As far back as 1770 the very first hotel was opened in Chamonix Mont Blanc France. Before this date Chamonix France embodied a savage and tough farming place where folks captured their animals and produced their own oats.

Barns at this time were used to stock dairy herds during the summer. Milk was conserved by turning it into cheese and stocked in the farm for eating over the hard winter times. Throughout the snow season the farmhouses were locked up, and valued possessions were locked in a small hut.

Who came up with the chalet vacation is unknown, it was likely several enthusiastic chaps who realized a idea that worked. For Erna Low it started when she was a unhappy postgraduate and couldn’t visit her family back home as often as she liked. And so in 1931 she took a punt and placed a small ad in the broadsheets to tempt clients on a skiing vacation. For £15 they traveled to and from the ski resort, enjoyed food and board in the only chalet, and took skiing hire and instruction. Holidays were arduous , there weren’t any skiing lifts, no safety bindings, just leather boots, however it was such a hit that she carried on taking skiers on holidays, ensuring she used great hotels and instructors.

These Skiing vacations in the beginning were very different from the luxury ski chalets we have nowadays. Hot water was in limited supply, washrooms were used by all of the clients, and there wasn’t a chef; all the guests needed to help out with the chores. No one knew who might share the lodge for a holiday, you may be surprised to meet fresh allies, or not gel with the group.

Chalet holidays were later advertised on its extra bonuses. A cook, who served you continental breakfast and a four course dinner and cooked you a cake, plentiful hot water for washing.

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