 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
@Perty, he is very polite. But doesn't believe in b.s., so will have meant it. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
| rjs wrote: |
| Perty wrote: |
| I worked with 2 Aussie brothers who, for reasons I think to do with lack of EU acceptable NI numbers, were required to be a little less visible. |
I was once told that there was a gentlemen's agreement that Australians could work in the 3V but not anywhere else. |
Not sure about that. When I worked for Crystal in Courchevel in 1996, we just used to get the Aussies to hide when they came round to check our carte sejours!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
@Perty, We had a lovely time. Both of the kids were ill during the trip, which is bizarre for those 2. a strange illness that came in waves. I will never forget Tom in the La Masse Gondola, crowded, looked green and looked up and said "I think I'm going to be sick". Instantly this little 10 yr old had a 4ft exclusion zone around him as everyone tried to put as much distance between him as possible. We also had a wave hit him in the base station in 1650. We got lifts up and down all the way, only having to ski Allemands and Boyes to get home. We were with 2 friends and their 2 girls who were slightly older than us and I knew the area, so didn't use the hosting, as far as I recall. Our female friend was petrified of chairlifts and we didn't want to burden you. There was a very strange father and son combination in the chalet that week who lived 5 miles from us.in the UK, he was a piano tuner! It was the week after new year and a 5 night holiday only. I'm boring you now
We left Josh in the chalet on his own that day, he was only 12  , but phoned him every 30 mins and called back at lunch (selfish barstewards), but after dinner he started struggling to breath. I remember us all debating about what to do, and then he changed and I ran upstairs and explained quite clearly and forcefully that an ambulance was required immediately. I thought he was going to die, fighting for breath, turning blue, but just as the Pompiers arrived, he managed a cough and what seemed like an organ flew out, and he started to improve. The ladies were very impressed by the handsome The Pompiers. Doctor friend us told us afterwards that he would have become unconscious, the trachea would have relaxed and he would have been fine. Can't say I would have relished that. I could write a book on our chalet holidays with the kids and our crazy gang of friends
We were hugely impressed by the company, chalet and staff and brought a crowd back in Easter 2007, every bed full, even the one off the kitchen with a pull out toilet (most bizarre). A great bunch @Perty, thank you. Sorry for the ramble, but we had some extraordinary memories on our 2 holidays there.
@Hurtle, xxoo
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
@Frosty the Snowman, God, what a nightmare. I've never heard of a trachea seizing up like that. I can't imagine anything more scary for the child or the parents. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
A couple of mates and I stayed in La Plagne with Silverski in 2010. The airline managed to leave everybody on the planes ski luggage behind at Gatwick - by the time the we got to the desk to fill out the paperwork, then next plane had arrived with all the gear on, so that worked out. Had a great time, food was fine and the staff very friendly, although the 3 of us were sardined into a broom cupboard with an en suite bathroom which was so tiny you couldn't stand up in the shower.
Was a weird one on that trip - we were late getting out one morning and a random guy walks in, goes into the kitchen and starts helping himself to eggs. We queried him and he was a guest at another chalet (with Silverski) and had been at our chalet earlier in the season. He remembered the door code and when their current chalet had run out of eggs for breakfast, thought he'd just come to ours and check if we had some spare off his own back! Apparently this guy had been scalping eggs for the previous week too. We had a word with the staff, who very rapidly changed the code to the door and had been wondering where all the eggs had been going.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Perty, he was soooo odd.
So odd in fact that I asked around about him when we got home. A real cupboard full of skeletons apparently.
