From Val d’Isère to Eame Hill International: How Our French Alps Operation Grew
For Eame Hill International, the French Alps aren't simply somewhere we deploy teams each winter. They're an important part of our history and have helped shape a service that has developed over more than a decade. Long before Eame Hill International existed, our Director, Darren Twigg, began working winter seasons in Val d’Isère in 2013, as part of the security teams at Dick's Tea Bar and La Folie Douce. Working within some of the Alps' busiest nightlife and après-ski environments provided first-hand experience of the challenges that come with large groups of international visitors, busy events, nightlife and guest welfare. It also highlighted something important, the requirement doesn't stop at the door of a venue. Who supports guests once they leave? Who supports a tour operator's resort representatives when something happens overnight? And how can large organised groups enjoy everything a resort has to offer while minimising their impact on the community and resources around them? Those experiences would eventually help shape Eame Hill International's Resort Support model.
Today, more than a decade later, the operation has grown significantly, but the principles remain simple, Support the tour operator. Look after the guests. Work with the resort. Recognise problems early.
Recognising the Need
The concept developed around a genuine operational need. As the daytime tour operation transitions into the evening and nightlife begins, tour operator representatives can find themselves dealing with situations beyond the normal expectations of their role. Our teams provide an overnight management function for the tour operator, working alongside and supporting their resort reps while maintaining a wider operational picture across the resort. At the same time, we provide a visible and approachable point of contact for guests. That could mean responding to an incident, supporting someone who is vulnerable or unwell, helping a guest who has become separated from their group or simply making sure somebody gets safely back to their accommodation. Not every situation needs to become an emergency. Often, early intervention, good judgement and experienced people being available at the right time can prevent a relatively minor situation from becoming something considerably more serious.
"Good Resort Support isn't about policing someone's holiday. It's about being there when they need you."
Beyond Resort Support: Events & Crowd Safety
Our role has developed to play a significant part in the events and nightlife programme surrounding the winter operation. Eame Hill teams work alongside event organisers, venues and resort stakeholders to support event safety, crowd management, guest welfare and incident response across a range of environments. An important part of this work begins long before an event goes live. Darren leads the development of crowd management plans for the resort events we support, considering anticipated attendance, capacities, crowd movements, ingress and egress, welfare provision, emergency arrangements and the individual characteristics of each venue. The planning also considers the French security environment and relevant counter-terrorism measures, including the Vigipirate framework, helping ensure arrangements are appropriate to both the event and the wider environment in which it is taking place. This is particularly important in the mountains. A nightclub, outdoor event, mountain venue or large organised gathering can each present very different challenges, and there is rarely a single approach that works for every location. Having Eame Hill teams already operating within the resort then provides valuable continuity between planning and live delivery. Our team understand the guests, venues and wider programme, while the plans developed beforehand provide the operational framework for managing the event safely. For us, effective crowd safety isn't about unnecessarily restricting the experience. It's about understanding the environment, planning for foreseeable risks and putting the right arrangements in place so the experience can happen safely.
Working With the Resort, Not Around It
Perhaps one of the most important parts of the operation is something guests may never notice. Large organised groups inevitably create an additional footprint within relatively small Alpine communities. Visitor numbers can place additional demand on public spaces, nightlife venues, medical provision, emergency services and wider resort resources. Part of our role is to help reduce that impact. Through visible teams, effective night management, early intervention and guest welfare, we aim to resolve appropriate situations before they unnecessarily require local emergency resources. When assistance is genuinely required, our teams escalate appropriately. The difference is having experienced people on the ground who can recognise when that point has been reached. Just as important, we don't want to simply operate within a resort. We want to work with it. Our operations are supported through engagement with local stakeholders including the Préfecture, Mairie, Gendarmerie and Sapeurs-Pompiers, alongside venues, accommodation providers, event teams and other local partners. Val d’Isère itself operates through these kinds of distinct local structures, including its Mairie and resort services. Those relationships provide clearer communication and escalation routes and allow concerns to work in both directions. If the resort identifies an issue associated with visiting groups, there is an operational structure through which it can be raised and addressed. Likewise, when our teams genuinely require assistance, they know how and where to escalate. Ultimately, we want the groups we support to be good guests of the resort as well.
From a Winter Season to a French Operation
The operation today looks very different from those first seasons. What began with first-hand experience working within Alpine nightlife has developed into a structured operation supporting tour operators, their resort representatives, guests, events and the communities hosting them. As the operation grew, it became increasingly important for Eame Hill International to establish itself properly within France. There is a significant difference between occasionally sending personnel overseas and building a genuine international operation. France wasn't somewhere we wanted to simply operate in from a distance. Eame Hill International established a registered company presence in France, providing a stronger foundation for our French and wider European activities. The connection has also become personal. More than a decade after first working a winter season in Val d’Isère, Darren is now a resident of France. From joining Alpine security teams in 2013 to overseeing an established French operation today, the journey has been a gradual one, built through experience, identifying a genuine need and developing the service around it. For us, international operations are about more than deploying personnel overseas. They're about understanding the country, its communities, the environment we're operating within and the responsibilities that come with delivering services there.
The Next Chapter: Winter 2026/27
As one winter operation finishes, planning for the next begins. Preparations are already underway for Winter 2026/27, with returning team members beginning the process of joining us again and recruitment for new members of the winter team following shortly. For those who join us, a winter deployment offers much more than simply another operational role. Team members have the opportunity to live and work in some incredible Alpine surroundings, ski or snowboard during their time away from duty and become part of a close team of like-minded professionals. It's also an opportunity to gain experience that can be difficult to replicate elsewhere. Working overseas, supporting a tour operator and its representatives, engaging with local stakeholders and operating across guest welfare, events, crowd safety and incident response provides our personnel with genuine responsibility and an opportunity to develop both professionally and personally. Many of our team return for multiple seasons, and that continuity is something we value. Experienced returning personnel bring valuable resort knowledge while helping newer members understand the environment and develop within the role. Each season also gives us an opportunity to review and develop the operation further, from training and team selection to compliance, night management, guest welfare, event and crowd safety, and our relationships within the resorts.
Looking further ahead, our mission is to continue developing Eame Hill International as a trusted operational partner to leading UK and European snowsports tour operators and winter festival organisers, providing experienced teams and practical support from early planning through to live delivery in resort. But while the operation continues to evolve, the principles behind it remain straightforward, Support the tour operator. Look after the guests. Work with the resort. Recognise problems early.
For Eame Hill International, the French Alps remain a particularly important part of what we do. Not simply because we operate there, but because our experience in the mountains has helped shape the service and company we have today. From Val d’Isère in 2013 to an established operation in France more than a decade later, we're looking forward to the next chapter, and another winter in the French Alps.
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