Guide For Prospective Membership
GUIDE FOR PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS
A copy of this guide is available for download HERE
The President and Committee would like to take this opportunity to familiarise you with a little of the Club’s history and traditions and also give you some basic guidelines on how the Club lodges operate.
The Club was formed nearly 40 years ago by a band of dedicated enthusiasts, some of whom are still active members. The first Whakapapa lodge was built entirely by Club members and was a magnificent team effort. Unfortunately this lodge burnt down in 1987, but like the Phoenix it has risen again out of the ashes to be the most modern club on the Mountain. NSC has had a presence on the Turoa side of the Mountain from the commencement of the Turoa Ski field, first with an old house in Burns Road and now the Glacier Lodge in the Turoa Alpine- Village. We have two lodges which all Club members can be proud of.
It was decided very early on that the Club would operate as a family Club and that there would NOT be a list of hard and fast boarding-school type rules. People are expected to consider others and treat the Club lodges with the respect they deserve. In light of the above, the Committee would like you to regard the following notes as a guideline to traditional Club etiquette.
Booking Accommodation at the Lodges
Full booking rules are on the website, however some of the key points are:
- Each season your booking rights on the website will be enabled following payment of your annual subscription.
- The website booking engine will not accept a booking request unless your booking account has sufficient funds to cover the booking. Payment into your booking account may be made by direct debit to the clubs bank account, by credit card (via PayPal so a surcharge applies), or by cheque.
- Bookings are not confirmed until you have received Booking Confirmation from the booking officer.
- School holiday bookings have a maximum length of stay of 7 days. Bookings for a full week will be given priority.
- In general members have priority in making and confirming bookings.
- Booking dates cannot be transferred but you can cancel and re-book.
- There is strict enforcement by the Dept of Conservation to the maximum of 32 people at Whakapapa and so the Club is not permitted to double bunk small children or consenting adults.
- TVs, videos, DVDs, TV games and computer games are not permitted in the lodges with the exception of the custodian at Whakapapa who is permitted to have a TV in his/her room and a laptop computer for work purposes.
- Bookings are managed by the Booking Officer, who is extremely hard working and does a tremendous job for the Club. Please make their job easier by being pleasant, patient and understanding. Telephone calls are for enquiries only; the actual booking must be made via the website. Please also observe the times of telephoning the Booking Officer.
Staying at the Lodges
The club employs custodians at each lodge to undertake the cooking of breakfast and dinners (school holidays only at Ohakune) and the cost of this is included in the nightly tariff. The custodian is responsible for cooking and general food management only – club members are required to perform basic daily duties including cleaning and food preparation.
The duties are not onerous and a Lodge Officer is appointed to attend to the on the spot running of the Club while the lodges are open. He/she will be a senior Club member and will attend to the writing up of the duty roster. It is required that each member completes their duties and it is your responsibility to make sure that you carry out the duties allocated to you.
We have wonderful facilities and we are proud of them. In the interests of comfort and co-operation, we would ask that you observe the following simple guide to etiquette.
- Smoking is totally prohibited in the lodges and the perimeter surrounding the lodges remains a smoke free environment
- If you intend to eat out please inform the Lodge Officer in plenty of time. There is no refund for meals that are not eaten at the Lodge.
- It is permissible to invite a guest for dinner, but before doing so please check with the Lodge Officer & if OK make the appropriate payment (currently $10.00).
- Lunch is only cooked by the custodian if the ski field is closed. On other days the custodian will put out leftovers & basic sandwich ingredients which members can use to prepare lunches to take up the mountain. Luncheon guests on a wet day also require Lodge Officer's approval and payment.
- If you make yourself tea or coffee please clean up afterwards.
- Please keep your bunk and gear reasonably tidy. If you have children with you, ensure that they do the same.
- Please keep music to a moderate level, as your taste may not be appreciated by all.
- Telephone usage should be kept to a minimum. Parents please remind your teenagers of this. Lodge Officers are the only persons permitted to charge toll calls to the Club.
- Arriving at the Lodges without having pre-booked and paid is totally unacceptable, but in exceptional circumstances the Lodge Officer may at his/her discretion accept your staying at the Lodge provided you, at your own expense, phone the Booking Officer to check if a vacancy exists. If you are booked in, payment must be made at that time. Please note that this causes extra work for the Booking and Lodge Officers and may only be used in extreme circumstances.
- Non-members must be accompanied by a member for the full duration of their stay.
- We do not accept bookings for the children of non-members who are under the age of five years.
- Lodge Officers will be most willing to answer any queries you may have. Please feel free to ask them anything you are not sure of.
Rates and fees
Note: Age classifications are applied as at Jan 1st.
Key club contacts
President
Geoff Philson
m. 021 931-139
Vice President
Julie Garlick
m. 021 311 221
e. vpresident@ngauruhoeskiclub.org.nz