The original lodge was a German prefabricated hut used in Norway during WWII. Following the war it was dismantled, and brought out to Australia for the building of Guthega Power Station as worker accommodation in conjenction with the Snowy Mountain Scheme in the early 1950’s. In the summer of 1957/58 the hut was moved and rebuilt in Thredbo by the Skiers Tourers Association and called Roslyn Lodge. In 1962 the Association changed its name to Australian Alpine Club (AAC). In the early 1970’s the members decided Roslyn Lodge was too small for their purposes, so they secured land across the road with the purpose of building a larger lodge. They subsequently put Roslyn Lodge on the market.
At this time 3 gentlemen from Canberra who where ski enthusiasts became interested in forming a ski club and purchasing a lodge in Thredbo or Perisher – Barry Griffiths, Peter Lawler and John Purnell. They were joined by a 4th gentleman who had a law practice in Sydney, George George.
They looked at numerous lodges for sale and narrowed it down to Roslyn Lodge after being contacted by the AAC in 1972. In process 35 debentures were advertised and sold. A club was formed and named Hi Noon, being incorporated on 2nd November 1973. After prolonged negotiations Roslyn Lodge was bought from the AAC in 1974 for $42,000 after almost losing to another potential buyer who had upped their price. The sale of Roslyn Lodge to Hi Noon Ski Club was completed on 17th January 1974 and the AAC started building their new Roslyn Lodge further down the road (they retained the rights to that name).
The first management committee of Hi Noon Ski Club consisted of Peter Lawler (Pres), Barry Griffiths, Peter Field, John Purnell, George George and Ed Aitken.
By the early 1990’s the building had been used as a ski lodge for around 35 years and was showing signs of serious decay and was looked upon as a fire hazard. Options were discussed and at the Annual General Meeting in 1993 it was decided that the memberships be increased to 110 by issuing each of existing 35 members with 2 memberships and selling another 40 memberships for no less than $10,000 per membership. It was also decided the members would commit to the rebuilding of the lodge and under write the cost.
The lodge was rebuilt in 1994-95 incorporating as much of the old building as possible. Examples of this can be seen in different areas of the lodge. In the lounge room the ‘feature wall’ is the ex-ceiling “packing crates” timber from the old lodge and the large storage boxes in the bedrooms are made up from the Baltic pine floor boards. The light fittings in the dining room and wall brackets in the small lounge are the original. Two of the light fittings in the lounge are replicas of the old lodge lights and were made by Peter Noakes (Young, NSW). The old chairs in the bedrooms were made by Rudi Schatzle and tradesmen in the 1950’s.
Throughout the current lodge there are many examples of our past history. The lodge has continued the tradition of providing a warm and inviting environment where members and their guests can look forward to their stay and many visits going forward.