Scotch College

Summer maintenance sets up Koomerang for the winter

Words: DOUG DRAFFIN

Maintenance has been completed over the summer months at Koomerang Ski Club’s four lodges – our flagship lodge at Buller, the new lodge at Thredbo, NSW, the pair of adjoining flats at Falls Creek and the small lodge at Hotham.

The redevelopment of our lodge at Thredbo, which now offers a 21st century level of accommodation, has proved to be what our members and their guests now require for their stay in the mountains.

At the request of the board of management at Mt Hotham, over the last two years we have negotiated to maximise the development of our land at Hotham, where currently we have our small nine-bed lodge. We had reached the stage of necessary planning approvals and completed architectural plans and agreements with the board and a developer. The development was for a four-level building with below-ground car parking, Koomerang occupying the top floor.

Koomerang was ready for the construction to start, but unfortunately all of this became unravelled as the developer, along with the separate but significant MFS Bale development, stalled with the impact of the fallout from the US sub-prime crisis. Fortunately this occurred before any work commenced on our site, and an alternative future for us at Hotham is back now in discussion. It is still Koomerang’s wish to provide enlarged and more up-to-date accommodation at Hotham. The club will now pursue this task with all our energy, for the benefit of our members.

At the Koomerang annual general meeting in March, our members approved changes to the club’s constitution to broaden the eligibility requirements for membership. One adopted proposal is to allow parents of full members to become eligible for membership.

If the old rumour of the southern hemisphere following the winter conditions of the northern hemisphere proves correct, we must be in for a good one this year. In the US the season started mildly, but then turned into one of the best seasons for many years. Dry snow conditions and lots of it provided ideal ski conditions. Here’s hoping the same will be the case in Australia. GS