Another great end to another winter season

It's the end of our second season running SkiHire2U and what a season it has been.  As we think back to the beginning of the season before the lifts opened there was glum mood around Chatel, just one look up at the green slopes would show why, No snow!  When would it arrive?  Then suddenly a little bit of snow appeared on the long range forecast at www.snow-forecast.com for Chatel.  Was this the start?  Oh yes, it started snowing and it didn't stop for 2 weeks, the resort was transformed to beautiful glistening white everywhere.  Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief and we had one of the best Christmas's ever for snow.  It didn't stop there either the snow kept coming and coming.............and coming, fantastic.  We then had some incredibly low temperatures where it was warmer inside the freezer than it was outside, -26'C in the village at one point.  Then we had more snow and more snow, then 3 weeks of beautiful clear skies and wall to wall sunshine.  By this time at the end of March everyone thought that would be it for snow for the season, it didn't matter because there was so much snow anyway.  How wrong we were.........then came the snow, more snow and even more snow, an absolutely incredible end to an absolutely incredible season.  Chatel always gets more precipitation than nearby resorts because of the valleyed link to lake Geneva and this season has been no exception.  We moved here because of it's beauty and snow record and we know we made the right choice.  Chatel is without doubt the best place to live and ski in the Alps (we may be a bit biased but we love it here).

As for SkiHire2U in it's second year...we have without doubt led the way for ski hire in Chatel.  SkiHire2U has removed the trek to the ski shop and the often long wait when you arrive to get served.  One ski shop had a queue so long they were offering vin chaud to keep their customers warm outside in the queue...and that was just to return their skis.  It's difficult to know where to start thanking people as everyone has been so nice.  Our customers continue to appreciate the highest possible levels of service on offer - just read our customer comments at http://www.skihire2u.com/guestbook.php Our partner chalet owners and hosts who have looked after us all season with coffee, wine, champagne, cake, croissants etc the list just goes on and on - thankyou everyone :)  Finally a big thankyou to those who have been helping us out this year, Hamish, Gary, Cameron and Sam all of whom have been brilliant.

We had our most successful season ever and we'll continue to grow, but at our pace making sure we maintain those service levels our customers can now rightly expect.  So for next season we have already placed a huge order for a brand new range of ski hire equipment, some of our older stock will be replaced (after only 2 years).  Some people have said we must be mad to replace skis so soon, we say our customers deserve the best and that's what they will get. We have new ski ranges added, with one very special model that we know are customers are going to like, keep a look out on our website, www.skihire2u.com for latest information and if you haven't 'liked' our facebook page then do it now at http://www.facebook.com/SkiHire2U to keep right up to date.  That's not all, there will be a lot of work on our website during the summer months so keep a watch out for some things that are going make booking your ski hire with us the simplist and easiest thing to do on your ski holiday.

This has been quite a long blog, apologies for that but we have so much to tell and are so grateful to everybody.  

We will shortly be off to Gozo to open our Dive Centre, so if you're wondering what to do this summer and want the same level of service as SkiHire2U then come and see us at Bubbles and do some diving in Gozo, or even just learn to dive with us at www.diving-gozo.com 

Thankyou once again to everyone and see you next year.

David and Donna

A chilly half term

The season is well underway now and what a season it is turning out to be.  The snow is just incredible we have had so much it's breaking all records and it just keeps coming and coming.  Coupled with extremely low temperatures it's like skiing powder everyday.  It's so nice seeing such happy customers enjoying their holidays, clearly anyone coming to the alps this winter is in for an awesome time.  

Here at SkiHire2U we are very busy.  Business is significantly up on last year as our reputation continues to grow, which is fantastic news so once again a big thank you to all our customers and an extra special thank you to everyone who has left a comment on our website.  We recently had some Dutch customers who used us and when they called home to tell their friends about our service they simply didn't believe it and had to be pointed to our website to prove we actually do offer this kind of service.  That brought a bit of a smile to our faces.

We are now approaching our busiest time of the season and our commitment NOT to increase prices over the half term period has left us having to stop taking any more bookings this week as we are completely full for that period.  Increasing the price of ski hire during this time is wrong and not necessary.  We'll continue our consistent pricing policy so all our customers can see exactly what we charge and what they get for their money, the very best service with the very best equipment whatever time during the season they come on holiday.

