Falls Creek Week FAQ
What is this event about?
Falls Creek village is a great place to stay, if you can get accommodation in winter! In September temperatures start to warm up, and there are fewer snowfalls so cross country skiing becomes even more attractive.
Based at the Australian Alpine Club access to the extensive network groomed cross-country trails is easy via the Aqueduct trail, almost from the back door of the lodge. The same trail can be used to make your way to the backcountry expanses of the Bogong High Plains, with a number of high Victorian peaks also within range of a day ski for properly equipped skiers with metal-edged touring skis.
The Australian Alpine Club lodge is situated close the Village Bowl. This provides easy access to the lifts that serve the black-rated summit runs. Perhaps more likely for cross country skiers, a cruise down the village roads will provide access to the lifts that serve the less steep runs in Sun Valley, which are well-suited for telemark skiing enthusiasts.
What activities happen?
As is often the case for Melbourne Nordic weekends, participants tend to plan their activities in discussion with each other, often over a relaxed breakfast or dinner in the lodge. The excellent network of groomed XC trails at Falls Creek is easily accessed from the lodge. There are trails for all abilities.
Beyond the trail network - either over the dam wall via the Nordic Bowl, or by skiing out from Sun Valley, or by skiing up Mackay Road beyond the downhill boundary ropes - there are the Bogong High Plains, endless kilometers of backcountry skiing. This is best tackled by skiers of intermediate and above ability, on touring skis, in a group, in fine weather.
Of course Falls Creek also has great lifted runs for telemark enthusiasts as noted before.
How do I get there?
AAC Falls Creek is ideally situated at the entrance to the village bowl, right next to the renowned Falls Creek Hotel. (21 Falls Creek Rd). Explore the AAC website for more information, including a map at https://aacfallscreek.com/lodge/location.html
Or the google map can be found at AAC on Google Maps
The Australian Alpine Club (AAC) lodge can be accessed from the Village Bowl by walking down Falls Creek Road. The Bowl is accessible via the Gully chairlift. Alternatively you could walk up through the village roads and shuttle your luggage from your car temporarily parked on the main High Plains road. If you are taking your car, the best option is to pay for your parking online in advance at:
Falls creek Parking
That way, you can just drive in and park (the resort will check your number plates). Here's how parking works when staying at AAC:
- First park near the accommodation transfer service to unload your gear. You need to carry your gear up through the village roads or buy accommodation transfer service tickets and wait for the next oversnow vehicle to take you to AAC lodge. (see map). There may be parking limits for unloading.
- Then drive your car to the entry staff who will direct you where to park (best option is up towards Windy Corner - you may have to look for your own spot and / or dig your way into a spot if there has been a lot of snow recently. Otherwise you may be directed to park down the HP road following a shuttle bus, returning without car on the shuttle bus.
- Then of course you will have to get yourself back to the lodge from the main road.
There is a free village shuttle service that can be useful as a way to get to Windy Corner quickly, where ski hire, coffee and refreshments can be obtained, and shelter toilets and a lunch room is available.
Wheel chains are mandatory when driving to Falls Creek (and due to the altitude of the road, there is a moderate chance you will have to fit them).
If you travel to Falls Creek by bus, you will be dropped at the accommodation transfer building by default, but you may be able to unload at the Gully chairlift..
There are two ways to access the cross country trail network which starts at Windy Corner but has trails going as far as the Pretty Valley pondage via Mackay Road (past Mount Mackay), or the far end of the Sun Valley lifts / runs (the base of Ruined Castle), or the far end of the Rocky Valley Dam before turning off to climb up to the High Plains on the way to Mount Nelse. Or you might want to continue along High Plains Road to Wallace's Hut for a backcountry exploration.
- You can take the shuttle bus from the accommodation transfer terminus (or base of the Gully chairlift??).to Windy Corner.
- You can ski along the aqueduct which runs behind (i.e. above) the village, by climbing slightly uphill along village roads from the AAC lodge until you find an entry onto the trail. This trail goes directly to the Nordic Bowl and skips Windy Corner altogether.
What is Provided?
The Australian Alpine Club lodge supplies linen, towels, doonas and pillows. Sleeping bags are not needed. Continental breakfast is supplied, but apart from that this event is self catering in the fully equipped lodge kitchen, so you need to bring your food for the weekend. Food should be placed in the cupboards, fridge and freezer allocated to your room. More information can be found at https://aacfallscreek.com/lodge/kitchen.html.
What if I need to hire ski gear?
The shelter at Windy Corner hires cross country gear and time will need to be allocated to get there from our accommodation and to be fitted. By contrast there are numerous places that will hire downhill gear within the village itself.
Hiring off-mountain is also possible at various locations along the road (Myrtleford, Ovens, Bright, Harrietville) or you can even hire gear in Melbourne. The advantage of hiring at Falls Creek is that if you have any issues with the gear, you can take it back and change it quickly. For this reason, we recommend that beginners hire on mountain.
