First Guests

So we rejoin the action halfway through the first week of paying guests, those who bought discounted holidays chancing green pistes and greener hosts. So far so good, just about. We are finding our hosting feet gradually, fortunately no major cock ups as yet. And perhaps more miraculously no green pistes, the snowfall here has been relentless. But the seasonnaire gods must have been smiling for on the Wednesday us hosts rest. And on this Wednesday the sun came out and kissed the slopes, revealing the majesty of the Tarentaise Alps.

With such heavy snowfall the pisteurs have constantly battled the threat of avalanche, leaving many of the runs closed due to maintenance. The morning chorus of dynamite blasts and helicopter blades echo through the valleys as huge shelves of snow are cleared from the mountain side. So while one sector of french alpine staff works tirelessly (or so it seems) to ready the mountains for the hordes of brits. A second sector, the french handimen, slack off every day leaving your host with a number of issues unfixed.

Issues which the guests love to bring up, such as the lack of heating in the communal area and the poorly designed chimney that shoots ash and soot and smoke back into the chalet. What they fix with one hand they tend to break with the other thus maintaining a steady supply of issues, perhaps this is why they are called maintenance. Perhaps they are charged with some holy equilibrium of dilapidation that at all costs must be maintained.

It is a sobering thought that each guest will have paid around £1000 for the privilege of eating your food and sharing your company, and skiing in one the largest ski areas in the alps I guess. Standards are high and rules are set in stone. And yet we must be water, adaptable and pliant to the whims of management and guests. Your host will be vigilant for the erosion of the rules, but maybe this is where efficiency stems from, the erosion of those rules which are more akin to limestone than granite. Who knows, your host is no geographer.