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Well, welcome to the Whiteout Podcast Live. Great to see you all here today, and great to see these fantastic athletes join us. We're super lucky. Give them a bit of a round of applause, 'cause it's great- -coming. It's, the enormity, like, you see people arrive and see these guys and girls, and you see it on their face when they arrive and they're like, "Wow," like, you know, "I'm in front of people who have, who have done spectacular things."

It's our second podcast live out of nearly 100 episodes? Yeah, we're almost on our 100th episode, so, you know, feel free to catch up on all of them. And only our second live one. First one was last night's. We're a little bit more rehearsed than we were last night.

can't guarantee we're gonna be loads better. But, anyway, we're off the back of a massive winter. and obviously we're still sort of riding high, and we came up with the idea of introducing you to some of the athletes straight after the Olympics. And it was an incredible season really, as it always is for really a nation of, skiers that we haven't really got proper mountains, have we?

Not, not in the true [00:01:00] sense. we perform incredibly on the world stage, and it's thanks to obviously some of the guys we've got here today, which is fantastic. Before we get into it, a quick thank you to, Crystal Ski Holidays that have sponsored tonight. they've helped make it happen to a small degree, and a large degree actually.

Big thank you to Crystal. Obviously, they take thousands of people on holiday to hundreds of destinations. you probably know Crystal very well, 'cause they've got an office downstairs here, which is super handy. so they know what they're doing when they're taking people on holiday, and they're gonna ask a few questions a bit later on to the athletes tonight.

also a big thanks to GB Snowsports for bringing together the athletes for tonight, which is great. And also we've got Snow Camp here as well, youth charity, for Snowsports. They're around. Morv's gonna come and say hello to you. Morv, do you wanna come up and say a quick hello- Yeah

Yeah. Thank you guys. Thanks for having us here. so Snow Camp is a national youth charity. We have been working with young people since 2003, and our mission is to get young people who'd never get the opportunity to ski or snowboard involved in snow sports. So [00:02:00] we are connecting with young people from underserved backgrounds across the UK in some of the UK's big cities and we're connecting them and teaching them to ski and snowboard, which then helps them with life skills, developing to their futures.

it's a really amazing cause. It's an am-awesome charity. We've got some young people at the back here who've, been through our program. they are a part of the charity and have kind of come all the way through our full year program journeys. so yeah, thank you for having us here.

It's exciting to listen to this podcast live. we also do lots of different things to fundraise money for Snow Camp as a charity. We have, an event at the end of every April. it's called The Three Valley Rally. It's hosted in Val Thorens. It's a really cool event where you get to take a group out, and you do lots of different activities and tasks to, compete against other teams.

And within that whole event, you raise a lot of money, hopefully for Snow Camp, and we can help [00:03:00] support more young people to gain access to the sport that we all love, that, you know, is not an accessible sport. So, yeah, that's what we're all about. here to chat if anyone wants to ask any questions at the end.

All right, over back to you guys. Thanks, Morv. Thank you. Thanks, Morv. and I'd just like to say I was recently at The Three Valleys Rally myself in Val Thorens, and I must say, if you're competitive and you like skiing or snowboarding, and you wanna have a lot of fun and raise some money for that fantastic charity, then The Three Valleys Rally is a brilliant thing to do, and it's gonna take place again in April in 2027.

I was blocking the microphone there. Thanks, Dom. So without further ado, I am going to introduce the fantastic athletes that we have on our panel this evening. I'm gonna start with Dave Ryding, Britain's most successful alpine ski racer in the modern era for sure, probably ever, certainly ever.

World Cup alpine [00:04:00] skiing winner, seven times podium placed alpine ski racer, five times Winter Olympian, and now TNT race commentator as well. as well as being a dad and apparently gonna be a new dad again soon as well. thanks for coming along tonight, Dave. it's fantastic to see you.

Menna Fitzpatrick, thanks so much for coming. Three times Paralympian skier- world champion in downhill and super-G and slalom. Multiple Paralympic medalist: gold, silver, bronzes, you name it. Six medals in total. Definitely one of our most successful Paralympians of all time. So thanks so much for coming, Menna.

And sitting next to me here, Tom Greenway was in Hemel last night as well. Thanks so much for doubling up. You've done Hemel and Manchester. Don't know what one's gonna be better. Probably Hemel, I think. Boo. No, I'm only kidding. I'm joking, I'm joking. British [00:05:00] slopestyle and Big Air champion, World Cup freestyle skier, spends a lot of time upside down.

not used to sitting this way, around, Tom, I think. But, thanks again for coming along this evening. Handing back to Dom.

