The rest of Europe thinks we’re nuts. When the Germans go skiing, they like to check into a traditional Tyrolean hotel, complete with husband-and-wife management team and uniformed waitresses wearing plaits. The French would rather not leave the cooking to anyone else, thank you, and have a penchant for self-catering apartments.

And the Brits? As far as our continental cousins are concerned, we seem happiest if we cram ourselves into a glorified mountain hut with a lot of people we’ve never met before, and entrust the catering to a gap-year teenager who has only recently learnt how to boil eggs. It’s a form of accommodation we call the chalet, and most Europeans wouldn’t venture into one if they were chased there by a yeti.

But that’s only because they’ve never experienced a chalet party as it’s supposed to be. Invented in the early 1960s, the chalet holiday has remained essentially unchanged for the past 40 years. Every week, 10 days, or fortnight, a group of skiers takes over a property in the mountains — be it a converted hotel, a free-standing house or a large apartment — while young English-speaking staff (hired for the entire season) cook and clean for them.

The group may consist entirely of a single party of friends and/or family, or several different knots of people thrown in together. Either way, they’ll eat together at the beginning and end of the day, and relax in a communal sitting room. Bedrooms are private, but toilets, baths and showers may be shared.

There are very good reasons why this kind of holiday has become the UK’s most popular winter-sports package. Yes, standards of cooking at the low-budget end of the market can be uneven. Yes, those cheaper chalets can be cramped. But fill a snug and comfortable cabin with a group of your favourite people and leave breakfast, tea and dinner (as well as the shopping and the washing-up) to an easy-going, energetic anglophone and you have the makings of house-party heaven: a week-long cacophony of conversation, laughter and after-dinner games, interspersed with bursts of death-or-glory activity out there on the snow. And guess what? You don’t even have to pay for the wine at supper — it’s all included in the price.

Chalet holidays have other advantages too. They are, for example, a great way to get to know the mountains. Join a party of more experienced friends and you’ve got an instant entrée into the mysteries of piste maps, ski school and all the other curious and confusing conventions of a winter-sports resort. Whether beginner or veteran, you’ll also be able to soak up the latest information about the best runs, fastest lifts and liveliest bars from your chalet staff.

And by eating in-house for six nights out of seven (staff get one day off each week), you’ll be able to keep a lid on costs. Chalet holidays are not the cheapest on the market if you buy them at brochure prices, but they are the most predictable in terms of cost, and they can get very cheap indeed if you bag a late-booking bargain: unsold rooms at quiet times of the year are often unloaded at ridiculously low prices.

Just don’t imagine that a chalet holiday will suit all of the people, all of the time.

Couples — especially those in search of romance — should book themselves into an upmarket hotel instead. Smaller groups of six or less may think chalets are the solution they’re looking for, but they need to give a self-catering apartment serious consideration. Because, whether they’re basic or beau- tiful, chalets really work best if you can fill the whole property with your friends.

Think about it: do you really want to spend your precious week of holiday time having to share your space with people you don’t know and may never — in 100 years of rictus grins and stilted small talk — grow to like? On the whole, skiing holidays attract healthy, happy, fun-loving types, but there are a few very odd people scattered among them — and if you share with strangers, there’s a small risk that you’ll be getting to know them very well.

HOW TO FIND YOUR CHALET

SO INGRAINED has the chalet-holiday habit become that there are now properties to suit almost every group size, from six to 60, and almost every budget: the most upmarket have standards of decor and catering to match a five-star hotel. These days, you’ll find them scattered right across the Alps and North America, but almost by definition, most are clustered in the truly Brit-tastic resorts, such as Val d’Isère, Méribel, Courchevel and St Anton.

There are three main tools available to help you track down the one that’s right for your group. The first is provided by the brochures and websites of the tour operators that staff and run the properties (see Chalet steotypes, next page).