Staff

Sally Thornton (Australia) - World Centre Manager

Sally is from Canberra, Australia and has been at Our Chalet since 2009. She loves the beautiful Swiss Mountains as they give her the same feeling of home as the Snowy Mountains in Australia where she grew up. She has been involved in Guiding since early childhood and is passionate about WAGGGS and in particular the opportunities provided for international friendship and personal development at all of the World Centres. Having been the Manager at Sangam World Centre in India for six years, she loves the different challenges and contrasts between cultures that are so much a part of world centre experiences. 

Korana Koka Kovacevic (Slovenia) - Deputy World Centre Manager

Korana aka Koka comes from Slovenia and has been involved in Guiding and Scouting since like, forever. From starting as a Rover to being an International Commissioner of her association. She is interested in the environment, people and leadership development. One of the reasons she chose to live and work in Switzerland is the great outdoors with endless hiking, skiing and thinking opportunities. She believes there is a leader in every one of us and is keen on providing opportunities for staff development as well as ensuring best Our Chalet experience for all the guests who visit and stay with us. She believes that life is fun and good, and that being happy every day is a matter of choice! 

Katie Scales (United Kingdom) - Programme Manager

Katie is from Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom and has been enjoying all the fun and challenges that Guiding brings for over twenty years. She first discovered the magic of Our Chalet when she finished university, and hasn’t really left since! Katie loves the outdoors, and spends most of her free time (and often work time!) exploring and having adventures in the mountains, whether she’s hiking, skiing, Klettersteig’ing’, snow shoeing, or wild swimming! She firmly believes in personal and leadership development through outdoor challenge and adventure, and is working to make sure this is as present in the programme as it has been for the past eighty years. Katie is very passionate about the history and traditions that surround Our Chalet, and thrives on the challenge of making the programme the best it can be, always making sure our guests get the most possible out of their stay. So, whenever you choose to visit Our Chalet, Katie will be there to make sure you're welcomed to your Swiss Guiding home with a smile! 

Catherine Catt Moody (United Kingdom) - Guest Services Coordinator

Catt is from Surrey in the UK and has been in Guiding for 14 years. She is one of those people who once visited Our Chalet, fell eternally and passionately in love with it. She visited Switzerland several times in her teens and has returned as a Winter volunteer in 2011, continued as a Guest Services Volunteer and now she is a member of the Long term staff at Our Chalet. She loves sports, especially hiking and snow fun stuff! As an ex competitive swimmer water is her natural habitat however snow does pretty good job too. Catt is very friendly and quirky girl with lots of ideas how to keep everybody happy and her office buddies constantly on their toes. Her creative brain solved many a problem at Our Chalet. Recently Catt is working hard to beat the world records in number of daily "Cat Love" cuddles and laughter outbursts! Go Girl! 

Katy Runacres (United Kingdom) - Catering Coordinator

Hey, Im Katy and Im the Catering Coordinator from Suffolk in the UK. I previously volunteered at Our Chalet in Spring 2011. I am looking forward to learning Swiss German and enjoying the Swiss Cuisine whilst I am here! I have been a part of Girlguiding UK since being a brownie and now I am a Guide Leader currently also doing my Queens Guide Award. Apart from cooking and my passion for food I love hiking, travelling and trying different sports! I look forward to the exciting opportunities at Our Chalet and in Switzerland : )

Michael Ling (United Kingdom) - Grounds and Maintenance Assistant

“Michael is from Suffolk in the UK and is very much enjoying his first experiences of Guiding as a member of the Our Chalet staff team.  He first came here two years ago when visiting his girlfriend Katy (a spring volunteer at the time) and was blown away by the beauty of Adelboden, the mountains and the old wooden Chalets. He never dreamt that one day this place would be his home and he’d even have his own little tool shed! As the grounds man of Our Chalet, you’ll find him pottering around outside, fixing things, chopping firewood, driving the minibus and clearing the vast amounts of snow with Boris (our ride on mower and snow plough). He loves to simply be outdoors whether it be skiing, tennis, hiking, making things from wood, tinkering with classic cars (though more recently Boris) or just laying out in the sun. In the summer he also teaches tennis to the Swiss kids and he’s working hard on learning their lingo!”

Nicole Grossen-Wilhelm (Switzerland) - Bookkeeper

Nicole is one of our two Swiss members of Long term staff. She studied accounting which eventually brought her to Our Chalet as a bookkeeper. Nicole as a true Swiss at heart is a life time devotee to white sports - perhaps being a Ski Instructor at Adelboden Ski & Snowboard school for several years has something to do with it. She has two young children and a very patient husband. Nicole works with us on Mondays but we are of course always badgering her to come more often, even only to give us beginner ski tips and have fun with us. She is also one of those efficient, hard working young women who simply knows ho to just "fix things" comes to numbers, or taking calls in Schwytzerdütsch, an exotic language which none of us can really understand. She is fun too and joins us keenly in laughing our Mondays off. 

Melanie Mel Portelli (Australia/Malta) - Guest Services Intern

G’day mate!
I’m Melanie from Cairns, Australia. I’ve been involved in guiding through various roles since I was 7 years old and was lucky enough to travel to the Four World Centres in 2011. On this journey I visited Our Chalet and fell in love with the picturesque landscape and friendly people. When I found out there was a position available as Guests Services Intern I applied, and to my surprise I was accepted. Knowing I was coming to Our Chalet as the Guest Services Intern I was extremely excited and couldn’t wait for the adventures to begin. I enjoy being outdoors, craft and everything guiding. I am a proud Girl Guide and believe that the opportunities available through the organisation are endless. I can’t wait to experience a new culture, make new international friends and challenge myself to new heights.

