Britain’s snowsport stars are on a high after Olympic wipeout in Beijing

As the days get longer and temperatures finally begin to warm up after months of bleak midwinter, the start of summer is something many are looking forward to.

But Britain’s snowsport athletes wish the cold could never end as they reflect on the most successful season in their history. Their achievements have been remarkable.

A little over 12 months after bombing at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics – where Britain medalled only in curling – the transformation has been astonishing.

Since the start of 2023, Britain’s snowsport athletes have delivered a record-breaking 50 podiums, 16 gold medals and four crystal globes. The success has been all the more impressive given funding for their respective disciplines was cut by over £2million for the next Olympic cycle.

‘We’ve had 50 medals this season,’ explains Vicky Gosling, chief executive of GB Snowsport.’We’ve had at least a World Cup medal in each of the 12 snowsport disciplines under our umbrella and that’s never been done in Britain before.’It’s been totally unprecedented, literally unheard of.

Mia Brookes became the youngest world champion in snowboarding history back in February

Brookes triumphed in the women’s slopestyle event at the World Championships in Georgia

‘Many other nations are wondering how on earth it’s happening because Britain is not perceived as a competitive snowsport nation!’

So, how has Gosling masterminded such a turnaround in performance while working with significantly less resource than in the past?

Well, it turns out a little bit of help from Formula 1 and sheer hard work and determination from the coaches and athletes has played a big part.

‘My priority was to ensure we had strong foundations in place to provide the athletes with the best support we could ,’ says Gosling, who helped set up the Invictus Games in a previous role.

‘To ensure world class performances we knew we needed world class coaches to complement our highly talented British coaches, including our exceptional head coach, Pat Sharples.’We now employ some of the best international coaches in snowsport from Norway, Canada, Switzerland, Austria and France. With regards to F1 involvement and innovation, our Olympic team was supported by the chief engineer from McLaren who specifically looked at our equipment.’Separately, Williams built us a bespoke sit ski for our ParaNordic Team which was just brilliant!

‘Despite our best efforts in the build-up to the Winter Olympics in Beijing, sadly we had an absolute shocker in terms of results.’We weren’t helped by the challenges of both Brexit and Covid.’We had to comply with the Brexit rules which restricted us to only being able to spend 180 days-a-year in Europe. That made it really difficult when you need access to the snow!’That, combined with the Covid lockdown restrictions, made preparation for the two years leading up to Beijing really tough for our athletes and it certainly took its toll.

‘We were given a medal target by UK Sport for Beijing and sadly when we failed to deliver against it, we were stripped of circa £3m in funding as a result. It was a major hit to our organisation and the significant progress we had made across all of the disciplines over the previous four years. ‘Since then we have dusted ourselves off and come back with a fighting spirit.’Being a nation with grit, I think Brits are good at handling adversity. We’re used to finding a solution to what it takes to win.’

Central funding for snowsport athletes is essential given many of them not only work part time, but also can’t afford the huge sums involved in travelling to Europe on a regular basis and funding things such as accommodation, ski passes and living costs.

Freestyle skier Zoe Atkin is one of the Brits to have tasted success in the year since the Games

Alpine skier Dave Ryding won a World Cup silver medal on the circuit earlier this year

‘We have some athletes who are still in education and others who have part-time jobs representing us,’ Gosling adds. ‘In between competing they are finding other ways of raising revenue to be able to follow their dreams.

‘A lot of parents can’t afford the costs so for us it’s about finding ways of how we can support our athletes. Winter sports have traditionally been underfunded.

‘Most people expect our athletes to be from public schools and wealthy families who are only into our disciplines because their parents can afford it.’That isn’t always the case and we have a number of athletes who don’t come from affluent backgrounds. Some of our athletes, including the most talented in the world, are from fairly humble backgrounds and they sacrifice a great deal to be able to pursue their dreams and to represent their country. ‘I said two years ago it was realistic for us to compete with the top nations and everyone laughed but now we’ve taken Britain to new heights no-one expected.’

In the likes of Dave Ryding, 16-year-old Mia Brookes, Kirsty Muir, Zoe Atkin, Charlotte Bankes, and Makayla Gerken Schofield, Britain has some wonderful talent. The aim is to continue building on this year’s success looking towards the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, where it is hoped being in a European time zone and close to home can have a positive impact on Team GB’s medal hopes.

Freestyle skier Gerken Smith says: ‘It was a very stressful summer when we got the news the funding would be cut in certain disciplines. It all kicked off.

‘Snowsport activities are very expensive and people don’t realise that. With flights, accommodation and ski passes it can be astronomical. But this season has been my best so far.

‘I’ve never had as many good results.’

Lloyd Wallace, another freestyle skier, perhaps encapsulates the life of a snowsport athlete better than most. He is currently taking time away from the sport before Milan to work as an athlete manager. In his career to date, he’s suffered a crash which put him in a coma.

Last year, he and his fellow British athletes had to make a quick escape from Russia following the country’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Bankes and Huw Nightingale won mixed team gold at the 2023 World Championships

Makayla Gerken Schofield claimed a bronze medal in moguls during the World Cup series

‘My discipline has never been funded,’ Wallace says. ‘The reality is I’ve got to do it on my own and I’m fine with that. In 2017, I had the worst crash I’ve ever had.’I don’t remember the day before, the crash, or three days after. I have no idea what happened. That in itself is really weird. I have no recollection.

‘As soon as I knew I was going to be alright there was no doubt I wanted to carry on. There is a fear element which prays on your mind in aerials. I had to go through some tough times to get past that. Milan is effectively a home Olympics. It’s going to be epic.’I’m getting into a spot in my career where hopefully podiums are now likely. I was getting to that point in 2022 but unfortunately the season was cut short as we were in Russia when they invaded Ukraine.

‘I woke up for the first day of training, looked at my phone, and was like ‘Oh God, Russia have invaded Ukraine!’ All of the countries that weren’t Russia and Belarus met in the foyer of the hotel and had a big discussion on what we were going to do. The general consensus was we should get out of there pretty quickly.

‘Life as a snowsport athlete is never straightforward!’