We’ve been in the business of providing classic chalet holidays in the Alps for fifteen years and we aim to make your holiday a truly memorable experience - personal and professional.
Our focus is on quality, comfort, cuisine (in winter), and a friendly professional service, and we pull out all the stops to make sure you have a relaxing and enjoyable time during your stay with us.
Our History
After graduating from Reading University, UK, Helen worked in Poland as an English Teacher, until her school friend tempted her to try just one ski season (1993/4). Over four years, she worked in Courchevel, France, as chalet girl for Lotus Supertravel, ski guide for Powder Byrne and chalet manager for Inghams. She set up the chalet company, "Ski 'n' Action" in 1997, to provide guests with the less commercial, more personable, breed of "catered chalet " holiday.
Mike is a craftsman with a portfolio of fine furniture over 12 years. For a career break (and whilst he still possessed ten digits), he worked for Ski Olympic in Courchevel as ski guide, and then trained to be ski teacher, where he taught for ESF La Tania, and then ESF Courchevel 1850.
With a family background in house restoration, Mike, in 1999, took on a project in Le Praz, in view to tailor it to be a luxury catered chalet to our guests - involving hand crafted oak staircases and a circular birds eye maple kitchen, with teak work surfaces.
In 2006, with Maison Beaufort renovated to as far as we were able,
we traded in Maison Beaufort for some rarely available building land in the farming commune of Hauteluce, France, and for Chalet Runca in Arosa. Both are beautiful places in their own right, each having future plans to link to larger ski areas with lifts. The name of our present company, Snowy Pockets, describes both locations, with their excellent snow records and, off-piste secludedness, and also, captures the child's prospective of a magical snowy wonderland. Of course, in the Summer, when the alpine meadows are clear of snow, we have blankets of snowdrops, so we shall keep the name for our summer rentals too. In 2006, Mike had his own-drawn architectural plans passed for building in Hauteluce - so building a traditional chalet is what we are 'doing' 'between seasons', leaving the Summer and Winter to enjoy living and working in Arosa.
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In the meantime, we look forward to welcoming you to Chalet Runca in Arosa this summer and next winter.
Mike now teaches skiing, usually private lessons, for the Swiss Ski and Snowboard School of Arosa.
Mike and Helen Onions