We have our first customers from our Dive Centre business www.diving-gozo.com coming soon to Chatel and we are looking forward to seeing them - though it will be quite a difference from 30'C in Gozo to a chilly -20'C as it is here now. 

We see the UK is experiencing some colder temperatures as well, no doubt the usual chaos will be seen around the country but we hope you are not too adversly affected and make sure you all wrap up well and keep warm!

You may be interested to know that some of our partner chalets have some late availability so if you still haven't booked yet check out http://www.skihire2u.com/links.html for the very best Chalets around.

Finally it may seem a long way away but don't forget that if you are looking for something different this summer then we can promise you a fantastic time on the Maltese island of Gozo.  We can arrange everything for you - all you need to do is book your flight.  Check out www.diving-gozo.com for one of the best diving destinations in the world.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It's been a hectic start to the season so far - it almost seems we haven't stopped working since Chatel opened for the winter.  The beginning of December was a bit worrying as we had no snow and annoyingly the UK press made the most of it by saying this was the end of skiing in the Alps etc.....probably written by someone with no clue about alpine weather.  Come the middle of December the snow arrived and it hasn't stopped since.  We've had an immense amount of snow for this time of year, by far the best in over a decade so it really is happy times in Chatel.  SkiHire2U continues to go from strength to strength and we are working with many more partner Chalets and apartments this year, so welcome to everyone who is using our services for the first time this year.  Check out our partners at www.skihire2u.com/links.html - we've already had some fantastic feedback. 

We've also invested in broadening our range of skis with the introduction of the Salomon Enduro and Shogun to name but two.  Again we have great feedback on them proving once again that our decision to go with top branded and quality items is the only way forward.  We also introduced the Quest boot this year and one comment from a lady who said it was the first pair of boots she had ever worn without pain and couldn't understand why other Ski Hire shops didn't use this boot.  Well that's simple - they go for the cheap poor fitting boot!  We made a promise to our customers never to do that and we'll stick to that promise. We only use top of the range boots to ensure maximum comfort and performance for our clients.

A few clients have contacted us saying they can get ski hire a few euros cheaper with online companies.  We would like to offer a word of caution when doing this. You are almost always dealing with a 3rd party client who only passes the booking onto a shop and then takes a commission, which means the ski hire shop is receiving even less. This is often achieved by providing old outdated and often unbranded equipment and they take your money up front with no refund available.  We have seen unserviced skis simply being re-issued to the next customer giving the client a poor performing ski throughout their holiday.  One customer booked on line only to arrive in Chatel and find out they had to go to Avoriaz (over 1 1/2 hours drive away) to collect their skis.  Is it really worth taking such a risk with your ski hire when you spend so much on your well deserved holiday just to save a few euros?

At SkiHire2U we never take any money up front, we only ask you to pay at the end of your holiday such is the confidence we have in our equipment and service.  Remember we come to your holiday accommodation at a time that suits you to fit your equipment without you having to wait in a queue and return as many times as you wish to change anything during your stay, who else can promise so much? A customer has just emailed us whilst writing this blog with the following comment "It really is a great start to the holiday not to have to queue at the ski hire shop............many thanks again for the great service..........I suppose my only comment would be that you could charge a small premium for the service as it is well worth it and people would be happy to pay for the service."

Finally, Gary Hayler has been out for a couple of weeks helping us out who sadly had to go back to University in Huddersfield but we look forward to welcoming him back at Easter.   We also have Hamish Martin helping us out at the moment. Hamish is one hell of a Snowboarder, have a look at him on Youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3pdZhmZOF8 he's awesome and certainly puts me to shame :) but I do have a great time riding with him.

Remember if you really want the best Ski Hire service around then visit www.skihire2u.com

From Bubbles to SkiHIre2U

It seems rather strange writing a blog about SkiHire2U from our Dive Centre in Gozo, but you only have to look outside at the weather and see that things are changing and  there is a real felling that winter is on its way. It may still be 24'C outside but when you've been used to 34'C it feels markedly cold. We have had a great summer setting up Bubbles Dive Centre www.diving-gozo.com.  It has been a real roller coaster and I know many of you have been keeping track of our progress either through the website or on facebook. In the midst of all this we certainly haven't forgotten about SkiHire2U and we have been busy over the summer sorting out all the orders for the new season.  We'll have even more choice in skis with the inclusion of Salomon's brand new Evolution ski to our range. We'll also be offering the Quest mountain ski boot for those who prefer a more adventurous boot for touring.