So it's not often we get a chance to sit down with, royalty like this. And, starting with Dave, we've got a few questions to ask these guys, and we're gonna open up to you as well if you've got any of your own questions. But I think one of the things that I recognized, Dave, tonight was sitting with you just for a few minutes, was understanding your mindset, you know, of how you got to the stage you got to when this is pretty much as good as it gets in terms of skiing in the UK, and getting under the skin of how you...

When that switch turned on for you, I guess, is the first thing is w- what made it happen for you, do you think? yeah. What made it happen? I wouldn't say there was a switch. I think it was a process over time and a [00:06:00] consistent learning of what's working, what's not, and then over time and, being honest with yourself, being accountable with yourself and just trying to get better each day.

Each season, reassess what was good the season before, what didn't work the season before, and it was just that relentless, mindset or whatever it was to just bettering yourself. And, yeah, I don't know if it was always instilled in me. ever since I was training at Pendle, I never had the indoors.

They weren't around when I was... when I were a lad, 'cause I'm pretty old now. And, yeah, I just always wanted to improve and always had this single-mindedness to, to get better. Were you super competitive at school? Were you the kid that everyone hated or not? I wouldn't say hated. but I was competitive.

I was definitely competitive. I love sport. I did every sport I could. And, yeah, until I was, like, mid-20s, I wasn't actually that good at skiing even in Britain. I think when I was in my first year in, we call it FIS, but first year as a junior, I look back and it was out of the [00:07:00] 20 guys born 1986 in Britain, I was ranked 18th out of the 20.

so why the heck I decided to keep skiing then, I don't know. But yeah, I loved it and, that competitive nature kept me going for sure. You talked a lot about, the sort of, your structure and the sort of almost need for that constant agenda, that constant push, that constant structure behind what you were doing.

And almost like that work ethic that, you know, every day was a new day and every day was a day to get better. Yeah. That sounds like it was quite a big driver for you. Yeah, I definitely love structure. I definitely love, you know, going about my day to improve however I could. And, yeah, finding the process, finding the structure and kind of now is what I'm trying to find again is a structure in life.

And, definitely if I had that structure, I knew that I could just try and improve myself day to day, and I knew whatever I did, particularly in the summer, would put me in a better position for the winter. I knew if, I didn't necessarily always wanna go in the gym, but I knew if I didn't go in the gym, [00:08:00] I wouldn't be in as good a position in the winter, and winter would've been more like hell than- Yeah

any chance of success. So I was very aware that what I put in would be what I got out. And, I think that's in every walk of life. I don't, it's not, obviously not just skiing, it's, it's whatever you do, what you've put in is, gives you a better chance to, to be successful. Yeah. And how about- 

How about has that switch turned off in a way? You know, like how does that feel? I mean, I sort of liken it, I, I think I talked earlier about, I don't know, a famous person who's no longer required on telly or a radio DJ that gets dropped and obviously you've not dropped, you've, y- you've, you've retired from that main part of your career.

How does that feel? Did that leave a gaping hole? Is it, did you go home and cry for a couple of weeks? Do you need anyone to cry on tonight? No. No. To be honest- Do you need a couch? At first it was more relief. At 39, there's no way I should still be trying to be a slalom skier, that's for [00:09:00] sure. But yeah, it was, I was kind of ready for it, but, I, even now, I'm, I'm, if I'm sitting at home, I'm thinking I should be doing something to grow in other areas.

I hate just sitting around and knowing that I could be improving something, whether that's obviously now doing my own mentoring or trying to be better at commentary. So before I did the commentary work with Ed, I went down with some cards and I did a little bit of research to make sure that I was a little bit better than maybe I would be if I wasn't, particularly 'cause the first one was downhill.

Yeah ... yeah, I just, I just like to try and get the most out of myself. whatever it is, like I try to do the best I can at what I'm doing. and that's just a mindset that I've managed to install in myself Just before I move on to Menna, Dave, I'm gonna throw another question in there because you said, you know, you're 39 years old, why on Earth should I be competing in...

Why should I be competing in slalom racing at 39? But you were [00:10:00]still, the envy of thousands of ski racers who would give so much to get into the World Cup, into the top 30. You're still performing at the very highest of levels. And so that decision couldn't have been easy to say, "Actually, I'm gonna stop doing this while I'm still at the top."

