About Kongoola

Welcome To Kongoola Ski Club

Welcome to our family-friendly ski club, located in the pristine Davenport Village at Mt Hotham Alpine Resort. Run by members, we welcome visitors to our lodge to share its comfortable facilities as well as its relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

If you are looking for very comfortable accommodation at Mt Hotham, Kongoola provides affordable self-catering and “clean-as-you-go” ski-lodge accommodation, with breathtaking views.

Kongoola’s Principles

To promote and encourage participation in snow sport and associated activities, to promote Membership in the Club, to develop and expand skiing and snow sporting facilities in line with future growth within the sport
To encourage Members to pursue related alpine activities, such as bush walking, camping, etc
To encourage and train younger Members and Members children in the above mentioned activities
To function as a non-profit, social and recreational organisation.

Kongoola ski lodge was built in the 1970s by its members

Maintaining a strong connection with our past, today, Kongoola continues to focus on providing warm and inviting, family-friendly shared accommodation at affordable prices.

Built on a love of the mountains

Conceived, designed and built, quite literally, by its members, Kongoola Ski Club was founded in family, friendship and a love for the mountains.

Growing out of the lunch-time conversations of a group of colleagues at Repco Clutch Company, the initial ‘Exploratory Meeting’ of the club was called by Ken Corcoran in November 1971.

This first meeting was quickly followed by a more formal meeting in the Repco canteen, and progressed through fundraisers (the first at Max Payne’s Box Hill home), to sub-committees, to winery functions, to the first Annual General Meeting of Repco Ski Club on 16th March 1973.

By the following summer, a group including Ian Mayer and the McMeeken family had progressed to actively assessing opportunities. By the time of the Club’s second AGM in March 1974, an application to lease the Club’s current site at Mt Hotham was actioned …and in October 1974, the lease to Allotment 2, Section 2, Parish of Yertoo was granted.

Throughout 1975 planning for the new lodge evolved, an architect was engaged to prepare plans and Members Trevor and Roberta Rees brought their own professional architectural skills to design the lodge’s interior. Reflecting the wider nature of the group, a name change was proposed, first to Arribri (which was found to be already claimed) and then to Kongoola – a First Nations name for mountain.

By the weekend of December 1975, the Kongoola Ski Club was ready for its first concerted on-site activity. Work teams were formed and site-clearing began with the first annual Easter work party marking the beginning of two years of intensive, hands-on work. Members stepped up to contribute their specialist skills, trades and professions …and sheer enthusiasm.

Over the next two years architects, bricklayers, carpenters, electricians and plumbers gave their time and talent to create the lodge… and on the weekend of 25th June 1977, Kongoola Ski Club opened on the mountain.

Now nearly 50 years later, Kongoola Ski Club offers a welcome to Members and guests. Many of the founding members remain active. Some have become social members. And some have moved on. But all have contributed in their own way …not least through the new generations who continue to enjoy and build on their legacy.

Mentioned here are just a few of the names that were vital to the foundation and growth of Kongoola Ski Club. These names live on in the oral history of the club, and we are delighted to record them here for the future.

We welcome every opportunity to add to our historical record. Please get in touch via email on bookings@kongoola.com if you have knowledge of people or events to add to our history.