 Poster: A snowHead
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| parlor wrote: |
All Sorry but White Gold does have a point... I'll be doing my 6th season this year, the first running our new chalet company. *but* ...I'm a looser baby, so why don't you kill me... In fact most of my friends are loosers too. Still 94 days skiing last year, I'm a very happy. Running away for real life? Nah, running towards powder. Looser.  |
Yeah you tell 'em parlor .... you giant looooser! By the way it is nice and rainy in London today so there ... HA!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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This thread is a year old.
Looks like that makes me another year older. Maybe I'm looser now?
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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?
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The real loser is still a bitter and twisted individual, but it is good to have that sort of person around as it makes us feel quite a bit more cheerful. I wonder would he have many friends!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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My son has spent the last two seasons cooking in top-grade chalets in Val d'I'sere. He has a first class degree in Robotics, but also loves cooking. He has his own small sushi business too. He is part way through an M Sc at the moment, but is currently extremely tempted because he's been head hunted for a chalet chef job in Courchevel, mid December to mid Jan, which just fits in with his university vacation, providing he can get a bit of time between cooking and skiing to write some essays. He has been offered a LOT of money for the month. So, that's another loser.... Positioning your chalet in the market place must be quite difficult. If you need a really good chef, who also has the wit to be flexible about menus according to what's in the shops, sort out the chalet girls (!), cope with power cuts, etc etc, it will cost you a lot of money (not pocket money) plus finding him his own accommodation and ski pass. But if you are going to charge people stupid money, the quality has to be top notch. On the other hand, who wants to be making shepherd's pies and spag bol all season? Must be difficult to find a way of standing out from the crowd. But bear in mind the comments about a "saturated market". Just look at all the half price bargains outside New Year and half term - you'd need to be pretty conservative in your financial planning. If I were doing that, I'd be happiest if one of us had the capacity to snap into the employment market and earn good money for a short while, if times were a bit hard, or a central heating boiler needed replacing, or the roof collapsed under a heavy snowfall one night. I'd also want to speak the local language really well. I would think that for anyone contemplating a big "sell up and move" a season working in a chalet would be a good way of finding out whether you can hack it. There are days, when I have done an early Geneva airport run to pick up friends, putting on snowchains before starting, taking them off a few miles down the road, and reversing the process on the way back, then getting my pre-cooked casserole into the oven and boiling up some veg. that I feel like I AM running a chalet. But not getting paid. And having to pay the bills...  But I don't feel like a loser, either.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thus, your work colleagues will often be losers.
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Goes for most of my colleagues in most of my jobs - nothing new there. It did make me laugh though - great logic!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We run a catered chalet and manage 15+ apartments - it is HARD WORK - we are up at 7am and although we do get to ski we are usually still doing work stuff until 10pm.
For us the upside is as well as the skiing that in the summer we have a lot of quality family time and can drive to the Med in 5hrs!
robertsnerys, you need to have at least 50% of the purchase price as capital - 30% to put down, 10% to furnish/equip and 10% as extras. If you are renovating double your estimate easily!
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I think to stand out from the general chalet crowd, you have to go that bit further then the normal tour ops.
Hot tub and sauna, en suite bathrooms and loos. Proper chef, not 18 year old school leaver (although best chalet food we had was from an 18 yr old school leaver-her Mum was a professional chef in London). Personal ski hire service if necessary with transport to the shop if it is a walk away, or visits to the chalet. Arrangements with ski guides and instructors to visit the chalet to arrange lessons, etc etc. Good bed linen and duvets, and bath towels provided. People won't put up with substandard stuff any more.
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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.
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and can drive to the Med in 5hrs!
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I can fly there from the UK quicker.
I know loads of people who run/have run/own/work in chalets over the years and was once tempted myself. The thing that strikes me most is the massive divorce rate. Must be something in the water.
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| The thing that strikes me most is the massive divorce rate. Must be something in the water. |
There is a massive divorce rate in Guildford too.
Reading today's local paper, I see Epsom Downs is named as a premier dogging and gay cruising site.
I knew Surbiton Golf Club was on the dogging list, though they have never been at it when we leave there at 9 o'clock in the evening.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Latchigo, Sorry, I'll rephrase...
The thing that strikes me most is the sordid dogging, endless gay cruising and swinging that goes on in chalet land. The divorce rate is quite normal at 100%.
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I knew Surbiton Golf Club was on the dogging list, though they have never been at it when we leave there at 9 o'clock in the evening.
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How would you know if you haven't checked and, if you have checked, isn't that dogging? Discuss.
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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.
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| Arrangements with ski guides and instructors to visit the chalet to arrange lessons, etc etc. |
that's a really good idea. It happened the last time we did a chalet holiday, with Le ski in Courchevel - instructors from New Generation came in, and also popped in to see how things were going, and have a cup of tea. It was an excellent arrangement.
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You know it makes sense.