But I suppose that's also quite a nice thing to be able to do. Yeah, I definitely... I didn't wanna just peter out. I didn't wanna do ski racing and peter out at the top 30. I wanted to do it until I knew that... Well, I still wanted to try and achieve goals that I hadn't done, and, I was still trying to do that this year.

if I'm honest with myself, it felt like it was a year too much in terms of, getting in the intensity of focus in the start gate or, all these things that you need to do a good performance. But, that's why I was still there this year. The 20-year-old, 25-year-old Dave was doing everything and anything to be in the top 30.

and that's why I was still there, because I was still in the top 30. I still felt [00:11:00] like I could compete with the best. I had a top 10, I had three top 15s, so it certainly wasn't a bad season. Maybe compared to my previous nine, it was my worst, but- yeah, I still achieved some really good results.

But I also could feel that it was a fine line of still being able to do it, and, I was accepting the fact that... You know, things were happening so fast in slalom. You've gotta be so in the zone. You've gotta be so physically there, mentally there, and, I could feel it was getting harder.

I could still do it with a lot of coffee, but I knew it was getting harder. so it just felt like it was the right time. So thanks, Dave. Menna, I mean, you know, you've had so much success over your career, in World Cup, in Paralympic Games, the three Paralympic Games that you've competed in.

I guess the question is once you get to the top, how do you... First of all, where do you go from there? Where do you go once you've reached the top in yourself? how do you drive yourself further forward to continue being the best [00:12:00] that you can be, and not just in skiing, but in everything else you do?

And do you strive to get to the top in everything, and then how do you stay there? And I think that's the question. I mean, I'm very much like, Dave and I'll very much push myself to the limit and see how far I can go really. That's always been my mentality since I was a, 

since I was a little kid, and that's sort of how I ended up getting into skiing. When you get to the level of the Paralympics, you're so proud to get there of yourself, and you see other athletes pushing themselves even harder, and you almost feel like you've been left behind. And you're like, "Right, I need to be there with them.

I need to carry on doing that." And, even when I won medals, I knew that I had way more in me to do, and I knew that I could push myself even further and to improve the score. Was there a point where you had a goal to get there in the first place? Mm.

And then, and then was there a realization that actually you could... It wasn't [00:13:00] just that you could get there, but that you could win medals, or did you always start off going, "You know what? I'm not only gonna get to the Olympics, I'm gonna win the Olympics"? that's kind of a, a tricky one. so no, I definitely did not go into my first Paralympics expecting to win medals.

I had no idea. I just wanted to experience the whole thing and just do the best that I could. that happened to be medal-winning performances at that time. so kind of lucky in that respect. But when I was a kid, I was like, "Right, I wanna be a Paralympian." And then I was actually on a crystal ski holiday, 

at the age of 12, Steve Redgrave was there. and he brought his, gold medal. And so I put it on, and there's this really cheesy photo of me sat there like, "Yay." and since then I was like, "Right, I really want my own."

Okay. So that sort of pushed me into the competitiveness. and when you're [00:14:00] competing and training- Mm ... how much would you say the balance is between sort of the technical side of what you do and the mental side as well? I mean, would you say it's kind of like 50/50, or do you think you need to work on one more than the other?

For me, it's probably more, psychology. I'm such a, a confident skier, so if my confidence is really high, my technique is really good, and if my confidence isn't, it's terrible. in my standards. so it's very much finding that, again, that limit and pushing the comfort zone to, to move, move higher and higher and higher, from that.

And yeah, especially for me mentally and, and being able to, to adapt to things, 'cause I have to do things so much on reaction- underneath the foot or any unpredictability in terms of, like, jumps, like in speed, 'cause I have no idea where they are. I've just gotta go with, go with the flow. So how do you train for that, then?

basically doing lots of very challenging things, just in day-to-day [00:15:00]life. like I do quite a lot of jumps in the gym that I'm not necessarily confident with. I try and do loads of different sports. I try and go bouldering and try all these sort of different things that I have no idea how to do.

And I'm definitely not good at any of them. but it does help challenge my comfort zone. Yeah, right. Okay. That's really cool. Right, I'll pass over back to Dan. Menna, how... After your first medal- Yeah ... I mean, which obviously must have been a completely surreal moment for you, how did life change for you?

