AGM President Report 2025- Kris Graham
AGM 19th March 2026
Welcome everyone to the 2025 AGM for Kunapipi Ski Club. Thank you for being a valued member and for joining our annual AGM where members can hear about the past year, plans for the following year, and have an opportunity to share your ideas and visions for our club.
I want to start with an acknowledgement of all the work that our members contribute to the club’s success. We are a volunteer driven club and require an active and involved membership to maintain our lodge facilities. Volunteering requires making sacrifices and sometimes goes unseen. Our members and board are the best. Many pitch in countless hours and in a myriad of ways to ensure the club can deliver on its vision. That being said, we are in need of more members to support our work. We recently welcomed Warwick Burton, and would like to thank him for his ongoing support with our email systems. As we continue to grow as a club, and modernise our ways of working, we are still seeking another member to join the Board of Directors. While the position is in a volunteer capacity, we offer the full waiver of your annual levies in exchange for the time given to the club each month. We are hopefully looking for someone who is skilled in tech to assist us with a range of initiatives, including modernisation of our communication strategy. If you are interested or know of someone who may be, please come and chat to us after.
Facebook has proven to be a very successful and popular means of communication both with our members and an interactive community for our members amongst each other. Updates on news, upcoming events and booking availability have been regularly posted, and we hope with the help of a young member we can grow this online space. We currently have 168 followers and encourage members to join and follow the Club Facebook Group.
This year we have developed and documented the Roles and Responsibilities for each board position.
This is to ensure each board member acknowledges their responsibilities and recognises their commitment to act for members with honesty, integrity, collegiality, and care. These are all aimed at
strengthening Board governance and documenting responsibilities for succession planning.
Looking forward, representation of our young members continues to be a priority – and maintaining a generational community remains at the heart of our lodge. We recognise that many of our young
members, whom most have gained a membership through family transfers – are at a stage of life where they are not in the position to use the lodge for a variety of reasons. Kunapipi remains focused
on protecting the future of our lodge culture with generational members and would like to propose a strategy to allow those to ‘hold’ their memberships until they are able to participate as a full member
– without having to relinquish or transfer their membership. This would mean annual membership levies will be suspended for a select period, however would continue to have access to stay in the lodge at guest rates. The board is currently drafting this proposal, and we are open to further
discussions regarding this.
Vail General Manager for Perisher, Nathan Butterworth spoke at the Slopes AGM last November, giving an update on the resort’s operations. He spoke of the success of the new Mt Perisher 6 Chair during the previous season and how they look to assist the movement of skiers across all parts of the mountain away from the front valley. Nathan also spoke to the restructures of his executive team, and how they plan to look after various areas of the Perisher operations. Looking ahead, Perisher is developing a lift with prams and wheelchair access in the centre as well as improving the food and beverage experience. Additionally, the customer arrival plans are in place to improve parking, ticketing and rental opportunities for guests. We look forward to seeing how this develops in the new season.
Club Highlights
This year we welcome new members to the Kunapipi community. Please welcome Peter Krause, Edward Goyer, Stephen Lye, Sara Della Marta and Louise Duff.
There are further memberships available, due to current members wishing to transfer. If you know of guests who have previously stayed in the lodge, or friends who may be interested in a membership,
please contact the board email and Steve Hood will be in touch.
The 2025 ski season was better than the previous year, and we had great occupancy throughout the season. It was also wonderful to see the lodge being used during the ‘off season’, including the
2025/2026 Christmas and New Year Holiday season. Perisher Valley offers a fantastic summer experience. We have some regular summer bookings but there is still ample availability for members.
While the large majority of our members show great respect to our lodge and community, there are few things we need to raise in order to ensure our members continue to feel safe, comfortable and
respected at Kunapipi. It is important that all guests complete the lodge hut captains book, even if you are there for one or two nights. We have also updated a checklist for all members and guests on the requirements of how the lodge must be left on departure. Unfortunately we have had quite a number of members not complying to the lodge Code of Conduct, and not completing the expected tasks during their stay. Please note that if a member continues to inadequately comply with the lodge Code of Conduct, their membership and access to Kunapipi may be at risk.
