HISTORY OF YSE
When former Olympic skier Fiona Easdale teamed up with long term Val d’Isère resident John Yates-Smith in 1991 to form YSE, they started with 12 chalets and a mailing list made up of friends and family.
After wasting a few years reading modern languages (mostly Penguin translation) at London University, John went to Germany and ended up as a filing clerk for the Free State of Bavaria, working in a castle. His brother Dick, who later went on to set up Dick’s Tea Bar, got him a job washing dishes in Val d’Isère in 1976. He’s been there ever since!
At exactly the same time Fiona was training with the British Ski Team and competed in the 1976 Olympics at Innsbruck, coming 18th in the slalom and 15th in the combined events. She later spent 3 years working for Mark McCormack’s IMG before getting involved in ski tour operating in 1981.
In 1991 Fiona and John joined forces to start YSE. With just one resort they have been able to concentrate on growing old gracefully surrounded by satisfied customers, happy staff and locals who don’t begrudge them!
There are just a very few firms realistic enough to accept that it is impossible to maintain standards across several resorts. YSE is the Val d’Isère version. Knowing the resort and accommodation perfectly, being big enough in Val d’Isère to have some weight, obtaining the best prices on ski hire, or being able to get the pharmacy opened at 02.00, but remaining small enough to offer a genuinely personal service and being able to answer daily questions on topics ranging from ‘who is the top instructor for bumptious children?’, to ‘do I have to take my skis off to get on the bus?’.
Now, with 26 chalets and one weekly charter flight, YSE runs the neatest operation in town.
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