Did life change for you, even when you returned back to the UK? How, you know, how did things change? Yeah. I mean, after the Paralympics, it was mental. Yeah. Let's just say that. I did not stop for probably about three months afterwards, getting invited to a lot of different things. Some really, really cool things.

one of which is that I got to go to the Royal Box in Wimbledon. I got to go to the BAFTAs and hand out a BAFTA, right? [00:16:00] Wow. I got to meet the Queen and got my MBE, and all that sort of stuff. So really cool things- I didn't even think was possible. and I really felt out of place massively, Amazing

because I'm just a- ... a girl from Macclesfield, really, just doing my hobby. Just an Olympic medalist. You know? it's, kind of one of those really odd things, but it's really cool. Yeah. You really embrace that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Did you have people recognizing you in the street? Like, going into a coffee shop and, "Give her a free coffee," or whatever?

I do sometimes. Do you? do sometimes get asked. and yeah, get pointed out, by things. by people, which, yeah, it's always a bit odd, but yeah. If you, if you ever see me, come and say hi. I'll, I'll always chat. Very good. So Tom, on to you. we asked this in Hemel, but it's worth for this audience hearing again.

So you're, it's a completely different discipline. You're upside down a lot. You're doing some crazy [00:17:00] things. when you're learning something new, is it so much now? I mean, I guess you've got lots of facilities for learning new things, but how does that feel? You're gonna take on a new jump or whatever, and you must be falling on your head a lot.

You must be injuring yourself a lot. How do you never find yourself in that injured state, you know? it must be tricky I mean, they certainly do happen. I've had my fair share of them over the course of the last, like, 10 years, but there's so much preparation that goes in through the summer into learning these tricks on these facilities that we're able to get access to, like these airbags and the foam pits and such.

But then there is also, like, everyone has that element of, you maybe tried this trick on the airbag two months ago, three months ago. There's a long time between these seasons, and you get to the sort of November time where it's early season, icy, cold, and you've kind of gotta just kick yourself down the mountain a little bit and, kind of like, there's no, there's no hiding from it then.

Yeah. And when you're doing that, 'cause to somebody like probably the majority of us, it just looks like, it looks a [00:18:00] stylish mess. Like, there's a lot going on. Is that muscle memory, or are you are you genuinely, like every step of the way, you're thinking about every single move? Or is it, has it become such muscle memory that once you're off the top of that jump, you're, you're just doing it?

It's funny you say that, 'cause my mum has watched me ski countless times on Instagram, and she has no idea what any of the tricks are called but no, it is largely muscle memory, and the, the way a lot of people in slopestyle operate is building off the last trick and the last trick.

So there's transferrable elements between all these tricks. and it's kind of finding these subtleties to change and little things to add to improve the score for the next competition as oppo- as opposed to just being like, "I'm gonna try something completely brand new and wing it," basically.

So just constantly building on the la- on the last big thing. Essentially, Yeah. And that must feel super competitive, 'cause you're seeing the next big trick by somebody else, and you're thinking, "Right, they've done that. I'm gonna do this." Yeah, there's the element of seeing what other people have done.

but there's also, in our sport, we, people need to be innovative, and innovation wins [00:19:00] medals. Like, the Olympic gold medalist this year in big air was two tricks that no one had ever seen before. Everyone was a bit stumped and scratching their heads by it, really, but it was, the innovation was rewarded.

So we're forced to think like that as well. Yeah, and how hard is it to mix that sort of push and drive? I guess it's probably the same for all of you, but how hard is it, I guess especially for you, to mix that drive with, "I could really hurt myself here"? Yeah, you'd certainly have to tune out of the possibility of injury.

I've, have definitely become quite numb to it, recently. But it's the nature of the sport, you know? It's, we know exactly what we're doing, but it's just if you can tune out the injury and remain calm, then that usually, will bring out the best performance. how did it start for you?

Tamworth Snowdome. Was it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Like this, Tuesday night. Every Tuesday night at Tamworth. I actually started racing, but- I was getting overpowered by my brother. Then you saw Dave. I saw Dave 

And also my brother was a ski racer, and far bigger than I am. Terrible skier, but- ... far bigger than I am, [00:20:00] so he was naturally beating me, so I chose to switch disciplines and go to freestyle and then it all went from there. And were you straight into it? I mean, did you go, like... You were at Tamworth and you thought, "Right, screw it.

I can't race. Bet I can do that. I'll be better at it than this." Like, the first rail or the first box, whatever, whatever you were doing there, were you straight into it and you were good at it? No. No. No, no, no. I- Not like, not like me ... I was a bit of a late bloomer, I think, in freestyle. Like, the...

