 Poster: A snowHead
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A correspondent to this website based in Switzerland came out with the following today:
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| They should give this "great" chalet girl a hard kick, she ought to have got the [snow and lift] report for them. |
I disagree. I'd expect a chalet girl to do what's in her job description, and I've never known one to give me reliable info for the day's/morning's conditions. If she's employed to give people the morning's snow and lift status report - well, fine - if she's employed to boil eggs and cook porridge, maybe that's a good thing not to be distracted from.
I haven't a clue what chalet girls are paid these days - presumably a bit of pocket money, accommodation and liftpass, as per tradition. Hotels and hoteliers are different - they have receptionists, computers, printers etc. etc.
Are chalet girls to be expected to be weather bunnies and traffic reporters?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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About £300 pcm. And the weather stuff is usually up to the rep.
Or maybe idiot punter could get off his bum and look out of the window.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| About £300 pcm. |
About £10 per day, in other words, plus board. As far as I'm aware it's essentially a 7-day/week part-time job, focused on early mornings and busy cooking for the evenings, cleaning and organising supplies. Anything else?
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Wed 12-03-08 15:01; edited 1 time in total
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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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Sh@gging us ski bums (nannies have the same job) 
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The mind boggles.....I've never known a chalet girl (or boy) get weather reports either, though they did tell us when we could get a report on the local radio, in English. That was before the days of internet, of course. Some people are just generally wet and useless, aren't they?
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About £10 per day, in other words, plus board
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Plus lift pass, insurance, uniform, ski hire, travel to and from resort. And it's not part-time by any stretch of the imagination (unless you describe 48+ hours a week as part-time).
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Blowing Bubbles out their a$$es.
"Pass the Fairy Spermita, i'm snookered on the Pink." 
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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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Chalet staff we have experienced always try and keep us up to date with the weather reports.
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... and which lifts are operating? Or just the weather?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Open Lifts have never been an issue on our trips. Just lucky I guess, or we have stayed in places where there are no other lift options.
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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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I'd prefer that TOs concentrated on ensuring that their chalet people can cook, rather than encouraging them to worry about meteorology and ski lifts. In my experience, about 50% can and 50% can't, which isn't really good enough.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
... and which lifts are operating?
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When do you suggest the chalet bird goes and gets that information given that she has has to prep and serve everyone's brekkie from 07:30 until they all push off out skiing? Bearing in mind that the chalet could easily be a half hour walk from the lift office.
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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 Goldsmith, If I was staying in a no expense spared high end chalet , I guess, the butler, or maid would deliver this type of information with my morning cup of tea to my bedside
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You have stayed at Branson Chalet in Verbier then
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Poster: A snowHead
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richmond, Ski Olympic, Silver Ski, Tracks Vacations 8 Trips in the past 4 years, and 8 great food experiences. Perhaps we were lucky, oh and ZERO Delhi Bellies.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ordhan, There was an If and I guess in there, more's the pity 
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'd have thought the answer was
Rapid spread of STDs throughout ski resorts.
Large cake and alcohol consumption.
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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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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| richmond, Ski Olympic, Silver Ski, Tracks Vacations 8 Trips in the past 4 years, and 8 great food experiences. Perhaps we were lucky, oh and ZERO Delhi Bellies. |
I think the trick is to avoid the big TOs, which have been responsible for all bar one of our chalet experiences (not that the odd one was anything to write home about).
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| fatbob wrote: |
I'd have thought the answer was
Rapid spread of STDs throughout ski resorts.
Large cake and alcohol consumption. |
You are not wrong, the number of chalet girls and nannies we had to send home because they had either got the clap or got up the duff. We'd tell them at the training weeks - always take precautions, but no, it is something about the thin mountain air and alcohol that makes them throw caution to the wind.
Second year chalet girls are like gold dust. If they made it through Y1 without killing everyone in the chalet with Botulism, getting knocked up or contracting a cocktail of STDs they would be a size 16 from all the cake eating and none of the "lords of the flies" would touch 'em.
