A Tale of the Early Ski Vacations to Chamonix Town
It was 1770 when the 1st hotel was opened in Chamonix Mont Blanc. Prior to this Chamonix Mont Blanc France embodied a wild and craggy agrarian town where people caught animals and harvested their own barley.
Farms at that time were used to farm dairy cows over the summer. The milk was conserved by making it into different types of cheese and kept in the village for eating during the long winter times. In the winter season the barns were locked up, and valued possessions were put safely in a hut.
Quite who devised catered chalet holidays is obscured by time, however it was probably some passionate chaps who acknowledged a pattern which was new and exciting. For Erna Low it all began when she was a homesick alumna and could not see her folks back home in Austria as much as she liked. And so in 1931 she took a punt and put a advertisement in the London Times to invite punters on a skiing trip. For £15 they traveled to and from the skiing resort, were provided with dinner and accommodation in the solitary inn, and took skiing hire and tuition. The vacation was difficult , there weren’t any lifts, no quick release bindings, merely hard leather boots, however it was such a hit that she continued to take groups on breaks, making sure she found first-class chalets and ski instructors.
These ski breaks in the early years were very different from the luxury we can have today. Back then hot water was in short supply, bathrooms would be shared by all of the punters, and there wasn’t a cook; all the punters were expected to muck in. It was a real gamble who might share the chalet for a vacation, you could be agreeably surprised to meet new friends, or grimaced by the thought of spending another day with unpleasant guests.
skiing holidays were later on marketed on its other benefits. A chalet chef, who would serve you continental breakfast and a plentiful evening meal and even made you cakes, ensuites warm water for washing. And with Chamonix travel options so plentiful these days it makes your ski holiday so easy.