One of the things we considered over the summer was the choice we offer our customers  We listened to all their feedback and there was only one decision to make really, continue as we are! So that's what we've decided to do.  We'll continue to offer the top quality Salomon range because our customers were so impressed with it last season we would be foolish to change. We'll continue to offer only the highest quality boots to make sure our customers have comfort on their skiing holiday and we'll continue to offer the very best in our ski and snowboard range.

We are going to invest in some more servicing equipment to make sure our skis and snowboards are kept in prime condition.  Every ski and snowboard is fully serviced after every rental. We'll also be able to offer diamond ski edge tuning to our customers who want thier own equipment serviced, this gives the best and most defined edge you can get.

It's less than 2 weeks until we get back to Chatel and we can't wait.  The work starts as soon as we arrive and we're expecting the first delivery of new skis to arrive shortly after we get there.  We are taking a holiday for a couple of weeks though - setting up two businesses in one year is hard work!

We're really excited about the coming season and are looking forward to working with all our partner chalets and catching up with the many freinds we met last season, including all those returning customers who we had such nice times with supplying their ski hire requirements. The only thing that remains is to do that snow dance and hope that this season enjoys huge amounts of snow :-)

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Best wishes David and Donna

We did it and didn't we do well!

Well the end of season approaches and what a season it has been for us.  We've been really busy but feel like we have established a great Ski Hire service, something we always wanted to do but never knew for sure how our customers would take to it.  Well I am pleased to say the feedback just gets better and better.  If you haven't already done so check out what our customers have been saying about us at http://www.skihire2u.com/guestbook.php.  There is some pretty amazing feedback and what it proves for us is that our idea of focusing on the personal service, spending time with clients and going that extra mile has really paid off and we promise this will only get better next season.  We already have some ideas about how we can make our service even better and we'll be working on these in time for next winter. 

David passed his BASI level 1 and 2 instructor courses and this has further helped our clients by being able to discuss some aspects of skiing techniques during the fitting to make sure our customers can make the very best of their holidays. 

We already have repeat customers who used us early on in the season and have returned to use us again which is fantastic and we feel like we are making a lot of friends as we travel around the valley with our service, many we hope to see again next year.  We've met so many people it would be impossible to mention them all but I have to mention one, Daisy :) she stayed in one of our partner chalets so we first met her during the fitting and  David also had the pleasure of "shadowing" her ski lesson as part of my BASI course.  She had an infectious personality for someone so young and was an absolute pleasure to be with.  We won't mention the song she made up but for those who heard it, it was hilarious!  We hear her family has rebooked next year so we'll look forward to seeing her again.

We've also heard that clients who have used us this year are searching our partner chalets to book with next year as they know the difference our service can make to their holiday.  In fact one customer has since cancelled a booking with a chalet that uses a traditional ski hire shop to book with one of our partner chalets to make sure they get to use our service again. 

We've had many more independant bookings than we expected and someone told us the other night that in one chalet they clean someone has put out leaflet up and put a hand written note on it to say how good our service is and to use us.  So thankyou to whoever that is.

We'd also like to give a special mention to the chalet hosts we've worked with, who all have been absolutely brilliant in helping and supporting us.  You guys have made our job so much easier from cups of coffee, red wine, croissants, baked cakes, canapés and even champagne, the list just goes on.......thank you :)  If you are thinking of booking a holiday next year be sure to check out our partner chalets at http://www.skihire2u.com/links.html

So as our season comes to an end we'd just like to give a great big thankyou to everyone who has used and supported us throughout the season especially out partner chalet owners who had the faith to use us from the start.  You'll always be a special part of SkiHire2U, as will everyone of our customers and all those other people around Chatel who have supported us and promoted us with their friends and contacts.

This won't be our last post of the season as some of you have asked if it will continue during the summer while we embark on adventure number two.  We're going to continue this blog, though the background picture may have to change!  Some of you know what we are up to, if you don't or want to keep up to date on our progress keep checking this blog for the latest developments on our progress.

So finally one great big thankyou to everyone who has been involved, used or supported SkiHire2U this season and very best wishes for the future and we look forward to welcoming you back in Chatel with the best ski hire service around.