I participated in all the events around the country and kind of... I would get decent results, but, like, I was n- I... It was never like, "Oh, look, this kid's one to watch." And then I got into my, like, 16, 17, 18 years of age, and it was when things started to look upwards. I started to get much better, and other people started to fizzle out, and I was like, "Oh, well."

I'm still here. "I'm all right at this. I'm still do- " And, and yeah. And then, I mean, now I'm... That brings me to now. There's hope for all of us. I think it's too late for you, Rob. Anything you wanna add to, to Bobby? [00:21:00] So, Crystal Ski Holidays, they're a holiday company. They have sponsored, this podcast.

They sent us some questions that they would like us to ask, the athletes as well. obviously, questions that are related to going on ski holidays, 'cause that's what they do. but it would be gr- Unless anybody's got a question. They might have a question from the audience for these guys before we move on.

Yeah. Well- What do you think? well, we could do that now. You- Should we do that? Yeah. I mean, has anybody got any questions before we move on to that? if anybody would like to ask anything, fire away. I've got one. Dave, what will you miss- Hang on a minute. Thank you. Hiya, Dave. moving forward, what will you miss from next season, and what won't, you won't miss?

what I'll miss the most is, obviously trying to get the most out of myself. the biggest thing I'll miss is obviously, in the team, you become a family. I'll miss the camaraderie. I'll miss, getting the abuse from the younger guys. I'll miss, the coaching staff. and the biggest thing is obviously when you're standing in the finish area, you've had a good [00:22:00] race, the fans, the atmosphere, it...

I don't think I'll, I'll ever have that again in my life. So, the thrill, the buzz, the sound, just that, like... Yeah, you're in a, a cauldron of intensity, and, and I'll definitely miss that, that sense of achievement, the buzz and the... Yeah, just the, the competition. the... I don't know how I'll find the same sort of, the buzz, other than gambling, but I don't think that's a good idea.

But, yeah, the, the camaraderie, the buzz, the, just that, the, the atmosphere definitely miss the most. And what won't you miss? Oh, yeah, what- 

to welcome you and to give you a bit of a hard one. Yeah, yeah. I won't miss, you know, in the season, it sounds strange, but you, you're in this, like, pressure and I always felt like I had this cloud behind me of pressure, of stress, of performance, and knowing that not every weekend, but every Sunday I was expected to even when I didn't really, like, feel [00:23:00] great, but I was on the television, and you're expected to perform.

And it was that relentless pressure to get the most out of yourself, step up and, yeah, when you didn't always want to, to, to perform. I, I certainly won't miss the stress and that side of it, but, that's just part and parcel of it. But that's the side I won't miss. Dave, will you look back on that one day, do you think, and realize that part, obviously with the incredible career you've had, that that was possibly what helped drive you to do what you did, and actually look at that in a positive way?

Like, now you, you're not having to deal with that kind of stress. Yeah, I think it's also normal. I think probably these guys also feel it as well. And, it's part of sport is pressure. Part of sport is anxiety, and it's dealing with that and doing things you don't want to do and just stepping up and getting the most out yourself.

yeah, I'll definitely miss it. I definitely learnt how to deal with it. but I definitely always didn't like it. So, yeah. On that note of stress and [00:24:00] pressure, to all three of you really, you know, years ago, being a sports person was just going out there and being the best you could possibly be at your sport.

But now the eyeballs are on you constantly, isn't it? With social media and, and even stuff like this. You're exposed, you're kind of doing stuff that you didn't get into it for. How's that in terms of do you feel like you've had to become a, a personality in order to keep up with everything else? 

How, how's that for you, Dave, I suppose specifically, 'cause you're, you're not old, but- Yeah, yeah. Well- Yeah, yeah. Yeah, social media wasn't around when I started, so it's definitely something that I had to, try and adjust to. I, I kind of always, I always just let my skiing do the talking, to be honest. I never really got sucked into trying to be something I wasn't.

I never tried to be anything I wasn't. I just, I was just me. I tried to portray that on social media. I never took myself too seriously. I could always laugh at myself, so I didn't even set up my [00:25:00] Instagram. It was a guy called Charlie Raposo who made- Oh, yeah ... made me do it. so I still owe him one maybe for that.

But, yeah, I just try to be me, but I, I... Th- these younger- Yeah ... these younger athletes will probably have a better- Yeah ... better scope on that. Oh, God, you tell me. yeah, I'm not one really for social media. Okay. Interesting. I don't really do it. I like looking at everybody else- Yeah ... to be honest. So you haven't felt that pressure to need to do that?

