This special episode of The Ski Podcast featuring Val d'Isère legend John Yates-Smith. 

John is just starting his 50th winter in the resort. He started in the 70s in the early years of the British ski industry and went on to run Bladon Lines’ operations in Val d'Isère for a decade. 

In 1991, he co-founded his own chalet company, YSE Ski, which has now been offering ski holidays in VDI for over 30 years. 

Read Iain’s article about Bladon Lines (2:00)

YSE is a Val d'Isère specialist founded in 1991 (2:45)

“YSE is run by hyper-efficient ladies” (3:00)

Fiona Easdale is the ‘E’ of ‘YSE’

“Brexit has been a nightmare for us” (4:00)

John’s first ski season was with John Morgan in 1975/76 (8:00)

“The best skiing in the world and a lot of very pretty chalet girls” (8:15)

Is being a KP the best job in the Alps? (9:00)

John’s brother opened ‘Dick’s Tea Bar’ (12:30)

In 1982, John started working for Bladon Lines (16:00)

The company was founded by Mark Lines and Simon Bladon in 1978 (16:30)

Bladon Lines staff jackets were so colourful they became known as the ‘Parrots’ (18:00)

“I hated my parrot jacket and refused to wear it!” (18:15)

Telex was the typical mode of communication (21:00)

Transfers before the Geneva-Albertville motorway could take up to 13 hours (26:00)

In 1991 John started YSE with Fiona Easdale after Bladon Lines sacked her (33:00)

In 1995, Inghams bought the brand for next to nothing (35:30)

“I was absolutely delighted to see Bladon Lines go” (35:30)

John set up the Bladon Lines summer operation in Corsica (37:00)

The Hotel Valinco was built with sand from the beach (38:00)

John had some attention from the Corsican mafia? (39:15)

“There are no honest people in Corsica!” (39:45)

John’s car was set on fire… (41:00)

“What gun have you got?” (42:30)

I enjoy all feedback about the show, I’m always interested to hear what you think, so please do contact me on social @theskipodcast or by email [email protected] 

Dave Mills: "Great podcast and adds to the excitement of another ski season"

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There are now 241 episodes of The Ski Podcast to catch up with. There is so much to listen to in our previous episode, just go to theskipodcast.com and search around the tags and categories: you’re bound to find something of interest. 

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Cover Photo courtesy of Felice Hardy, Action Packed Travel