Summer of 1962/63

Several new developments for the ACC

We have skipped about ten years of history that will be covered in future installments on this AAC Webpage. Over the 1962/63 summer, the Ski Tourers Association changed its name to the Australian Alpine Club as it extended its area of operations to include the Victorian Ski Fields. Two new lodges were planned to be built ready for opening on the Queens Birthday Public Holiday weekend in June 1963. One was Perisher Huette and the other was the Falls Creek Huette. Whilst all the necessary permits for Perisher Huette had been obtained during the 1962 winter, the possibility of obtaining a site at Falls Creek only became a reality in December 1962 and the necessary approvals were only granted at the end of February 1963 by the SECV (then the administrators of the Kiewa Valley and Falls Creek Area).

Construction of the Falls Creek Huette in Autumn 1963

Work on prefabricating the walls commenced in Melbourne at the start of March 1963. Digging of the foundation trenches commenced on site on 19 March. There was the potential for a rerun of the "Save Albina" workparties at the Falls Creek Huette, when the first snow fell on 20 March 1963. Fortunately the site was not buried under snow for long, although the deep mud that developed once the lock-up stage was reached on Anzac Weekend, meant that every sheet of plaster, every fitting and every piece of furniture had to be manhandled to the lodge from the main road. The Huette did open on the 1963 Queens Birthday Holiday weekend. The first Falls Creek Huette had 14 beds in the bedrooms and an overflow area that could accommodate 6 more persons. It served the club very well until it was sold in 1971 and a much larger lodge was built on another site closer to the ski lifts.

The Falls Creek Huette Opened on the Queen’s Birthday Holiday Weekend 1963