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robertsnerys, Have just revisited this old post thanks to Plectrum striking a chord and tuning in one year later exactly  . Seriously it does seem from the thread that a prerequisite these days is to have a decent up to date website with almost real-time availability on show as well.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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DAVID SNELL, I agree totally on the up to date availability calendar. One of the sites I used to advertise on had forgotten to take my apartment offline once the ad expired. Not realising it was still active , I didn't update the calendar, and had a rather irate email from someone wanting to know if it was avaialble or not cos it said it was but my own website said we were fully booked. Smoother things over lucklily, and they booked for a different date.
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Poster: A snowHead
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ben wright,
hi ben, myself & my grlfriend are thinking about running a chalet next winter. We have both done a few seasons in Les Gets & after goin to Alpe d'Huez for a week last year thought we could could do a better job than the couple who ran the chalet we stayed at...
I was wondering if you could give me some advise on how to go about finding a chalet?? did you rent it out for the season?? What kind of deposit do you need??
Cheers, Brian.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Glynis,
Myself & my grlfriend are thinking about running a chalet next winter. We have both done a few seasons in Les Gets & after goin to Alpe d'Huez for a week last year thought we could could do a better job than the couple who ran the chalet we stayed at...
I was wondering if you could give me some advise on how to go about finding a chalet?? did you rent it out for the season?? What kind of deposit do you need??
Cheers, Brian.
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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?
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Hope this person doesn't mind me linking to his blog (if he does - why did he stick it on t'internet), but I found it very interesting. He & his wife start off planning to run a chalet in PDS for 2007-8 season. I was reading it for insights into getting around the PDS (later sections) but I'm sure the Dec/Jan sections will provide interesting reading for you:
http://alpian.blogspot.com/
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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sweenier, there are companies out there who specialise in marketing chalets for seasonal lets, worth a search!!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| ben wright wrote: |
robertsnerys, my girlfriend and I have run our chalet for 3 seasons and found:
once you've got into the swing of it you have plenty of time for skiing - we're free from about 10AM until 3.30PM every day (later if we know people aren't going to come back for afternoon tea until later). I probably work from 7.30AM to 10AM and from 6.30PM until 11PM. The hours mean we don't have much time to mix with other people other than on the slopes or a few drinks after skiing or on our night off.
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We have run a fairly successful business for our last 3 winter seasons but I would like to challenge the finished by 10.00 am and have all day to ski quote. With between 8 and 10 guests having to clear away breakfast, and then clean and re-freshen 4 bedrooms and bathrooms, followed by shopping for any fresh veg purchases that are required for that evenings meal. It is on most days impossible.
It might be that our standards differ but when full my wife does not get a chance to ski, though on our day off it is possible but only when we are not full for the following week.
I can reinforce this with the knowledge that I worked as a ski guide for a couple of big tour ops a long time ago and the chalet girls did indeed get to ski most days. But the food was basic, and as for cleanliness if you saw the state of the bathrooms by the end of the season you would choke.
Times change, customers change, but quality always stands out.
It is hard work, you will question whether you have made the right decision and you will know tiredness as you probably haven't before.
Is it worth it - you bet.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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My son is working in an upmarket private chalet in Meribel. He said today - after his Christmas/New Year guests had left, that he had yet to really think about being in a ski resort. So far he has worked flat out, including one 22 hour stint on 31 January. The chalet host/major domo has worked long hours too, with no chance to ski yet. There is also a full time cleaner but they struggle to keep the place, with loads of bathrooms, a sauna, a hammam, etc. clean enough. And they've been lucky that after the initial snow-clearing stint on arrival, a few days before Christmas, there has been no significant new snowfall - which creates loads more work, with a number of large terraces, the drive, etc all needing clearing. He expects to get more free time for a while now - but if you look upon the whole thing as a glorified ski holiday with a few chores thrown in, you're likely to have a bit of a shock. The preparation of top quality multi-course dinners requires planning, shopping and some cooking in advance as well as a full day in the kitchen beforehand. And when it's all cleared away, you've got to be up to do breakfasts. That's the bit Nick hates, because he's not a morning person and gets no professional satisfaction or stimulation from producing standard breakfast fare! If you were running your own chalet, and getting satisfaction from it, I imagine you'd want to aim for really high standards, and give first class service, so you had plenty of repeat customers and personal recommendations. In our apartment I'll cook a lasagne in advance, then make a salad when it's cooking and have some fruit for pudding. Paying guests in a chalet expect more!
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another one who rarely gets to ski............so far this season in the past 2 weeks so far Katie and I have each had a couple of hours but not together...and all with clients
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sweenier,
Welcome to snowHeads, 
Neither of the two posters you are addressing have posted in a while (The thread is a couple of years old) You may have better luck by putting out a general question in it's own thread, good luck.
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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.
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I've managed 6 runs in total since the end of November......it's all about January though!! 
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Speak to parlor. Running a chalet is all about quaffing first growth claret, feasting on ortolan and foie gras and endless powder stashes. Seems fairly simple to me. Although one of his cars did nearly run me over in the Savolyres car park the other day and the resulting payoff might have dented his cellar budget a bit
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Mosy common misspelling on the world wide internet web thing is it not?
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