Scotch College

Great year for Koomerang

Koomerang members are returning to normal weekend chores and swapping tales of snow-bound glory this spring, after a great ski and snowboard season.

The 2000 season kicked off even before the official opening weekend, with a great burst of cold, snowy weather. It continued with regular snowfalls and consistently good skiing and snowboarding conditions, throughout the winter. Having opened in the last week of May, the resorts closed in the first week of October.

Skiers and snowboarders, from beginners to advanced, were able to enjoy the terrain in areas which, for the past few years, have been closed or poorly covered. Most will have a story to tell of enjoying the great conditions, maybe a sunny morning with fresh snowfalls or finding some 'freshies' amongst the trees.

With the heavy snowfalls there was a rush of Koomerang members seeking accommodation and a big workload for booking managers. However, there were few problems, and members are very grateful for the efforts of these volunteers. Building Managers Don McDonald, Rhonda Hoelter, Robin Guymer and Andrew Wallace-Smith did a great job ensuring that the lodges were ready for the season and kept supplied through unusually high levels of use.

Scotch College Ski Club, under the guidance of Mr Tom Fisher and Ms Katrina Stalker, held four camps this year, using Koomerang's Falls Creek flats for a July school holiday camp and the Mount Buller lodge for inter-school racing (for both senior and junior schools) and the annual three-day beginners' camp.

The camp at Mount Hotham continued to use accommodation at Dinner Plain, due to the small size of Koomerang's Hotham lodge.

This year the committee offered the Thredbo lodge for weekend-only bookings (instead of the previous seven-night system) and Sydney and Canberra members took the chance to book weekends for themselves and their friends.

The club will probably continue this practice, offering a better opportunity to members based in NSW and ACT, and offering discounted mid week skiing for families, conforming with the lodges at Falls Creek, Mount Hotham and Mount Buller.

Bookings throughout the season were strong and Treasurer Tim Boness reports that this has helped improve the club's financial position. This is a pleasing result after a couple of poor years and will help the club progress towards lodge upgrades, including the proposed rebuilding of the Mount Hotham lodge. More importantly, it also shows that many of our members, their families and friends are enjoying time in the mountains.

Koomerang continues to be the only club in Australia offering its members and their guests four-mountain skiing. Membership Secretary Fiona Widdis (assisted by brother Charles) reports that memberships are currently available and prospective members can get an application form from the OSCA office or by downloading from www.koomerang.com.au.

Contact President Will McCutcheon for more information on (03)9598 5783.