Overview and FAQ’s for Donner Lake ski lease, Winter 2009-10

Overview

The shared winter lease is for the Hann Cabin on Donner Lake. It covers the five-month period from Dec 1, 2009 until April 30, 2010.

Located on Donner Pass Road, the cabin is on the northeast shore of Donner Lake, adjacent of Donner State Park, and about a mile west of the town of Truckee. It belongs to Helen and Jay Hann of Piedmont, CA. The cabin consists of three separate but attached living areas; the main unit on the lower, lakefront level (Unit 1) and apartments on the street level (Units 3 & 4). Collectively they comprise three kitchens, six bedrooms and six bathrooms. Including two foldout couches in the upstairs units, there are beds for 22. There is also a lake level studio apt situated on the east side of the property (known as the boathouse) that is reserved for Hann family use and not considered part of the winter lease. The lease includes heat, electricity, water, cable TV, high-speed wireless internet, firewood and plowed parking for approx 8 cars.

Background

The cabin has been owned by the Hann family since 1980, and has largely served as a vacation rental in both summer and winter. Winter has usually been as a five-month lease. Beginning in the fall of 2006, we decided to take the winter lease ourselves and organized a group of like-minded folks, mostly families with school-age children, to share the winter lease. We share the lease between a number of individuals including the four Hann brothers.

Policies

The cabin policies are below. Please take a minute to review these. In general, we have had very few problems, and have had success with the notion of having less structure in terms of a strict set of rules. So far (now in its fourth season), things have gone remarkably smoothly.

Cost

The total lease payment this year will be $16K, divided among 16 paying members, one of which is a shared membership. Also included as non-paying members, are the families of the four Hann brothers. This year each partner will pay $1000. We ask for a $500 deposit by August 1 and for a check for the entire amount by December 1. Please address checks to:

Byron Hann

1171 Larch Ave

Moraga, CA 94556.

Keys

Every member will be provided with a key to the front door located at the end of the entry hallway (new this year), and to the garage (this key opens the inside-door to the garage). Inside the garage there are five sets of keys that include keys to each of the three units. Keys are distinguished by red/green/yellow color coding of the three keys. Feel free to hold onto a key set while you are up at the house, but please remember to return these keys to the garage before you leave!

Leaving gear at the cabin:

Cabin members are welcome to leave gear at the cabin. Skis/poles/snowboards can be stored in the garage. Clothes, helmets, boots etc…, can be stored in the laundry room. Everything (including skis and poles) should be clearly labeled. For clothes, duffle bags are a good system. Wet clothes can be left to dry in the laundry room. There are drying racks in both apartments, and a place for parkas in the laundry room. There is also a large collection of x-c ski gear, two pairs of snowshoes, sleds, and numerous saucers that can be used by cabin members. Good places to store duffle bags include the laundry room, the closets and upper cabinets in the master bedroom and closets in units 3 and 4. Please remember to bring home ALL gear at the end of the season. There's also a lost-and-foundbox in the laundry room that is tends to overflow. Please take a look next time you're up. At the end of the season this becomes a community ski clothes basket/goodwill donation.

Calendar/booking/room choice:

Specific dates can be reserved at the cabin by using the online booking system (below). The booking policy is that any one partner can have up to four calendar reservations at one time (a calendar reservation is defined as either a week or weekend for some time in the future). This is to avoid calendar congestion. After one of your reservation dates has passed, you can go ahead and add an additional calendar reservation. We use a google calendar ( for booking space at the cabin Please email Robert Hann () for information on how to set up an account. After you have access, you can go ahead and make bookings (see below for booking suggestions). Note, to maximize cabin usage, book only the NIGHTS that you will be staying over. Do not reserve the day that you depart.

Q: How can you tell when the cabin is fully occupied, and for that matter what IS fully occupied?

A: In the three units (Main House, Apt 3 and Apt 4), there are a combined total of 22 beds (see description below). Although the Google calendar appears to be working well, it seems that the way entries are made can be improved. The following suggestions were made:

1)Indicate how many people will be coming, breaking it down into adults and kids.

2)If you know which particular room or apt you want, please indicate this on your booking. If you don’t mind where you stay, you can decide when you come up (see 5, below)

3)Please remove any bookings as soon as you know that you will not be coming

4)If you want to come up and the cabin is fully booked, you can do two things:

  1. email the ski cabin list to confirm that everyone is still planning to come
  2. just show up, and plan to sleep on the floor, couch, etc

5)We have a dry erase board (on inside door to garage) that can be used to indicate who is sleeping where (for late arrivals to know what’s available, etc…).

6)Even on crowded weekends, additional cabin members are welcome to come up and stay on couches, floors, cupboards, etc…

Food policy

Cabin users should avoid leaving perishable food in the refrigerators. The exception to this is milk/butter where the policy will be that you should/can leave items that will not pass the expiration date before the next group arrives. Any food left up at the cabin will be considered communal. Even non-perishable items, however, can quickly accumulate, and we should strive to keep to a minimum the amount of left food, including frozen food.

Cleaning policy

Cabin users are expected leave the house clean when they leave. This includes doing up dishes, wiping counters, emptying perishables from refrigerators, vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms if necessary, etc…. It was agreed that the dishwasher can be loaded and run when you leave, and the next person can unload it. In general, please leave the cabin as you would like to find it the next time you arrive. Once a month or as needed, there will be a thorough cleaning of the main house and both apartments by a hired service (included in rent). This will include cleaning toilets and showers, vacuuming, etc…

Towels/linens

There are two sets of linens for each bed, and extra towels. The policy for beds/linens/towels is as follows: when you arrive, one set of sheets (clean & folded) will be found on each bed, unmade, and one set (used) will be in a basket in the room (or on the floor near the bed). During your stay, you should wash/dry the dirty set of linen (there are washing machines in main house and in Apt #3 closet). When you leave, beds should be left stripped, with clean folded sheets on the unmade bed. The used linens can be left in a basket in each room for the next user to wash. This way, washing can be done over the course of the weekend, and you will be free to make a fast get-away. Similarly, towels can be washed during the course of your stay. Note: there is a collection of blue and white striped towels provided for the hot-tub, stored in a cupboard/rack in the laundry room.

