Lake Albina Lodge was the first AAC Project

Construction of the lodge commenced in the 1950/1951 summer

Building a lodge above Lake Albina, to facilitate skiing in this area, became the first project of the newly formed Ski Tourers Association. Its inaugural meeting,chaired by Charles Anton, was held in Sydney on 10 November 1950.It was decided that a pre-fabricated hut, such as those then being used by the Snowy Mountains Authority, would best suit the remote, isolated location at Lake Albina (altitude 2 km above sea level).

The Kosciusko Park Trust promised, and gave, very substantial support, particularly with the stone-work of the basement and in transporting materials to the site from the roadhead at Seaman's Hut.

Photo No. 7 shows the timber for the basement and the main floor being unloaded at the lodge site.

Blizzards delayed construction in March and, by 20 April 1951, the site was under snow. The basement and floor had been completed, but the remainder of the building materials somewhere under the snow, where they would soon be crushed. A "Save Albina" workparty was organised. On 21 April the members skied from Seaman's Hut to the site and dug around to locate the building materials.

Photo No. 8 shows the Park Trust's stonemason at work on the basement walls.

Photo No. 9 taken on 22 April, shows that much of the building materials had been uncovered and that the end wall of the lodge had been stood up. The following photos (Nos. 10 to 12) shows the daily progress until the lodge had been sealed against snow ingress.

Lake Albina Lodge had been saved and was open for business for the Winter of 1951, even if the plumbing was a bit Spartan that year.

Best View from any Hut in the Australian Alps!

Photo No. 14, the view, from one of the Living Room windows of the Lake Albina Lodge, helps to explain why visitors to the Lodge returned often.

The construction of the Lake Albina Lodge opened the tops and western faces of the Kosciusko Main Range, so that they could be safely skied without the long trek to and from the Chalet, Charlottes Pass.

Photo No. 15, taken from the Townsend Spur above the lodge, gives a good view of some of the magnificent ski territory made accessible to skiers and ski tourers by the lodge.

Albina provided accommodation and shelter for all skiers using the area and many parties were glad of the shelter the lodge provided in sudden storms or when the area had been enveloped in fog.
Lost skiers have found their way to the lodge after dark by heading for its lights, since the lodge was usually occupied for the entire snow season.

A typical group of very happy skiers at Albina can be seen on its balcony in Photo No. 16.