as the only means of payment for both payment of Annual Subs and for bookings. Details are on the Annual Subs statement.

Incentives for New Memberships.
The Board has decided to introduce an incentive to encourage new memberships.
From the 1st of March this year the Board is offering a weeks free accommodation (either lodge, any time of year) to any member who sponsors a successful applicant for membership.
For further information on this offer or to enquire about membership please contact James Cooper through the membership link on our website.

Accommodation rates.
In light of increased costs the Board has reluctantly decided an increase in accommodation rates is in order. These will come into effect as of 1st March 2010.

Lodge Maintenance:
Perisher: We are proud to announce that over the summer we have had the exterior of Perisher lodge painted and had several maintenance matters attended to. That annoying and unsightly leak in the corner of the dining area has finally been fixed, with the windows and the corner carpentry removed and the leak traced (evidently a small tear in the flashing). The whole lot was then put back together – quite a major job in the end. We have also had a new thermostat put into the Drying room and have had repairs to the dishwasher. We still have the old clothes dryer and we will review its performance over the season. The Perisher lodge is I think one of the best in the valley and regular maintenance will keep it looking and operating at it’s best for some years to come.
We have Board members Arthur King and Ian Leeson to thank for their efforts in keeping this lodge well maintained.

Thredbo: Our Thredbo Lodge’s refurbishment has been a different story however, mainly due to the size of the task, and it likely that we will not have much to show before the start of this season. For this the Board sincerely apologises to members, as we are well aware of the need to smarten the interior up and certainly get some new carpet in the Club area.

However we are actively looking at getting the badly needed makeover done. Some good news on the horizon is that we might finally be getting the river stones on the path replaced with something a bit more comfortable to walk on in ski boots, however the wheels move very slowly in Thredbo and nothing can be taken for granted until actually done.

New addition to our Memorabilia.
Late last year we were contacted by a member of the Kosciuszko Hut Association. KHA member Graham Scully had in his possession a trophy mug that bore our name and badge, and were we interested in having it? The mug carried the inscription “Sydney Ski Club – Memorial Downhill 1948 – R Michaelis”.
A little bit of sleuthing turned up the fact that R. Michaelis was the father of current member Sue Hallenstein, and was a very early member of the Club. We have no knowledge of where the trophy was won or what it (Memorial ?) related to. Sue has very kindly donated the trophy to the SSC and it will be placed in the Perisher display cabinet for the time being. Plans are afoot to have a similar cabinet made for the Thredbo lodge, so this is a timely reminder for all members to have a look around for anything that may be of interest for the Club history. We are always on the look out for memorabilia, family/holiday/ski photos and anything that may be used to decorate the Club and display our Club history.

Board Members. The Board does a terrific job given the scope of work that is required however the workload is pretty constant and there is always room for a few more Board members; so if you are interested in giving something back to the Club please get in touch with us. Ian Leeson has recently stood down from the Board and we are sad to see him go and thank him on behalf of all members for his energy and work.

Lastly…………

The usual reminders:

Could members please take care with the lodges. Perisher in particular has a list of instructions provided to all parties staying there. Please see that all matters mentioned are attended to. Last year we had doors left open and heaters left on at the end of the season, which resulted in a costly electricity bill. And before you all get started – we are unable to identify who was responsible. It is also very important that people staying understand the need and the process for turning off the water and draining the pipes. It seems so simple but it would appear that some people do not understand the process and reasons behind this practice. I would encourage members visiting Perisher to contact someone (Marita, myself) if there is anything at Perisher that requires urgent attention so that we may get on to the matter as soon as possible. There is also our online reporting for matters at the end of their stay, see Lodge Reports on the Lodge Booking site.

Thredbo lodge is less reliant on instructions for coming and going however it is still a matter for members to take care with the lodge and club property. Last year we had several windows shattered – heavens knows how! This year we are going to reconfigure all the coded locks, so keep an eye on those instructions – you don’t want to be ringing a Board member at 10 0’clock at night asking how to get in. Also it’s high time all members acquainted themselves with the conditions and procedures for booking and accommodation at both lodges. We have gone to some lengths to publish these and you can always ask before you go down. There is, I believe, adequate information available however if you believe that there is a need for more online information please let us know.

Members are also reminded to keep an occasional eye on our website – we really do try to keep members up to date with information relating to the Club, the ski season and the Snowy area in general.

Wishing you all the best for the season, James Cooper President. If you wish to receive newsletters by email in the future, click here. If you wish to unsubscribe from future newsletters, click here.