About Oldina Ski Club

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Overview
  History
  Philosophy
  Governance
   

Oldina Ski Club Victoria Inc

ABN : 49 096 469 376

Arlberg St, Falls Creek, Vic.
Flat 1 Moose Apartments Mt Buller, Vic.


Overview
 

Oldina Ski Club Victoria Inc. is a member owned and operated ski club providing members and guests with first class “on mountain” accommodation at Falls Creek and Mt Buller in the Victorian snowfields. Our members are families and individuals who share a love of snow sports and good company in a club environment.

Oldina provides its members with quality en-suite accommodation with modern facilities, superb locations offering genuine ski-in/ski-out access, low rates of accommodation for members and discounted rates for dependent children. Our low member to bed ratio means that members usually secure their preferred booking periods.

For more information about joining Oldina, please click here

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Club History

Founded in 1963, the Club had as its membership nucleus a group of people who met at a National Fitness Council skiing holiday at Falls Creek. A Club was soon formed drawing many early members from Melbourne University. The name “Oldina” which is aboriginal for snowflake, was adopted to signify the early members shared love of the Australian high country in both summer and winter.

Since a number of the early members were engineers and builders, the Club decided to build a lodge themselves and acquired a lot on Arlberg Street. Over the coming months, a small team of dedicated members based themselves at the mountain whilst others formed work parties and assisted on weekends and holidays. The original two-level lodge was completed in 1965. The wrought iron snowflake (still visible on the front wall of the lodge today) was designed and created for the opening of the original building by Frank Long, an art teacher at East Geelong Technical School and brother-in-law of early member, Ross Middleton.

Oldina’s Falls Creek lodge was one of the earliest private ski club lodges built at Falls Creek and the pictures below show its steady progress from foundation to final framing.

     
Foundations take shape 2nd level frame goes up Lodge nears completion

The lodge was extended in 1972 and then completely renovated and refurbished in 1992. The 1992 renovation was designed by a leading Melbourne architect and constructed by a local master builder. It included the addition of a third level comprising 2 self-contained apartments as well as new kitchens and a much larger lounge area on the second level.

More recently, the central heating system was replaced with a more efficient hydronic heating system and a bedroom was converted to a games room with DVD and TV. Today, the lodge features accommodation for 26 people in 9 rooms on 3 levels with 8 bathrooms. Most of these are en-suites.

The location at Arlberg Street has proven to be a very wise choice as the lodge is now within walking distance of the nearby Halley’s Comet chairlift for downhill skiing/boarding and the aqueduct trail for cross country skiing. It is also accessible from a network of trails that run down from the top of Sun Valley mountain ridge, providing an easy cruise home after a hard day’s skiing or boarding. A number of the most popular night spots and restaurants are also located nearby.

In the late 1970’s, the Club also decided that accommodation at Mt Buller would complement the Falls Creek lodge. As a result, the Club acquired a flat in Moose Apartments at Mt Buller in 1980. Again, the Club’s timing and choice of location was impeccable, enabling the Club to get one of the best locations on the mountain just adjacent to the bottom of the main Blue Bullet lift line.

Over the years, the flat has been used extensively, especially at weekends and during the inter-schools ski competitions. A major facelift of the building and an upgrade of the Club’s apartment was carried out during 2002.

In 2013, the Club celebrated its 50th birthday, cementing its position as one of the oldest continually operating and most successful private ski clubs in Australia.

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Club Philosophy

Oldina Ski Club sees itself very much as a “club”. It is run by Club members for the benefit of Club members. Members play an active role in all facets of the Club’s operations from handling bookings, maintaining facilities, organising social events, handling finances, communicating with members, representing the Club on various industry bodies and meeting statutory and regulatory requirements.

The Club holds at least two working parties at the end and beginning of each season at both its Mt Buller and Falls Creek facilities. This is an opportunity for members to actively participate in the upkeep of our facilities.

The Club’s “self help” ethos enables it to run its operations at the lowest possible cost meaning that it can keep down joining fees, subscriptions and accommodation rates to a minimum whilst maintaining a sound financial position. It also helps to build camaraderie amongst members and a true club atmosphere.

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Governance

The club comprises approximately 90 members who elect a committee of nine each year at our Annual General Meeting in March. Committee roles include:

  • President
  • Secretary
  • Vice President
  • Treasurer
  • General Committee Members and a Booking Officer

The general committee members are responsible for specific tasks such as Club Communications, Facilities Management, Marketing, Membership, etc. The Booking Officer is responsible for all accommodation bookings and room allocations. The Booking Officer maintains a dedicated email and telephone facility. The Club’s website also incorporates an Internet booking request facility.

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