Scotch College

Celebrating a great half century

Koomerang – an amazing success story for Old Boys passionate about snow skiing.

WORDS: ANDREW LILLEY • KOOMERANG SKI CLUB COMMITTEE © Image courtesy of Halo Images

Rarely has the Cardinal Pavilion been so spectacularly decorated as it was for the Koomerang Ski Club’s 50th anniversary celebration on the night of 26 May.

Congratulations to Rhonda Hoelter and her sub-committee of Andrew Chang, Karleen Smith, Patty Wallace-Smith, Pat Aitken, Margie Draffin and Bea Moignard, who collectively choreographed a magnificent night to celebrate a magnificent club.

Koomerang has been an amazing success story for Old Boys of Scotch brought together by their mutual passion for snow skiing. The result of their dedicated hard work is a thriving club with four excellent lodges, all in prime locations and with a total value of over $3 million. The lodge locations are:

• Mt Buller (a 42-bed lodge at arguably THE prime location on the mountain)
• Thredbo (a luxury 16-bed lodge)
• Falls Creek (two apartments, each comprising eight beds)
• Mt Hotham (soon to be redeveloped as a luxury 16-bed lodge with on-site underground car-parking).

Proposing the toast to the club, Koomerang President Nigel Watson pointed out that although we were celebrating 50 years of the modern club, our roots are really in the Scotch College snow tours of the 1920s and onwards. Nigel shared anecdotes from the club’s archives about schoolboys including Bruce Wenzel and Ivor Whittaker, teachers ‘Noso’ Boyes and Colin Scott, and some of our founding members, including the Wood brothers.

The gathering was honoured by the presence of the Very Reverend Anton von Fraserburg (aka Andrew Ramsay) who followed the Koomerang pre-season tradition of blessing the snow, assisted by samples of the varieties of snow that fall at our mountains. These include ‘ice’ at Mt Buller, ‘risotto’ at Falls Creek, ‘mashed potato’ at Thredbo and naturally (as it’s his mountain), POWDER at Mt Hotham!

Guest speaker Greg ‘Coodabeen’ Champion brilliantly integrated his extensive repertoire of tunes and ditties with hilarious alternative versions.

Past President and Life Member Tony Sheer did a superb job as master of ceremonies. His talents at crowd control were surely tested as the night progressed and various ‘greats’ of the club jockeyed for an opportunity at the microphone.

All present were treated to a fantastic night, and Rhonda is already planning our 100th year celebration. By then, Koomerang will probably have lodges at Aspen, Vail and Val d’Isere!

Koomerang membership is open to Old Boys of Scotch and the spouses and children of old boys who are members. For more information, please visit our website, www.koomerang.com.au or contact our Membership Secretary, Rod McNab, at membership@koomerang.com.au.

A brief history of the Club was written and distributed to members at the 50th anniversary celebration dinner. To view the history and photos of the dinner, visit www.koomerang.com.au and go to ‘Club Info’. GS