Just chatting to the Boss about the fact you remembered the Piano Tuner. She's howling with laughter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
| iainm wrote: |
| rjs wrote: |
| Perty wrote: |
| I worked with 2 Aussie brothers who, for reasons I think to do with lack of EU acceptable NI numbers, were required to be a little less visible. |
I was once told that there was a gentlemen's agreement that Australians could work in the 3V but not anywhere else. |
Not sure about that. When I worked for Crystal in Courchevel in 1996, we just used to get the Aussies to hide when they came round to check our carte sejours! |
We had similar 96/97 at the Rond Point in Meribel. The police popped in the day before the random check to warn us - we swapped the shifts around & had the Aussies and Kiwis out skiing on the day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unfortunatly Silver Ski did not treat their guests who had paid for holidays in the last two months of the season well when covid struck. They told everyone that they would not be refunding anyone and that we should claim on our insurance. This is despite the fact that under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements regulations of 2018 they should have refunded all money within 14 days. Insurance companies rightly refused the claims as SS were responsible for refunding. Worse still SS got refunds on the flights from Jet2 but did not pass them on to clients. They then went to ground and did not answer telephone, email or post. Len Silver seemed intent on keeping the thousands of pounds people had paid for holidays for his retirement. Most had to claim under section 75 from their credit cards or chargeback on debit cards, unfortunatly some left it too late to claim and lost everything. A very good facebook page was started 'Silverski Cancellations 2020' which was a huge help to people with some great advice. It even details a vist to SS by the bailiffs following Len ignoring court claims by one client. Now SS have ceased trading people might be able to claim via ATOL. Len Silver acted like an east end shyster in defrauding loyal cliants out of their holiday refunds, shame on him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
Hello, does anyone have the terms and conditions for Silver Ski please? I need them to make a claim but obviously cannot access the website with them on!
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
Can you send me a link to this facebook page?
| andski wrote: |
| Unfortunatly Silver Ski did not treat their guests who had paid for holidays in the last two months of the season well when covid struck. They told everyone that they would not be refunding anyone and that we should claim on our insurance. This is despite the fact that under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements regulations of 2018 they should have refunded all money within 14 days. Insurance companies rightly refused the claims as SS were responsible for refunding. Worse still SS got refunds on the flights from Jet2 but did not pass them on to clients. They then went to ground and did not answer telephone, email or post. Len Silver seemed intent on keeping the thousands of pounds people had paid for holidays for his retirement. Most had to claim under section 75 from their credit cards or chargeback on debit cards, unfortunatly some left it too late to claim and lost everything. A very good facebook page was started 'Silverski Cancellations 2020' which was a huge help to people with some great advice. It even details a vist to SS by the bailiffs following Len ignoring court claims by one client. Now SS have ceased trading people might be able to claim via ATOL. Len Silver acted like an east end shyster in defrauding loyal cliants out of their holiday refunds, shame on him. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
Well Len was from the east end!
I hadn't realised they had ceased trading. I worked for them in Meribel from 1990 to 1993. At that time we sold more lift passes in the resort than any other company, and were always 100% booked through the season. Driving around in Len's fleet of battered Ford Transits. Always the first flights out from Manchester and Gatwick so horrifically early starts and looong days on transfer day.
In summer 1991 I worked on the conversion of the Bon Coin in La Plagne from restaurtant to chalet and that then became Len's winter base. On one day off we took the old Bedford minibus for a drive up and over the mountain to Champagny, having to stop regularly on the way down a red run to cool the brakes. Got to just above Champagny and had to go alongside a farmyard, solid stone walls each side for about 40m, and only about an inch to spare each side of the minibus.
During the 1992 Olympics we had 3 guests lost on the mountain on a mega foggy day - an adult and 2 kids, not his, who were 2/3 week skiers. Kept missing the restaurant they'd arranged to meet the rest of the guests at. Eventually were found at 1.00 am having broken in to a summer chalet, after the rescue services starting visiting every building on the mountain from altiport down to Village (before the piste and lift went in).
We worked hard, skied hard and occassionally partied hard, but happy, happy days.
and the budget... 220 francs (£22) per person, to cover our food too.
His original business partners were Brian and Pauline, who were based in Courchevel 1300, but they sold out of the business in the naughties I believe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| Quote: |
The ladies were very impressed by the handsome The Pompiers
|
My son's girl friend was ambulanced to Albertville by the Pompiers after hurting her neck. She had to lie on her back in a neck brace, swinging down the mountain road. She felt very sick but the Pompiers made her keep her eyes open. She said they were absolutely lovely but had been called in from a football match and quite sweaty! She was a very pretty girl; one of them asked her for a date...