Gaenor Harries (UK) - Programme Intern

Gaenor is from Leicestershire in the UK but sees Our Chalet as a home away from home! She has been in Guiding since she was four years old and a significant highlight of that time was being a Winter Vollie at the Chalet in 2011-12! Gaenor especially loves all outdoor adventures including spending lots of time up in the mountains but also out at sea sailing and kayaking. She has spent time working in the outdoors with young people since leaving University and is super excited to be back in the glorious abyss called the Swiss Alps!  Gaenor loves everything that is ‘Our Chalet’ and is ready to be a part of every new experience the Programme Intern Position is all about. 

Emma Hill (United Kingdom) - Our Chalet Assistant, Spring

Hi, I’m Emma and I’m from Stockport in the UK. Over the past few years, I’ve been on a bit of a journey; I finished my history degree in 2010, worked for a year, then started a Pastry Chef NVQ before finding a job in a bakery. And now my journey has led me to Our Chalet! I’ve been involved in Guiding since I was 5, mostly volunteering in my local community, but the time seemed ripe to take advantage of the international opportunities that Guiding has to offer. Apart from baking, Guiding and history, my interests include running (although an injury is making that a little difficult at the moment!), water-skiing (I’m hoping there a transferable skills to snow skiing there), reading, music and the odd bit of craft. I’m looking forward to seeing and trying plenty of new things while at Our Chalet… especially copious amounts of Swiss chocolate!

Petra Stipanič (Slovenia) - Our Chalet Assistant, Spring

Who am I and what I do/would like to do? This is hard to define, is better to ask who I am not, and what did I not yet do, just because I would like to do EVERYTHING and I like to try as much different things as possible before I grow up. My dreams are big and on the way to fulfilling them I decided to stop in Our Chalet and get new inspirations, make new acquaintances and fulfil loads of new challenges. I am not really a mountain person so it is going to be very exciting to see my progress in getting use to all the snow fights (that I am going to win), snowshoe hiking (that I am going to survive without braking any legs) and making snow sculptures (by unleashing my hidden talent). Ok, what I know for sure is that my name is Petra, am originally from Slovenia, and just to warn you- I am very clumsy.

Kayla Peebles (USA) - Our Chalet Assistant, Spring

Hello! I’m Kayla from Texas, USA. Although despite what you might think, I don’t ride a horse to school! My scouting experience began when I was only five, and it has changed my life in many ways ever since. In 2007, I was lucky enough to visit Our Chalet with my troop and fell in love with the opportunities here. I vowed to come back as a volunteer – and here I am! In between, I received an Elementary Education degree from the University of Texas, became a yogi, and studied abroad in Barcelona! I love to try new things. Skiing, sledding, parasailing, and making a real snowman are on my list this Spring. I am excited to meet people from all over the world, so if you happen to see me around the Chalet, make sure to say hi! 

Heather Jennings Brown (Canada) - Our Chalet Assistant, Spring

Hi! I'm Heather and I'm from Canada. I was born in Labrador, but I live in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories with my husband and two rabbits. I'm no stranger to snow or cold weather, so you'll often see me in short sleeves here at Our Chalet. I work as a childcare provider, though I like to think of Guiding as my 'full-time job'. I have been a member of Girl Guides of Canada for 20 years, and am currently the District Commissioner for the village of Fort Simpson, where I also run the Spark, Brownie, Guide and Ranger units. Being from the North, I love to go snowshoeing, so I’m looking forward to doing a few small hikes along the mountains. I also enjoy crafting, especially knitting and needlework.  This is my first trip outside of North America, so everything is still very new and exciting for me at Our Chalet. I hope to learn plenty about Swiss culture during my time here, and plan to spend quite a few days visiting local towns. 

Helen Tung Yep (United Kingdom) - Our Chalet Assistant, Spring

Hi! I’m Helen from the UK. I come from St Albans, a small city just north of London. I have been a member of girlguiding since I was six and am currently a leader at a local Rainbow Unit (girls aged 5-7). I have just finished school and am going to study History at university in September. I visited Our Chalet with my Guides back in summer 2008 for a week and had such a wonderful time that I knew I wanted to be back someday. Now I am on my gap year I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to return – it is just as beautiful as I remembered – although last time there was a lot less snow! I am looking forward to taking advantage of all the opportunities Our Chalet has to offer – such as skiing, sledding, eating chocolate and even paragliding – as well as meeting new people and making friends. 

Wooseon Jung - Irene (South Korea) - Our Chalet Assistant, Spring

Hi. I’m Wooseon Jung from South Korea. You can call me ‘Irene’. I’m really happy to work in Our Chalet. I have been a leader for brownies and juniors since 2008. As far as my personality goes, I am quite outgoing and get along with other people very well. I love to get along with my friends. I also have a positive attitude and don’t get stressed out that often. So I worked to my advantage for scouting. I’m looking forward to traveling to another city in Switzerland whilst I’m here. I love traveling and meeting new people. Mixing with different backgrounds and nationalities far outweighs spending a year in a book. Please don’t hesitate to become my friend:)

Skippy Storrow - Our Chalet: Mouse Catcher and Friend

Skippy is from Adelboden in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. Her Scouting experience is quite vast as she has spent much of her time at Our Chalet. She explores the grass, eats bugs and protects the grounds and guests from any possible predators like marmots and slugs. In her free time she likes to soak up rays, catch mice and chase cows.

Meow :)