Ski lodge membership cone of silence

It’s very late in reply but I have checked out quite a few of these ski clubs in the Snowies in 2013-14. I was after a club that would be very family friendly, unfortunately most seem to be snobbish or somewhat elitist with little time for young families. Most of the members we met were elderly or multi generational lodge members.
We have stayed at a few of the lodges that also take outside bookings, some seem to struggle with memberships, and given there costs I can see why. Generally you put forward your membership application but this requires referees- usually from within that particular club. One way to get the required referees is to do working bees in summer, that often works towards your acceptance.
Others are not open to outsiders but only to descendants of ‘originals’ (rock creek at perisher is an example).
In the end I decided it was wiser to simply pay for a week or two each season as we require it at any number of commercial operators, rather than go into a raffle for the desired weeks we required as members of any lodge (and of course you still have to pay for your use of the lodge on top of your membership and risk being allocated a week with bad snow). Many lodges also require you to do jobs during your stay, so if a relaxing holiday is what your after then perhaps those are not the best (cleaning toilets on my holidays is not what I consider good value for my thousands of dollars each year).
The decision was clinched when the $¥ comparison was done. For the cost of a lodge membership and stay we could go to Japan for 2 weeks each year.
I suggest you do the figures before you join any lodge, they all vary in costs but to me they all seemed very expensive for what you got.

Brindabella! Love it already. Thanks.

I highly recommend Brindabella Ski Club. They maintain a really friendly environment, and have terrific lodges – 1 fairly new lodge at Thredbo and 2 lodges at Guthega (with one of those having just been rebuilt).

Pretty much any ski club is going to look for a commitment from a prospective member. The way that each club is structured will depend on what sort of commitment that will be. There are clubs like the Ski Club of Australia that only cost a couple of hundred dollars to join and then you throw your hat in the ring with the other 35,000 members when it comes to getting a booking during the winter – and then there are clubs that have six members, own a lodge that can accommodate 24 and employ a maid and a chef for the season … you don’t have to be a rocket surgeon to figure out that what you pay is directly linked to what you get.

Charlotte Pass has a lot of private clubs (proportionally to the other NSW resorts). There’s good ski-in-ski-out, but the resorts patrolled skiable terrain is small by comparison to other NSW resorts. Most of the club lodges offer accommodation to non-members and you’ll find them easily enough if you can use Google. If there’s memberships available they will probably be advertise on the clubs website. The thing about Charlotte Pass is that you generally access the village by over snow from Perisher Valley (because during the winter months the road from Perisher is closed to vehicles) which can be a pain in the bum. So from Canberra to the fireside in your club the travel time could be four hours. It places Falls Creek and Hotham only an hour or two behind – not optimal for a two night weekend but not much of an issue over seven, 14 or 21 nights.

Most clubs will want to interview prospective members to ensure that you’re likely to fit in with the club, its members and its ethos. Which is why choosing a place that fits your requirements and then staying as a guest for a week or so over a couple of winters and getting involved in a work party or two is a great way to find out if you’re the right fit for the club.

I suppose I was trying to be a bit facetious. Need to find an emoticon for that. But I was hoping for more specific information. I have already looked through the ski forum before coming to Riotact and appreciate that there is more to ski club membership than merely paying a fee – that’s what hotels etc are for. Never mind. I’ll just keep searching and asking around. Someone will know something at some stage I am sure. Cheers!

Rosebud I don’t understand your comment – you’re saying Clown Killer’s and my advice that ski clubs aren’t something you sashay into, but earn a place in, is negative? Like, community engagement, working bees are a negative or something? I thought the first two comments looked pretty helpful. Just what you didn’t want to hear perhaps …

Yes, yes, all you negative nellies. Whatever happened to the kinder, sweeter Riotact we were all promised? I hear plenty of snortling and undergraduate type chortling, but where’s the helpful advice?

rosebud said :

Falls Creek is a bit far isn’t it? Isn’t the beauty of someplace like Charlotte’s Pass that it is so close to Canberra but still ski in-out? Any recomendations for good clubs there I could try and schmooze?

Schmoozing won’t help – they’ll look for track record on participation & heft.

Falls Creek is a bit far isn’t it? Isn’t the beauty of someplace like Charlotte’s Pass that it is so close to Canberra but still ski in-out? Any recomendations for good clubs there I could try and schmooze?

Oh dear, the membership of the ski lodge is due. It’s so hard to find good help thesedays and a mechanic for the Lamborghini!