Glenda's Blog - What it's really like to work a winter season!

The winter of 2008/2009 will definitely be one to remember for me thanks to all the guests Ryan and I had stay with us in Le Prele. Each week we would eagerly await the transfer bus arriving and try to picture what ‘this week’s’ guests would be like. Lucky for us we had the most diverse, entertaining, relaxed, friendly mix of people we could have hoped for- it’s a cliche but no two week’s were the same.

This winter for me was a great escape- getting away from working in a bank during the good old economic crisis. I couldn’t have picked a better time or place to escape to. I had stayed with the MM team before and therefore knew what to expect from Olly and Emma, which for those of us who have been guests know to be a warm and enthusiastic welcome. What I wasn’t quite prepared for was just how much I would feel part of each group’s holiday. I realised that in my role as host it can be the tiniest touches which can make someone’s day or week whether it’s the comfort of a well made bed or a cup of tea in the morning. I found my favourite part of the day would be chatting with guests in the evenings when everyone was relaxed. It was lovely hearing about what they had been up to that day and getting updates from the kids on how their skiing had improved.

I also realised pretty quickly that I would learn to love and get excited about cleaning products- I never thought it will happen to me, suffice to say that my mother is very proud. The cleaning aspect of the job, whilst not my favourite past-time was outweighed by the time spent on the mountain. I hope Olly would agree that my snowboarding improved during the season after i sufficiently “manned up”.

A special mention has to go to the Just snowboard camp weeks - the guys and girls who joined us were ‘awesome’ - thanks for letting me join in. I can quite honesty say that being there to welcome people to Morzine and make the chalet their home during their stay is one of the most rewarding ‘jobs’ I’ve undertaken in a long time. It also helped having someone like Ryan to work with and cook for me every night for 5 months- I’ve had to relearn to cook since coming home!

Having had time to reflect after the season it’s so nice to look back at the positive comments that our guests took time to leave on Trip Advisor and other forums. It’s good to know that I in some way contributed you having a great holiday with Mountain Mavericks. Lucky for me Olly and Emma have asked me back for next year so I’m sure I’ll see a lot of our returning guests. I’ve started my countdown already- bring on the winter!!