David and Donna

It's all going so well

The national holiday periods are coming to an end for this winter which means our busiest time is over and we're really pleased with the way it went.  The feedback continues to be fantastic so thankyou to everyone that has emailed us, we'll be putting the comments on our website very soon.  It's been pretty much work everyday work for the last 3 weeks and only one person lost their skis - well picked up the wrong pair and used them for most of the week but with a bit of investigative work we managed to get back our skis and return the other pair to their rightful owner.

We now have repeat customers who come to Chatel more than once in a season and we're developing a network of great partners and customers who all see the benefits of our service.  Both myself and Donna continue to talk about how we can improve our service even more and we'll be working on some new ideas over the coming months.  One thing for sure is that SkiHire2U is here to stay!  The idea really does work, it's certainly not easy and has taken a huge amount of work to set up but we're really pleased to be in the position we're in now.

As some of our Chalet partners know Donna is the management behind the organisation of SkiHire2U and certainly over the past few weeks the benefits of this has been clearly seen.  Every person who has booked with us has had their skis delivered and fitted on time and the timing of the UK half term week for fittings was done in Donna’s words “with military precision”.  And what a difference that made and continues to make.  Customers tell us that our service is second to none and it's thanks to all this organisation that we are able to deliver such a fantastic service.  One of our partner chalet owners was recently questioned about how we were doing and his reply was “man its a breeze, I don’t have to do anything with ski hire any more, these guys do everything, its brilliant” and any chalet owners or hosts who regularly transport guests to and from the ski shop will see the benefits of taking that task out of changeover day.

The weather in Chatel continues to be sunny and the season overall has been mixed.  I don’t think anyone could call this season a classic in terms of the weather but we've had some pretty big dumps of snow and with all the investment Chatel has made in snow making Chatel has consistently had the best conditioned pistes in the Portes du Soleil and judging by some of the feedback from our clients the best in the French Alps.  It’s still only mid March and there is plenty of season left so who knows what’s in store but we know everyone is living in hope of a few more major dumps of snow.

I start my BASI level 2 Ski Instructor course in just over a week, so we'll be keeping you up to date on that progress and am off practising for it later today.

Don’t forget if you want the best ski hire service in Chatel, Chappelle or Abondance book online with us at www.skihire2u.com or if you want the best catered or self catered acommadation in the area along with our great ski hire service book with one of our partners at www.skihire2u.com/links

So a big thankyou once again to all our partners and customers for helping to make such a great start for SkiHire2U.

Wow - what a great start

Its been a pretty hectic few weeks for us, hence the lack of updates on this blog.  I suppose it was always inevitable that we were going to be really busy in the first few weeks - not just drilling and preparing all the skis but getting the workshop organised and the store room racked out etc, and then to top things off our new IT system was installed but the handhelds didn’t work so we had to do everything manually which took even longer.  Anyway, I'm pleased to say everything is sorted out now - the IT system works and we can book everything in and out using the handhelds which saves us a lot of time on client premises so we can spend even more time making sure our clients get great equipment and everything is set for them.

The business itself is going even better than we could have hoped for.  We've had some fantastic feedback from Chalet owners, Chalet workers and clients which is so important for us.  We're certainly setting ourselves apart from traditional ski hire services and we will continue to build on what we have done so far.  I’d like to say a big thankyou to everyone for the great feedback and particularly to the chalet owners who have supported our business from the start.  We know this was a new service and it took some faith from everyone to support us in our first season and you can now see the benefits from using us.

On the snow side, well that could be better and I am sure we will see some more snow soon......here’s hoping.  I tried out the Storm Inferno Race Carver today which is perfect for these types of conditions and I could certainly tell, it was amazing.  I also went down to see the Chalet Group Chatel’s clients end of week slalom race today, well done to those who entered there was certainly some very good skiers out there today, though I think the best moment has to go the the person (who shall remain nameless to avoid embarassment) who had the most amazing slide down the piste off the edge down the side before coming to a stop near the Poma and then got straight back on the skis and did a great second run by completing the course.....well done!

Don’t forget if you are a friend of SkiHire2U on facebook you get to try out Storm skis for free, we will be promoting this more over the coming weeks and once we get more snow so keep a look out.

We will be updating this blog every couple of weeks or so, so keep a look out and thankyou once again for supporting SkiHire2U.