I've always stuck to what is best for me- Yeah ... I think. and yeah, all my friends are on social media. They, like, all the other athletes are on it, and that's just not me. I've... I know when it doesn't fit right. it doesn't... I don't get any enjoyment out of it. I don't get anything really from putting myself out there.

I quite like to live a quiet life, to be quite honest. Yeah. but with what I do, I've had to sort of push a little bit further out of that and go, "Do you know what? [00:26:00] Sharing my stories can help other people." Mm-hmm. So I go off that rather than actually being some, like, a personality- Hmm

or an influencer as such. How about you, Tom? 'Cause I tried to tag you tonight, and it said I wasn't allowed to, so- So it, it's either that's only me- No ... that you've, it's only me that you've blocked. I mean, there's a little, little bit of a common theme here, and the... I, I'm... N- neither am I very good on social media either.

I'll show you how to unblock me. See, Everyone says this when they try and tag me in stuff, but I got my phone hacked when I was traveling in China, and since then I've been restricted on social media. So even if I was any good at it, I can't- use it to my full ability anyway. That's what everyone says to me, that they got their phone hacked when I'm trying to get a hold of them.

Same old story. Good excuse. Oh, I don't have any... I don't have any... I mean- I feel like in freestyle you've got so many different tricks. Like, I'm doing- Yeah ... a slalom turn, left, right, left, right. Gets a bit repetitive. Whereas you're doing a, like- ... a, a 1080 triple [00:27:00] salto mcdoodle, whatever you do.

And, like, it looks really way cooler than what I do, so I think you, like, you could really blow- Yeah ... yeah, you could blow yourself up. But I... It almost feels like a job, probably for us- Yeah ... all of the... It feels like a bit of a job, and it feels like almost you, you... This day and age, sponsors, they expect it, et cetera, et cetera.

So it almost feels like an a- an added job- Yeah ... that you don't necessarily want to do- Yeah ... around three hours of training every day when you're tired, and yeah, it's sometimes the last thing you think of. There's also an element, obviously like Dave said, our sport varies in the tricks that we're doing so much.

There's also an... Unfortunately, there is an element of tactics involved 'cause- People, if I go and learn a new trick and someone sees it, and then they, they, they're gonna know exactly what I'm gonna be doing at the next contest. And it's, it's a little bit unfortunate, 'cause I kinda wanna be like, "Hey, look at me, look at- Yeah

this is awesome." But, you know, like, some things you have to kinda keep in reserve and then, and then a few months down the line when the contests [00:28:00] are over, you can- that's really why I wanted to get onto your Instagram, so that I could copy your tricks. You're too clever for me. Right. So yeah, where were we?

Back to- Sorry about that. No, that's good. It was a good little off on a tangent thing. you're gonna go, we're gonna go back to Crystal. Actually, before we go back to Crystal Holidays and their questions, I do wanna mention, I do wanna say thank you to the Snow Centre for, letting us do, the podcast here and at Hemel last night.

And really interestingly, one of the things that we know, and one of the things that we see, is that after this Olympic season that we had, and we've got data to go back on this as well, there's a real big uptake in winter sports in this country, in Great Britain, because we see it all on the TV. You know, we see the stars on TV.

But when the Olympics are on, it's completely different. And I was going out to the shops or I was seeing my mates that don't really ski, and they were like, "Oh, wow, we've been watching the Olympics on TV. Isn't it amazing?"

And it's like, "Yes, it is." And I was speaking to the guys last night at Hemel Snow Centre. They said in February they had a 60% [00:29:00] uptake in bookings all the way from February to May. 60% compared to the same time last year, and that is massive. And what that does is it gets more people into snow sports, which is great for us and great for everybody and it is thanks to these guys, you know, that that happens.

So if you want some pressure, they'd see all their ticket sales dip. Dave Rider, he's rubbish, Mena. When you said athletes at the start- ... I, I thought you meant ski bum now. Yeah. Well, you've got an opportunity, Dave, in the future with Olympics to talk about that on TV and get everyone into it, 'cause it's really, you know, those...

That's also a great side to it, right? Anyway, back to Crystal Ski Holidays and their brilliant questions. I'm gonna start with Mena. How would you describe your perfect ski day? Oh, for me it would be a lovely lie in. To be honest. That is a brilliant answer. Love [00:30:00] that. Yeah. Start with a lie in. Start- Well, that, Mena, that reminds me of a mate of mine that went skiing and, I texted him in the morning.