The partners are responsible for providing all consumables such as toilet paper, dish soap, etc... It was suggested that we try to maintain a policy of buying environmentally friendly products and share the cost among the members. The guest fees will be used to help cover this (see below). Please deposit receipts for any consumables purchased into the guest fee jar for reimbursement from Byron.

Furnace/heaters

Most of the cabin is heated by steam which is generated from a central steam boiler (located in the main house laundry room). Wall mounted heater units are located in most rooms and are designed to be individually adjusted. Note; they should be adjusted empirically, the indicated temp numbers are not always correct. A new heater type has been installed in the Lakefront bedroom, downstairs. It'sa wall mounted steam radiator that we are trying out as an alternative to the fan assisted units. There's a knob on top to turn it on and adjust thermostat (a setting between 1 and 2 provides a comfortable room temperature). Upstairs, additional heat is provided by gas fired pot-belly stoves, located in the two upstairs apts. These are controlled by wall mounted thermostats. PLEASE remember to turn all heaters down to 50 F when you depart.

Finally, feel free to build fires in the main house fireplace. Wood is stored in workshop and outside, on west side of house, accessed through a door at the back of the workshop. Please do not remove ashes from the fireplace; a good bed of ashes helps the fire burn well.

Guest policy

Space available, guests are welcome. There will be a nominal fee of $10/guest per night for all guests aged two and above. The host will be responsible for seeing that this fee is collected. This money will be used to cover costs for consumables, and whatever’s left will be split among the partners. There is a guest book located in the drawer beneath the phone/modem of the main house. Please enter guests that you've had in this book, and if you have paid for them. There's a pocket in the book for checks.

Hot-tub policy

Returning members will notice that the hot tub has been replaced this year. The top folds up towards the fence/boat house. When there has been new snow, the lid can be swept with a broom before opening (please avoid using sharp edged shovels). Push/sweep snow toward the lake and/or back wall. To keep the hot-tub clean, please shower and rinse feet before entering. Upon exiting the Hot Tub, please remember to put a teaspoon of special chlorine in the tub and press the clean button (see instructions posted next to tub). Please observe standard hot tub rules. Kids under 15 are not allowed to use the hot-tub unattended. An adult does not need to be in the hot-tub, but does need to be present. The temperature adjustment control should be operated by a responsible adult (remember, it takes some time for the temperature to respond). Please use hot-tub towels found in laundry room. Hot tub should be left on and covered and jets turned off when you leave, and brooms & snow shovels should be stored upright in a corner of the deck. Hoses, if used, should be disconnected and drained.

Other

There are fire extinguishers in each apt and in the main house. A first aid kit is stored in the laundry room of the main house. Emergency flash lights are provided and located in each unit.

There are two circuit breaker locations. One for the main house kitchen, is located in back of the laundry room. The other is located under the carport on the east side of the house (at street level).

Garbage pick-up is on Mondays. Trash should be bagged and placed in cans inside of bear-proof container located at the side of parking area. Recyclables (mixed paper, metal, glass) need to be bagged in special blue-colored bags (available at Mountain Hardware) and placed in metal bins on side of garbage container.

Description of the cabin layout

The house is divided top to bottom. Downstairs there are four bedrooms and upstairs there are two one-bedroom apartments attached with an internal passage. . The functional sleeping areas are shown in bold. We can use more than the six sleeping areas shown, but it will take some coordination to use the living rooms with sleeper sofas, etc...
Main house (beds for 12)

Entrydown inside stairs on west side of house. Big kitchen, living room, large dining room table. Three bathrooms. Large deck (with Jacuzzi) and outside bbq.
Master Bedroom - off living room and opens to Jacuzzi deck.One king-size bed and small couch.Attached bathroom with tub.
Lakefront Bedroom - Off entry hallway and kitchen.One queen.Shares a bathroom with shower with Hall bedroom.
Hall Bedroom - Off entry hallway and kitchen.One queen bed and one single bed with trundle lined up on one wall and touching.Shares bathroom with shower with Lakefront bedroom.
Bunk Room - Off Laundry / drying room. Four single beds and attached bath with shower. Good for kids
Unit #3 – Upstairs (beds for 6)

Entry at top of stairs.Wood burning stove and small kitchen.Two small baths, each with shower. Connected to Unit #4 by door.
Queen Bedroom - Entry from outside and Unit #3 Living room. One queen bed and one trundle bed (two singles, where one rolls out from under the other). Attached bath with small sink and toilet and shower.Stacked Washer and Dryer in closet.
Unit #3 Living Room – Full size futon couch, small bath with shower.
Unit #4 - Upstairs (beds for 4)

Entry from carport, or via door from Unit #3. Newly remodeled fully equipped kitchen, bathroom with bathtub, thermostatic controlled gas-fired stove.
King Bedroom - King-size bed.
Unit #4 Living Room -Queen-size sleeper sofa.

Other rooms:

Garage (inside entrance at top of stairs); for ski/snowboard and sled storage, x-c boot storage.Big garage door, lockable, can be opened as well.

Workshop (off of laundry room); work bench with ski tuning equipment, waxing iron, etc… There are and an assortment of tools in the workshop. Feel free to use ski tuning vises, but please clean up when you're finished. If you scrape wax, please do so over a trash bin.