20 years of Ski Famille

20 years ... doesn't time fly when you are having fun!

This winter season marks the 20th anniversary of the birth of Ski Famille.

The company was started by two couples in 1990. Both had young children and both were keen skiers. They'd failed to find a holiday that truly worked for them and decided they could do better themselves.

The starting point was good quality chalets in great locations with in-house childcare. This is still our main focus today; we aim to make a family ski holiday as straightforward and fun as possible. We don't want our guests wsting time worrying about the availability of cots, where to buy nappies, ski school options for a 4 year old, a ski boot trudge to the ski lifts or child friendly food; we aim to sort it all out for them.

A lot has changed in 20 years of operating out in the Alps, as tastes and expectations have evolved we have taken on new higher quality properties and we now feature the 3 Valleys as well as our original Les Gets base. We'd be forced to admit we've become a more professional outfit than we were in the early days (!) but we've also done everything possible to preserve a small company feel with a friendly and flexible approach.

Another thing that has moved on is that we've all aged a bit and (thankfully) fashions have changed. Pictured here are Fiona Carless (who runs our French office) and Tim Scott of Les Gets Snowsports. It would appear that "Jon Bon Jovi tribute" was the look of choice when they were working for Ski M&M around the time that Ski Famille stated with the first chalet in the La Turche area of Ski Famille.

I also played a role in Ski Famille before rejoining the company as MD in 2003. In the winters of 95-96 and 96-97 I was Ski Famille's ski guide (this was a time when you could take guests out on the slopes without a raft of French qualifications with no fear of ending the day behind bars) and general "resort bloke". I'm pictured here with fellow guide Paul (I am the stylish looking one in the Bolle Venom sunglasses .... I loved those shades). He sensibly became an accountant, I went and got a "proper job" only to return to the Ski Famille fold just six years later!

If you have some photos of your Ski Famille holidays in the early (or more recent) years we'd love to see them. Any quality early nineties general ski holiday shots are also great, perhaps you looked as cool as Operations Manager Kirsty (left) on your 1990/91 school ski trip?

We look forward to whatever the next 20 years brings; what we can say without fear of contradiction is that the focus will continue to be on helping families have fun in the mountains.

Chris
www.skifamille.co.uk