2017 President’s Report

 

COMMITTEE REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2017

The following report with respect to the profit of the Association for the financial year ended 31st December 2017 and the state of the Association’s affairs at that date is made in accordance with a resolution of the Committee.

The names of the Committee in office at the date of the report are:

Committee

Yngve Amundsen, Kate Andrews, Fiona Bunting, Peter Bunting, Paul Burgess, Carl Groom, Danielle Halvorsen, Niel Halvorsen, Peta Howe, Pernille Jensen, Kari Svensen, Rolf Svensen

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The principal activities of the Association in the course of the 2017 financial year have been as the providers of accommodation for the encouragement, development and promotion of snow sports, ski touring and other athletic sports.
2017 marked the 66th year of the Club’s operation, the club continues to be in a strong financial position with motived members ensuring the club is well run and the lodges are well maintained.
This year’s winter season was in all respects a good one and we observed strong bookings on the back of the past year’s bookings. It is no doubt the effect a good season has on the next year’s bookings. The overall income from bookings was on par with the previous year at $88,895, this year’s total revenue was $106,344 compared to the 2016 booking revenue of $112,945. The slight drop in total revenue was mainly due to a drop-in market interest rates available for our cash term deposits. The overall profit for the year was -$20,584 compared to the previous year of $20,646. The main reason for this was that we picked up a portion of the T1 renovation costs in this period. Over the past two years we have seen a slight drop in bookings revenue and profit due to more members are actively making bookings and staying in the lodges more than previous years. We see this is a growing trend and in the main can only be positive as members are using the lodge and getting the most from their membership. It is important for us to be aware that an important part of our revenue stream does come from non-members, either having made independent bookings or coming with members. These non-member bookings can have a significant positive impact on

the overall revenue and profitability of the club. Non-winter bookings are comparatively low and should be encouraged to ensure better across the year occupancy rates are achieved. This potential higher utilization of the lodges in the non-winter period will become an important offset for the drop-in winter revenue. As we all know the mountains are special anytime of the year and can include just relaxing or a variety of activities such as walking, fishing and mountain biking. We are also seeing a positive trend for events up in the mountains supported by the Vail Group this potentially enhance out of prime season visits. A special thanks to Fiona Bunting for doing another fabulous job of handling the demanding job of being the Booking Officer and all the other jobs undertaken.
The renovation of the bathrooms in T1 and relocation of the sauna has been completed. The brief was to create a space that has more showers and toilets and is a space that people that have less mobility could easily use, whilst still retaining a Scandinavian design which complements the rest of the lodge. The design and construction quality has met this brief well. We had to go through a complex DA process which included heritage issues and building challenges like asbestos removal. A big thanks must go to the design team for volunteering their time and skill to the task and the Project Construction Manager. The design Team consisted of Jessica Halvorsen, Peta Howe, Tom Bunting and the Project Construction Manager was Paul Burgess. A job well done that members will enjoy for generations to come.

The Telemark Website had improvements made to it during 2017 to improve the look and feel of it. The site continues to be an important source of information. All relevant information in available on the site from current bookings and available dates, the working bee schedules, key contacts, interesting articles, links to other sites, photos, booking rules etc. Traffic on the site is still relatively low and we encourage more people to contribute content to the site to ensure it remains fresh.
During 2017 several working bees took place and many important maintenance jobs were achieved ensuring the huts are well maintained and ready for the winter season. The start of the T1 renovation towards the end of 2017 and into 2018 meant that the working bee schedule and volume of people had to change as T1 could not be used. It became a situation of many smaller working groups going up which have done a great job. A special thanks to Paul, Rolf and Pete for being instrumental in the critical maintenance activities and a big thanks to the volunteers.
The club continues to be in a strong financial position with a current cash reserve of $364,944. Moving into 2018 with the T1 renovation completed and costs picked up we still have in excess of $300,000 in cash reserves. This puts the club in an excellent position to deal with any potential poor seasons, ongoing maintenance programs and any improvement needs in the future.
There were no new members in 2017. There were 2 memberships cancelled due to long term non payment.

There was one member resignation in 2017.

In general, we continue to be weak in completing hut reports after a stay in the huts. Completion of the hut reports and feeding them back so we can replace or fix things is critical for the ongoing upkeep of the huts and making sure the next visitors have a good stay. We changed a few processes to hopefully get better compliance to this important process.

Members and friends staying at the huts have been actively recording their sporting activities and achievements. The basis of the club’s registration is to promote snow sports; ski touring and other athletic sports, please keep up the good work in participating and recording these activities as we need these captured. Thank you Sonja Sim for the ongoing awareness campaigns and collating our achievements.
I would like to thank all the office bearers, Committee and all the wonderful people that volunteer their time to make this great club what it is today.

Yngve Amundsen
President