And I said, "What do you wanna do today?" And he said, "I don't mind as long as it doesn't include skiing." I was thinking, "We're on a ski holiday." Yeah, mine does involve skiing, thankfully. yeah, a lovely lie in, a cup of tea, and yeah, slow, slow wander up to slope and, yeah, perfectly groomed- It's quiet slope, it's, it's perfect Bit of a lunch?

Bit of a lunch? Yeah, probably at some point. Yeah. Yeah. Bit of apres? No, I'm a, I don't- No ... I don't really drink. Skip the apres. yeah. Okay. I don't- No dancing on tables. No. No. Okay. I d- I don't feel like my knees would- Fair enough ... like that, to be honest. Dave, if you could experience any slope in the world tomorrow, where are you heading?

I'm 100% heading to the top of Obergurgl. I was actually meant to get married here as well, but COVID came, so I ended up getting married near Blackpool.

I love it there. but I'd always start with an espresso wherever I go, 'cause I love coffee. I need a bit of energy, but I [00:31:00] would go up there, brilliant view, and, yeah, fresh tracks.

Maybe not the first, like, like Mena, I, I like to sample a good breakfast. But yeah, I'd go up there and, let loose on the fresh colderoy. Is that how you pronounce it? Yeah. Powder if I'm feeling ambitious. With your slalom skis on. 165s. Twitchy. Yeah. And, to Tom, what is the one thing you'll never go on a ski trip without?

One thing you'll never- My AeroPress. AeroPress? Of course ... as a, as a coffee- Yeah ... connoisseur, but an AeroPress has been coming with me the last, since Christmas, actually. I'm impressed. And it's, it's fantastic. Not an advert for AeroPress, but it's, they're amazing.

But if they do wanna send you a new one, that'd be great ... yeah, I'm always- An AeroPress is, you make coffee in the AeroPress, right? You do. Okay. So you take that with you 'cause you can't get decent coffee anywhere. I don't like the machines with the pods- Okay ... and all the, like, you have three, and then the, the tray's full, and then you [00:32:00] can't get the water jumping- I was traveling with a journalist recently on a ski trip, and she takes a travel kettle with her everywhere she goes.

Oh, wow. I do. And, and plugs it in because especially, like, hotels in the Alps, right, they're obviously, even n- really nice ones, they don't have any tea-making facilities in them. Oh. Yeah. This is a shout-out to hotels, especially in France, to get their, to get their, tea-making facilities. Right, Dom, over to you.

And, and not to wee in the kettles in hotels. What's that? She's taking her own kettle in case anybody's done anything in the kettle in the hotel. so- Tom, have you ever been on a ski holiday? Yeah, I went on one this year. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You've been, oh, great, okay. So wh- where, where, where, where has been your favorite ski holiday?

Well, we went to Morzine this year as a family, kind of r- right before the last competition before the Olympics. So I always had to be kind of sensible, which was a shame 'cause my, the rest of my family were having a good time. But, but we ended up getting a, a, end of J- end of January, [00:33:00] massive snowstorm.

Yeah, great snow there. Which was perfect. Yeah. And- Beautiful ... funny to watch my brother fall over 10 years after he quit skiing, so can't complain with that. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. And Dave, this is gonna put you under pressure. The funniest thing that's ever happened to you on a ski holiday. Have you ever been on a ski holiday?

You've probably never been on a ski holiday. I think you said that you'd skied with your wife twice in 15 years, so- Yeah. Has anything funny happened during training? During training, a lot of funny things happen. A lot of things you can't repeat, but, I don't know. I'm a bit bo- yeah, boring on the sense that everything was about training, but, I'm sure

many a funny story with, Billy and Laurie particularly. Betting coffees for who, who... Especially in Saas-Fee, coffees are expensive, and I, coming from the North- ... to get more out of yourself, you put a coffee on a certain run- ... and then, yeah, you- You know you're gonna be the- You don't want to be the slowest out the group-

'cause otherwise it'll cost you about 15 quid for, for three espressos, so, that was always a fun moment, like, like you're al- you're out there with your mates. It's every day is, is [00:34:00] something is fun, and it is what keeps you getting up in the morning as well. Because, like, when we're on the slopes, we're very professional, but you can still have fun around it, so there's always some banter going on.

