I am a 30 year old wife and mother of one, who has been skiing consistently for just over 12 months. I dabbled in private lessons at Runcorn Ski Centre around 10 years ago, and took to it quite well, but never stuck to it.
I grew up around boats and during my teenage years finally learnt to Wakeboard and Waterski, which I think put me in good stead for snow skiing as some of the fundamentals are very similar. Snow skiing is something I always wanted to do even when I was younger, but my parents were never interested and had the view of ‘its not a holiday if it’s not hot’.
Fast forward to 2019, I agreed to meet up with some family members in Sauze d’Oulx for a weekend skiing, which gave me the excuse I needed to book lessons and stick with them. I started taking lessons in September 2019 at Chill Factor E in Manchester and by November 2019 I was confidently skiing red runs during a long weekend in Obergurgl, Austria. Sauze d’Oulx in February 2020 was a learning curve, I needed to pick up my pace, and by Borovets, Bulgaria in March 2020, I had picked it up considerably whilst skiing black runs and some ‘Closed’ runs with naturally occurring mogul fields. Granted, slower than the groomers but I got down unscathed.
Up until lockdown I got two sessions a month in at Chill Factor E at least, would love for it to be more. I had a private mogul lesson just before Lockdown 3.0 and am itching to get a full afternoon of mogul training with third party tutoring company, In Depth Snowsports based inside Chill Factor E.
Prior to Obergurgl, I got myself a pair of Dynastar Intense 10 piste skis, which are fantastic but as my skills and confidence grows, I want to be able to explore more of the mountains. As well as putting the time into getting better at moguls, I would love to venture into the world of off-piste skiing. So, in summer I purchased a pair of Nordica Santa Ana 88 All Mountain skis, which I planned to take to Banff, Canada in January 2021 for my 30th birthday, whilst throwing myself down Delirium Dive at Sunshine Village. But disappointingly this did not happen due to Covid-19. Although we have deferred the trip to January 2022 and hopefully, I will be luckier for my 31st birthday and have some more time experience to tackle that off-piste run.
I love to keep myself up to date with the skiing community via Facebook, Instagram and also peer lead forums such as Snowheads. I would love to get more involved with the community in other ways and get more involved in the conversation!
I saw the opportunity to become an ambassador via @nationalsnowshow Instagram page ….for which I had already bagged a pair of tickets for myself and my husband, who has been skiing for approximately 20 years. Although, I am relatively new to the sport, I feel I would really enjoy this role, getting to meet new people with the same interests and really getting involved with the snow community, whilst showing others it is never too late to learn. If you are thinking about it, do it! I would really love to drive that message it is never too late, and it’s so worth it, because thrill, rush, adrenaline and fun of whizzing down the slopes aside, there is no better feeling than clipping in to those skis and getting that first chair lift of the day, the first run of the day, those mountain views, you will never forget it. It will always be leaving you wanting more. Snow sport is addictive, and I would love for others to find out. I think I would genuinely consider becoming an instructor one day and would also love to try new elements of snow sports, such as nordic skiing as well as learning more, such as avalanche awareness.