I'd not read this thread before - lots of great memories of basic chalet holidays. Only as a guest, for me - but we always had a great time and hugely admired the staff, who worked incredibly hard. We met some lovely fellow-guests too, as well as a few oddballs.
It's a shame those days are gone. I never swallowed the stories about the "shameless exploitation" of staff. They were the result of competitive (and from what I saw as a customer, effective) recruitment processes and they had the sort of fun time they could never have had in four months of a basic-pay job in the UK. My son went to cook for Scott Byrne in Val d'Isere once - but told them to shove their job after the first couple of weeks "training" which gave him an unwelcome insight into their staff management style. He stayed out in Val d'I and went freelance, working for some French customers amongst others, despite his lamentable French and in subsequent seasons spent some time working for a staffing agency, cooking in exceptionally upmarket chalets, including one belonging to a Parisian banker with an interior-designer wife, which was just full of art and antiques. A very far cry from Silver Ski, Ski World or Ski Olympic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Blimey, missed this thread, my first trip was with ss and went with them many times to la plagne, la Tania, reberty and la cluses, one of many highlights was seeing len walking round bon coin in his underpants obvious of everyone else laughing, great value, great food, great hosts, Eric and anne at la Tania being hilarious. Always saw many of the same faces on planes year after year. End of an era
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
"competitive recruitment processes"?. I remember staying at Bon Coin with my daughter, then aged 21 and looking for a job. Len had a brief discussion with her and offered her one for the following season! She didn't take it up, unfortunately. I think she would have had a great experience and much more fun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
His thinking on recruitment was ‘can you talk to guests and entertain them?’ Then you’re hired. The rest you can pick up. Case in point during my season a load of Aussie blokes turned up as ski hosts. Not one of them had ever skied before. Len took them through his own version of bootcamp and they were passable hosts after two weeks and cracking skiers by the end of the season. I loved working for Silver Ski.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Have by chance stumbled into this forum after searching on google to find out if Len Silver is still alive. My wife and I hosted Chalet Bonin in Plagne Village in the 89/90 season when the company was in an extremely healthy state of affairs. Being NZers appeared to be like many other employees an advantage to working for Len. Fantastic times and memories. We only worked for a season but some NZ acquaintances we met when there, Ali and Craig worked for Silver Ski for near on 10 or so years in various ski areas. Len was a brilliant owner/manager then and he was usually resident in La Plagne or Chamonix. We tripped over to Europe in 2019 during the summer and drove up to see if Chalet Bonin was still a Silver Ski winter Chalet. Caught up with a fella who managed the chalets in the summer who informed us of what was what. Pre Covid of course and the rest is history.
We have a month long trip planned in ski in later January next year the 3 valleys, Plagne, Les Arc which we love, Val and Chamonix. Will be able to stretch our legs fro simply skiing our NZ resorts for the last 30 years.
Food shopping, food preparation, chalet management, transfer days, ski guiding - like us all, heaps of stories and mostly fantastic memories.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
@Moiki12, great thread bump, after reading your post i had to look up if Len was still alive, he still is at 92yo according to Wikipedia.
like others have said earlier, he was a character and a half!!!
i didn't know they were in Chamonix as well as various other resorts at one time?
disappointing end to the company, and the way they treated customers during covid.
it seemed like they attracted a lot of antipodean staff, my first season in Meribel with them i worked with a kiwi couple called Andy and Edwina, it was their second season in the chalet. Andy and myself were the only males in the chalet, with 5 females making up the rest of the team, so we would just slink off to the balcony for a beer and a chat for some male bonding when we could!!
happy days
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
I did wonder whether it was you, despite the date being wrong the first time you mentioned it. I remember the incident well. It was pretty scary. It was the only time our otherwise useless Swedish member of staff proved her worth as she spoke better french than any of us, and called the emergency services. I can’t remember..aside from the medical emergency, did you ski with the chalet ski host? I recall despite illness you and your family said you’d had a good holiday, which was very kind of you in the circumstances!(Or were you being polite 
?)
