Health Upgraders

It was 1770 when the 1st lodge was completed in Chamonix ski resort.

Before this Chamonix was a uncivilized and tough agricultural place where folks caught their own animals and produced their wheat.

Farmhouses at that time were used to stock dairy cows during the spring and summer.

Milk was kept by changing it into different types of cheese and preserved in the village for consumption during the long winter times.

During the snow season the chalets were secured, and all valuables were secured in a tiny shack.

The person who devised luxury chalet chalet holidays is unknown, however it was likely some enthusiastic chaps who recognised a idea which worked.

For Erna Low it commenced whilst she was a unhappy postgraduate who could not visit her parents back home as often as she would like to.

Therefore in the 1930’s she took a punt and placed advertisement in the broadsheets to invite punters on a winter vacation. The cost was £15 and they travelled to and from the skiing resort, were provided with dinner and board in the sole pub lodging, and paid for skiing equipment and lessons.

The holiday was difficult, there were no lifts, no quick release bindings, merely heavy leather boots, but it was so successful that she continued to take people on holiday, seeing to it that she sourced great chalets and ski guides.

These Skiing holidays in the formative years were a long way from the luxury we can enjoy now.

Back then hot water was in short supply, the bathrooms had to be shared by all of the customers, and there wasn’t a cook; all the guests needed to help out with the chores.

It was a real gamble who might be in the accommodation for the week, you may be agreeably surprised to meet new friends, or grimace at the thought of having to spend any more time with them.