Additionally, Kunapipi is a family friendly accommodation with shared living spaces. All members are welcome to book if there are vacancies. If you or your group would like the lodge to yourselves you
will need to book the full capacity of the lodge. All living spaces are to be shared amongst ALL members and guests staying in the lodge, and it is a requirement that all rooms, garbage, fridges and freezers are to be emptied upon departure. Restocking the firewood and bathroom supplies ensures
that members have the amenities they need.
The club’s finances remain in a strong position and our Treasurer, Ian will update you in detail shortly.
The board and I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Ian and we sincerely appreciate Ian’s sharp focus to always ensure the club meets its financial obligations while allowing
us to spend on necessary upgrades to the lodge facilities.
It is important to remember that the general cost of running the Club continues to increase year-on-year and we rely on membership fees and accommodation charges to cover this increase.
Whilst our lodge is generally in great shape, it has been several years since any substantial maintenance and capital works have been conducted. Large cost items such as carpet, whole of lodge painting or larger capital works will need to be considered over the coming year/s to ensure our lodge remains in a condition we, as members expect. A long range maintenance plan is being developed by the board and Ian and Mike are coordinating the works and finances.
While costs, which are largely outside of our control including those from the National Parks, as well as our rent and insurance continuing to rise, we are mindful of the impact on our members.
Hence we left annual subs and accommodation unchanged in 2025. Ian will address a modest increase in accommodation rates for 2026. Our research indicates that our accommodation rates are still very competitive with other lodges and substantially cheaper than accommodation available to the general public. We hope this is appreciated by members.
Some critical upgrades were required at the lodge for the upcoming ski season, after extensive investigations, discussions and deliberations by the board. New stove tops and range hoods were installed last week. A big “thank you” to the members that provided feedback at last year’s AGM
voting for what you saw as a priority. Other updates include new external doors, doona covers in all the bedrooms, a top up of wine glasses and coffee cups, lasagne dishes, an electric pizza oven, new carpet nosing strips for the stairs, replacement of a new toaster and sandwich press, and many more
small kitchen items.
Work Parties continue to be an important and necessary key activity to keep our lodge in top shape while limiting costs to the club. It is the foundation on which the Club was built with our community of members giving back. The work party weekends are not just all about work and are wonderfully hosted by our Hut Manager Mike; it’s an opportunity for members to meet and enjoy good company fireside on a Saturday night. An email was sent out last month to register for upcoming Autumn work parties, or please let us know this evening.
It has been no secret that I have a keen interest in Snowsports and Interschools racing and was eager to see many past NSW and Australian Interschoolers competing in the recent Winter Olympics and Paralympics. We encourage the ongoing participation by our members’ children in the NSW Interschool Championships and encourage other members to join the interclub competitions, such as The Perisher Cup. We are, after all, a Snowsports Club that exists to promote the sport for our members and since the changes in 2024 from the ATO, we need an increased focus on the tax exemption for sporting organisations. It is the Board’s focus on our constitution, rules and activities that remain relevant and consistent with the tax rules. Participating in competitions and our recent hosting of a large walking group directly supports this.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who volunteers their time to support the club. It is the dedication of so many individuals that ensures the smooth running of our operations. Special thanks go to those who have attended last year’s work parties, as our lodge remains in excellent condition, admired by other clubs that struggle to keep up with their maintenance. Thanks also to the Board for their ongoing time and commitment.
We appreciate everyone’s attendance tonight. I look forward to the opportunity to enjoy our lodge this year during another great winter season! On behalf of your Directors, I look forward to responding to your comments and queries. Stay Safe on your way to the mountain, and Here’s to a great Ski Season Ahead!
Kris Graham
President