STAFF: 6 Weeks In – Sarah (Aus)

The snow is coming down!…..Finally! 

 What a start to a season we have had with warm weather and sunshine to match. Our six weeks at Our Chalet so far have been filled with Christmas and New Years celebrations that kept us both excited and on our toes with many guests from all over the world coming to join in on the Christmas cheer!

Despite the lack of snow and lush green mountains surrounding us I decided to ski Christmas Eve and had a ball on the thin layer of snow that did somehow coat the runs of the Adeboden ski area.

Christmas Eve was a magical night starting with a huge Christmas dinner followed by a talent show of various cultural performances and Christmas carols. The dining hall was filled with enthusiasm as the Australian ‘Von Trapp’ family visiting us performed the 12 days of Christmas Aussie style…5 KANGAROOS!

We lit the Christmas tree in the fireplace and sung more carols before heading off to Church or enjoying a reading of The Christmas Carol in the T-bar downstairs.

Santa Claus must of had difficulty getting to us this year due to the lack of snow however he managed to find all the children staying at Our Chalet evidenced by their showcase of new toys at brunch on Christmas day. Brunch was huge as we had 46 guests over the Christmas period, I cooked 100 eggs and we still managed to run out!

We had only a brief period of time to recover after our Christmas celebrations before our next lot of guests arrived to stay with us over the New Year, we were both exhausted and excited!

At the Chalet we try and incorporate as many traditions as we can from our diverse range cultures brought by our guests, Christmas and New Years Eve proved to be perfect example of this in action. One new tradition that I experienced this year was the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes on the chime of midnight for good luck in the coming year. Megan, our Kitchen Coordinator proved to us she could fit 12 grapes in her mouth at once!

The very bright full moon lit our path through the snow to the magic tree on New Years Eve when we snow-shoed with guests as part of our evening program. It was a beautifully still night and the guests were so friendly and enthusiastic about joining in on the fun. We also had a campfire to close the night and take us through to the New Year. Sharing reflections and our best moments of 2014 was included in our campfire to fit with our theme of the New Year. At midnight we all gathered by the flagpole to watch the stunning display of Adelboden fireworks in town. Our Chalet’s perfect hillside location gave us the best spot in town.

The Christmas period is in my opinion a fantastic time to visit Our Chalet, you will feel right at home with our traditional family style dinner and friendly atmosphere and enjoy all the joy and activities that come with the snow of the winter season!

We are all currently recovering from the busy festive season and praying for more snow! I am hoping that in the next few weeks I can get in some awesome skiing days with the other vollies and enjoy many more random act of fun….

Tonight we are going to have a party and sleep in a tent in the snow!!

Sarah Schooley (Aus)
Our Chalet Assistant – Winter 2014-2015

STAFF: Christmas and New Year’s at Our Chalet – Lindsey (UK)

Well, we Vollies have been here a month and what a month it has been! I would like to tell you about it but it’s hard to know where to start.

“We are living in a winter wonderland surrounded by the most beautiful mountains”

On the lead up to Christmas our days where filled with lots of training in everything from how to make a toilet sparkly and clean all the way through to how to build an igloo with powdery snow! And we did it all with lots of laughter and giggling along the way! Even on our days off we took little time for rest as the mountains beckoned and the slopes called us to come ski and sledge.

For some people here this is their first experience of snow so it has been great to teach them what fun it can be to build snowmen and make snow angels along with lots of snowball fights.

But back to Christmas. Our Christmas celebrations kicked off with us decorating the chalet with paper snowflakes we made ourselves and a tree with real candles that we lit. Then we invited the locals from Adelboden to come and celebrate with us for an evening.

We sang carols in English, German and Swedish (or at least we tried to)! There were drinks and party food and we player games and even tried bollywood dancing with the children! It was a great evening and a really nice way to kick off our Christmas celebrations.

On Christmas Day itself we mixed a little of everyone’s traditions together which made for a very special day enjoyed by all. Presents were shared by all, there was a brunch with American pancakes (made by Kate), a winters day walk (which left us knee deep in snow) and it was all rounded off by a lovely Christmas meal and an evening of games.

In the days after Christmas we set about building an igloo with the help of the Australian family who were staying with us. It was big enough for six of us to sleep in! It was a bit of a cold and wet night at the edges if you weren’t lucky enough to have grabbed a middle spot, but a least it didn’t collapse in the night!

After all of these fun and games it was time to get some work done and get the Chalet sparkling and looking its best ready to welcome the New Year guests and let the celebrations begin. They were a lovely bunch –  all keen and friendly.

The adventures all kicked off with a hike to the Woodcarver but along the way lots of snow was thrown (strangely mainly at Katie – programme manager?!). At the Woodcarvers we had the chance to purchase many wooden things and some lovely cake and hot chocolate.

The next day (New Year’s Eve) we hiked again but this time to Engstligenalp where we were rewarded with views of a frozen waterfall and a snowy BBQ before heading up on the gondola to slide about on our bottoms snow tubing! It was amazing fun especially as there is very limited control of your speed or where you’re going!

When we got back and had warmed up we started our New Year’s celebrations with a cheese fondue before walking it off with a snow shoe hike to the magic tree to make a very special wish for the year ahead.

The New Year itself was welcomed in by songs round the campfire and raising a snowflake up the flag pole (a little like what they do in Time Square USA) whilst watching the fireworks over Adelboden. It was a lovely evening with a really nice atmosphere and a great way to start the year.

So as you can see our time here has been action packed. We now have Rover week here and the Ski World Cup starts today so it’s all go go go!

Well I’d best go and do a little last minute practice for my world cup entry!

Happy New Year to all!

Lindsey Cooper (UK)
Our Chalet Assistant – Winter 2013/14