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David Goldsmith, I'm sure you meant "Chalet operative" being girl, boy or erm topically otherwise 
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davidof, botulism? Feeding your guests tinned salmon were you? You cheapskate.
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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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The message I seem to be getting (thanks for the graphic inside report, davidof) is that chalet companies should be giving epidemic reports, rather than snow/lift reports.
"Best to avoid the upper lifts and the mayonnaise today, as they're both off. And don't have sex - you're in a ski resort."
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In my experience, chalet staff have been professional, hard working, thoughtful, and personable.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Frosty the Snowman, companies do attempt to recruit with those qualities in mind. In eleven seasons of working for TOs and looking after up to 80 staff each year I have seen one pregnancy scare and no poisonings. Davidof may wish to review his selection criteria.
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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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So if planning to shag a chalet girl do it in Early december to late January to avoid
Fat Chicks
Disease Carriers
Wetting the Babies head
Duly noted Might just stick to skiing in future
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You know it makes sense.
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There seems to be an undercurrent here that sexual promiscuity and competent chalet personning are in some way mutually exclusive. Not so. The only chalet maid shagging incident on any chalet hol I went on (SFAIK) involved a superbly competent (at running the chalet and cooking) chalet maid. Unfortunately she was not so good at the shagging logistics; she hopped into bed with one of my mates under the impression that he was his (better looking, more charming) brother. My mate didn't bother to put her right (mainly to get one over on his bro., I think). She was a bit suprised in the morning, but that's life, I suppose.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I can't speak highly enough of the Ski Esprit chalet hosts on our recent trip. Not only were they both called Helen - which made it hard to get them confused - but they were dab hands in the kitchen, and seemed to be unperturbed by a host of kids "helping" them cook.
With wife and kids in tow, the opportunity never arose to test their "off-piste" offerings...
They were on their 2nd or 3rd season together, and have been promoted to an uber-chalet-host status and get to choose where they're going next season. (Meribel as it happens.)
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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 Flying Snowplough, I believe that all Ski Esprit chalet maids are known as 'Helen', rather as maids in England used to be known as 'Sarah'(?). As you say, it avoids embarassing confusion.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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richmond, you'd be wise to use the more PC term "chalet hostess". One of our number used the term "maid" and was subsequently ritually disemboweled with a snowboard as entertainment during Kids Club as a punishment.
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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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The Flying Snowplough, did you have to keep buying them expensive drinks prior to making a 'private arrangement' with them? Otherwise, I'm not sure that 'hostess' quite conjures up the image they're after, either.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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richmond, such is my charm that a simple "please" and a smile got me all that I needed...
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| In my experience, chalet staff have been professional, hard working, thoughtful, and personable. |
That's been my overall experience as well. Worst comment I could level at any of them being that some of the males working the season like to show off their skills when you ski with them - but seeing as my son comes in to that catagory I think that's just envy on my part.
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| some of the males working the season like to show off their skills when you ski with them |
aw, come on, that's a major source of pleasure for them (apart from the chalet maids/hostesses, that is). It must be fun, if you have to listen to some drunken guest boasting about his skiing prowess, to shoot off down some tricky slope and leave them standing the following morning. That's one of the difference between skiing with a chalet ski guide and skiing with a professional instructor; the latter (or at least, the good ones) normally seem to feel no need to show off.
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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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Phil Jordan, my son's done a couple of seasons too, but as a chef, and is a brilliant skier - so I know what you mean. He leaves me standing but then, to be fair, he leaves almost everyone standing. Though he did say that he, in turn, was left standing by the BASI 1 instructor he shared a flat (and days off) with in Val D'Isere. When we used to stay in catered chalets we generally found staff hard working and effective but maybe they were well managed companies. Some companies seem to treat their staff very badly (my son dumped the company he went out with after a week, and went freelance for the rest of the season, because he didn't like their approach to staff).
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FAQ
