Welcome to Falls Creek
The first building to be erected in the Falls Creek area was a weather recording hut for the SEC – this was around 1946-1947. Mr and Mrs St Elmo-Beveridge lived in this hut and around 1949 they built a rope tow on the site where the Summit Chair is now situated.
The Skyline Lodge was the first lodge to be built and this was in 1948. In 1949, Bogong Ski Club lodge was built. Mr Tom Mitchell's lodge called Dawn was built that year. It was later called Magpie and has since been pulled down and Rocky Valley Flats now stands on that site. Mr Bob Hymans built a small lodge in 1948/49 called Four Seasons and in 1950 he built a large two-storey lodge called Grand Couer. This lodge accommodated around 60 people. It was burnt down in 1954 and not rebuilt. Mr Hymans also built the first chairlift in Australia at Falls Creek in 1957.
By 1961 the St Elmo's rope tow and Hyman's chair had become unreliable and Alpine Developments Pty Ltd was formed and two lifts, the Summit and Village T-bar were installed. In 1984, Alpine Developments was sold to a new company Falls Creek Ski Lifts P/L. By 1996, the Mount Hotham Skiing Company, through BCR Asset Management, purchased Falls Creek Ski Lifts and continue to trade as Falls Creek Ski Lifts P/L. Falls Creek Australia
I have a feeling before the rope tow was used, a rope around some ru's waist might have been the first tow.( Strictly unofficial )
A patrol friend of mine visited Falls Creek last season and remarked it is a challenge. Don't under estimate the slopes down under!
IF ? I had dug a little deeper into the Fals Creek web site the permission I was seeking was waiting in the "media" files.

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(09/09/2005) – IOC
With six months to go to the Opening Ceremony on March 10th 2006, the Committee for the Organisation of the Paralympic Games is Operational.

– The first meeting of the Board of Directors of the Committee for the Paralympic Games of Torino 2006 (COMPARTO), was held this morning at the TOROC headquarters at Corso Novara 96, in Torino; the committee was formed last July 28th.
Members of the COMPARTO Board are: the president Tiziana Nasi, director Dario Fabbro, general secretary Giuseppe Ferrari, accountant Mario Montalcini, councillor of the Piemonte Region Giuliana Manica, councillor of the Province of Torino Patrizia Bugnano, councillor for the City of Torino Renato Montabone, TOROC CEO Cesare Vaciago, deputy CEO Luciano Barra and director of Games planning and of relations with the IOC and IPC Angelo Paris.

COMPARTO will handle the organisation of the IX Paralympic Winter Games, which will be held in Torino and in the Olympic Valleys from the 7th to the 19th of March 2006, following the Olympic Games. The Committee has the backing of the government, and financial coverage is guaranteed by Sviluppo Italia. It will also have the full collaboration of the other TOROC departments for the supply of services.

“COMPARTO – declared President Tiziana Nasi – will continue to work with passion, as it has done in these past years within TOROC, to organise an excellent edition of the Paralympic Winter Games, and to bring disabled sports to the attention of Italy and of the world".

One of COMPARTO’s first tasks is the organisation of the International Ice Sledge Hockey Tournament, scheduled from the 4th to the 6th of November at Torino Esposizioni. The tournament is part of the Sport Event programme of Torino Ice 2005 and it will see the participation of five teams: Great Britain, Estonia, the Czech Republic, South Korea and Italy.

TOROC Media Relations - International Desk
Mary Villa
- www.torino2006.org

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Updates on U.S. Teams

ALPINE
Men – Strong three-week tech camp in New Zealand with DHer Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) back on snow, free skiing and getting mileage before heading to this month’s speed camp in Chile. Of note: Worlds bronze medalist Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) high-speed in GS.
Women – Plenty of snow in Chile for speed camp with Kirsten Clark (Raymond, ME) showing aggressive, dynamic form from pre-Jan. ’04 crash. Tech group is training in New Zealand.

WORLD CHAMP NATE ROBERTS READY TO CHECK OFF NEXT GOAL: OLYMPIC GAMES

Moguls skier Nate Roberts (Park City, UT) became the first American man to become moguls world champion last March when he took gold at the 2005 World Championships in Ruka, Finland. He emerged on the World Cup tour during the 2004 season with his first victory; his signature move is a straight-legged backflip (in contrast to other competitors who bend their knees at takeoff on a moguls jump). He took time before an on-snow training camp - which ends in mid-September in El Colorado, Chile - to discuss his win and the upcoming Olympic season.

SNOWBOARD
U.S. alpine riders have been equipment testing plus attended a tactics and technique camp at Copper Mountain, while halfpipe and snowboardcross riders hit the slopes for camp in Mammoth. Freestyle riders focused on new techniques at camp in New Zealand where Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT) and Keir Dillon (Carlsbad, CA) took top honors at the Middle Earth Superpipe Championships.
Courtesy of US Ski Snowboard Assn.