Who we are

Having spent more than 25 years running a catered chalet company and living in the French Alps, we want to inspire a new generation of keen skiers and cooks.  Our practical chalet cookery course during the months from May until November covers all aspects of hosting and cooking in a ski chalet.  With experience not only training our own chalet staff over the years, but also working as a freelance private chef and as a restaurateur in France, Mel, your tutor has a great passion for food as well as skiing which she believes to be the perfect blend to make an ideal chalet host.  Everything is cooked from scratch - using fresh ingredients.  You'll be amazed at what you can produce by the end of the week and it will give you a new enthusiasm to cooking at home. 

Where we are

The courses will be held in Chalet Viva, a real chalet which is situated in the heart of the lovely traditional village of Peisey Nancroix in the French Alps, at the gateway to the National Vanoise Park.  They run from May until November for the duration of a week. Take a look at the selected dates as they do not run every week. There are lots of great activities, easily accessible during the summer months, making this a really fun playground for all ages.  Mountain biking, hiking up to a glacial lake, foraging mushrooms, climbing a rock face or canoeing down the white water, there is something for everyone to enjoy, even if you just prefer to sit by the swimming pool in Les Arcs!

Why choose us

Courses are based in a typical Alpine Chalet in a French Ski Resort, you gain first hand experience not only with the cooking course but also how everything operates in a working chalet. This experience means you can hit the ground running when you take over a chalet in the alps.  Having run our own catered chalet company for over 20 years we have a long list of companies who seek staff for the winter season and some companies will visit the chalet to interview you while on the course, it's these extras that make Snowcooks the most sought after courses in the alps.

With a wealth of experience as not only hosts and cooks, but in chalet staff recruitment, we can confidently lead you to offers of seasonal employment with a chalet company.  What a great way to combine learning cooking skills, which will not only stay with you for life, but also give you the confidence to run a ski chalet at the same time as staying in a beautiful location and enjoying some incredible alpine activities such as white-water rafting or Via Ferrata.  You'll also get to meet other like-minded people, whom you may even end up working with. We offer a week long course at an affordable price which is enough time to follow a chalet menu plus learn the ins and outs of hosting a chalet.  If you have had some cooking experience, we also offer online courses based on 20 hours plus homework assignments - these have proved popular this year and students are still managing to get jobs based on doing the course this way.

If you are more interested in a holiday in a mountain village during the summer with some cooking classes rather than working a ski season, we can also offer groups a week's package.  You will get to eat the food too!

Competition is fierce for the jobs, especially since Brexit, so at least a chalet course will give you a fighting chance!  Most students have successfully secured a job in a chalet for the ski season as a result of completing the course....some are still here and others have gone on to work on yachts, barge cruises and in restaurants.  Your life could take a new direction but one thing is for sure - you'll never look back.