European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 17, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Capital s Gatwick Airport on a saturday parly in february with return flight the following saturday. Because it had gone unsold until such a late Date nearly 100 pounds had just been lopped off the regular brochure Price of 274 pounds. So for 179 pounds about $200 at the then prevailing Exchange rate i would be getting round trip flight to Geneva bus and train travel Between Here and Zermah my room and virtually All meals Holiday and Accident insurance plus other goodies such As the services o a ski guide and unlimited wine with evening meals. I immediately booked it by phone using a credit card. Here s How it worked out departure was four hours Laic from Gatwick As London was getting clobbered by its first major Snow storm of the Winter. On arrival at Geneva Airport though a tour representative was on hand to show us to our bus one of hundreds waiting to carry skiers off to various resorts. During the four hour bus train mostly bus journey to pc malt our guide filled us in on ski conditions and collected Money for ski passes. These Cost 66 pounds about $74 for a week s lift ticket which she delivered at breakfast the next morning saving us the time and hassle of getting our own passes. Our two chalet girls were waiting at Vermail s tiny train station to show us to waiting taxis. It s the Job of the chalet girls to Cook serve the meals make the Beds and keep the place clean. Chalet girls arc nearly All recruited from England and have a reputation for being attractive Jolly Well brought up Young women who work hard Cook like a dream most arc graduates of gourmet cooking schools and Are keen skiers. Ours fit the description perfectly and were a Delight. Stories about chalet girls Are Many. One that has made the rounds is about the chalet girl with the Cut Glass accent who claimed she had t noticed that the heating had been off for three Days because there s no Central heating at Home in daddy s  the capacity of chalets ranges from six to around 40. Accommodations mainly consist of twin bedded rooms though occasionally multiple occupancy is available for families plus adequate living space for relaxing in the evening. Our chalet the Leschhorn located on a quiet Hillside Street about 100 Yards off Zermatt s main Street was a rather Large three Story unpretentious House that could accommodate 14 guests but there were about half that number of us on hand that week. When i booked it was with the understanding that i might have to share a room if the chalet was crowded. Since it was t i had a Large twin bedded room with Balcony to myself. The House was comfortably furnished with the bedrooms and bathroom on the first floor opening off the Large room that served As the dining room and Central meeting place. Additionally there was a second such common room for lounging on the second floor but it was Seldom used. My fellow guests turned out to be a pleasant and gregarious mixed bag of nationalities surprisingly not a single Brit among them and occupations. 1 hey ranged in age from their Middle 20s to Early 40s and ill were single with the exception of a Canadian couple he an officer assigned to duty with the Canadian forces in Germany. One Young woman was a new zealand air a gynaecologist who was practising in England. A Trio of australians two Young women teachers and i Young fellow who ran a ski shop Down under rounded out the group. I had been warned that chalet vacationers often run into a Lack of hot water for everyone s after ski Shower or Bath but we always had All the hot water we could wish for. The meals ranged from Good to great. The Day always started off with a cooked breakfast accompanied by lots of fruit juice yoghurt and equipping the beginner in this Case second Best is better by Dan Wollam Stuttgart Bureau if you be made the decision to Lake up skiing in Europe you re faced with a myriad of other decisions where logo when and How to get there. But one of the most important decisions you la be making is How to dress and equip yourself for the sport. The assortment of ski paraphernalia on the Market and the wider assortment of free advice about what to buy can baffle the beginner. And wrong decisions can be expensive mistakes according to Mike Hadley the equipment a Peri a the Stuttgart outdoor recreation Center. If you re a beginner Don t sink a Fortune into the skis  wid. If you buy top of the line right off the Bat it s not a recreational ski. It s probably a racing ski. That s too much for a beginner. And normally the beginner will tear up their first set of skis anyway Hadley said. He suggested beginners rent skis the first couple of times on the slopes. Ski boots Are another item the beginner should be careful about spending too much Money on. The More expensive boots Are usually  stiffer and have a lot of extras the beginner does t need he said. But he stressed that boots arc the most important items in the skier s baggage and must fit Don t Compromise on Tho fit to save a few pennies he said. Hadley thinks boots Are the first thing the beginner should buy. He said to he wary of rental and used boots because what its one foot won t necessarily fit another. Some boots have a softer lining than others. They la Mold to the previous owner s foot and they won t come Back. You could find yourself in a Boot meant for another  when selecting bindings the weight Ranje is More important than the Price Hadley said. Many expensive bindings have heavy Springs making them appropriate for expert skiers or people with heavy builds but not for the beginner. All bindings have a weight Range. The beginner should select a binding in which the Ikier s weight is in the Middle of the binding s Range. After that the Price is pretty much up to you he said. The Story is much the same for ski poles. The More expensive poles Are lighter but they also break easier. And cheaper poles can be Bent Back into shape. The expensive ones can  if you want to explore the used equipment Market some great deals can be found. But shoppers should be wary of damaged equipment or equipment that does t match their skill Hadley suggests taking an experienced skier along and asking the seller if you can to pc the equipment to a ski shop to have it checked. The right equipment is a n and beware of Sellers v. To h. Title Yoni with technical talk Hadley . Just because somebody who s Selling a ski t in Lell you what s inside it does t mean you re getting .1 Good Deal. If they use Tec link Al language keep asking questions until you know what they re talking  for the outfit Hadley recommends paying More attention to Comfort and warmth than fashion. Body temperatures Art different for everybody he said. A lot of people Over dress then they smrt to sweat and they gel  dress in layers wearing Waterproof pants a tight knit sweater or Turtleneck and a Down or synthetic ski jacket. Take one layer off As soon As you gel hot Hadley said. Avoid wearing More than one pair of socks. "1 recommend a thin Wool blend ski sock he said. More than one pair of socks can Cut the circulation and your feet will get cold most hoots Are insulated Well enough that one pair of socks should keep your feel warm. One common misconception about keeping warm on the slopes is that alcohol will thaw those fro in Bones. A lot of people think a shot of liquor will warm them up but it actually Lowers your body temperature. And drinking alcohol is a Good Way to get frostbite because you Don t feel the  but drink a lot of liquids while skiing one of the big causes of people getting cold is that they Don t have enough body  he said. The final piece of advice Hadley offers is whatever you buy buy it in Europe. Equipment is at least half the Price As in the United states and some things Are one third he said. You can t go wrong when you buy equipment in  Cereal. We could make up a simple lunch to Lote to the slopes from the leftover fresh bread and Rolls cheese and Jam. Or stuff a few free mini chocolate bars in our Fanny packs. In late afternoon a Trail Kierul British Tea with plenty of homemade cake or other goodies was always Laid out. And we were pm our Ned to invite friends around to share it at no charge. The evening meal a three course c mlle it it dinner was served about bpm and never  to be s Rump ious. Chalet living is in urinal and thai informality was helped along at dinner timely an unlimited Supply of red and White a Jori i us a. One Day a week usually thursdays is the c Halet girls Day off. On thai Day we got our own breakfast and Tea and dined out. I did t Avail myself of the service because i was skiing with friends but the set package included a guide in the resort to show guests around the slopes. The guide was t allowed to Brach but his services were free. R Low would i rate my chalet Holiday Overall ? i d have to give it an unreserved a for value. The food was delicious the service exit Mienl he chalet girls Friendly and helpful. And my fellow chalet Holiday guests were Lively companions who were full of Good Cheet and conversation. In essence i be never had j better Holiday Deal for such an economical Price. None of the British operators of c Halet hotels Market heir packages through outlets on the continent. However they do sell the packages minus travel arrangements at reduced prices to people outside by Ilain. October 77, 1955 stripes Magazine