Good work. And Menna, what three words, would you use to describe how skiing makes you feel? Ooh. Tired. Yeah. Sleepy. Tired, sore, Cup of tea. Cup of tea. Yeah. yeah, probably elated. I don't know, wholesome, and, like, present, I would say. Oh, nice. Wow.

Really nice. I know that's a bit of a philosophical answer- No, we like that. We like that ... but that's good. Yeah. and anybody want to answer this one? You can invite any three people dead or alive to come skiing with you. Who's coming? One each. Yeah, one each. Go for it. This could be a good mix of three people.

Oh, I need to think. Who's coming skiing? I mean, there's a lot of people out there you can invite skiing. Anyone. You've only got one. Yes. And you can't say the ones that you're not allowed to say- Yeah ... 'cause that could...

Yeah. Jurgen Klopp, 'cause he w- as a [00:35:00] kid, he used to go s- training, not many people know, but he used to ski train. He used to train slalom. His dad would take him to the Black Forest, to Germany. And he used to, yeah, he used to actually ski as a kid, as well as football. So Jurgen Klopp is handy on the slopes, 

He was in Kitzbühel this year. So I'll take Klopp 'cause I'm a Liverpool fan. Menna, who's it gonna be? Go on. Oh, Tom's ready. Somewhat relevant, but I would take Peter Crouch. Because we had the opportunity to ski with him this year in January, but it happened to fall directly on the day of a contest.

So we'd kind of arranged that I was gonna go and meet Peter Crouch and Joe Cole, but Peter Crouch is funnier. And then I ended up not doing very well in the contest, went in a tantrum and went and skied off, and then missed the opportunity to go and ski with Peter Crouch, so. It's not because you're hoping he's gonna bring Abby?

No. Well, that too. That's the point, isn't it? Oh, God. I don't know, there's so many. 

I don't know. I would love to see someone like Michael McIntyre try and ski, because- Oh, yeah ... I think that will end up in a snowball situation. I love [00:36:00] that. For sure. Yeah, someone like that. I think that would be pretty cool. Right. A comedian on skis. Tom Houghton, check him out. He's got a great, Yeah

ski joke on his Instagram channel. And Tom, Tom's a funny guy, but he's also a skier and he's got a bit of a joke about skiing. And he's got an interesting story because he grew up in the Tower of London. and that's all I'm gonna say on Tom, 

Right, some quick fire questions from Crystal coming up as well. it's first to Dave. Powder or piste? Powder now, yeah. So yeah, that's it. You're done. As long as it's safe and I've got me record on. As long as it's safe.

And, you know, helmet's on. Oh, yeah, I love powder. Okay. Yeah, I'm, I am normal. Have you done quite a lot of off-piste skiing over the years? Only with slalom skis. Only with slalom skis? Yeah. I love powder. So we're gonna get you some head cores next. Yeah. whatever they throw my way.

Maybe. You know, freebies. Yeah. Any head ones. We'll set you up. And you don't need lessons then, skiing powder? You're all right at that, are you? Well, we'll start easy [00:37:00] and we'll work our way in. Start with a twister, and then maybe- Okay. Yeah ... end up with a back flip. All right. But, but probably won't know that that's gonna happen.

Right. Menna, I think we know the answer to this one already. You've given it away. Yeah. Hot chocolate or hot wine? Neither. Oh. Tea. Oh. Tea. Sorry, British. It's tea. No hot chocolate? No, no hot chocolate- No ... on the slopes? No. Okay. Just tea. All right. Tom, are you into short breaks or a full week? Do you wanna get in and out and do a bit of skiing quality, or do you wanna hang out there in that ski resort and just be skiing?

A full week. A full week. Always a full week. Yeah? Yeah, 'cause our skiing's so condition dependent. If you're only there for a short break, you could get st- stung, so. Okay. Crystal, listen to that. Make sure you keep your seven-night holidays going for Tom. Menna, chairlift or gondola?

Definitely a chairlift. Definitely a chairlift. Yeah. What, so you don't have to unclip your skis? Exactly. Yeah. Never a fan of those [00:38:00] things. And Dave, spa or bar?

Bar. Yeah. Bar? That was a, that was a hesitation there. Is that 'cause you don't like a spa, or you just really like the bar? Yeah, I don't like, I don't like sweating it out with some other, like... Especially in Europe, they all tend to get their clothes off- ... and it's like, well, I don't wanna see... Yeah. Sorry. But you know what it's like.

Absolutely. It's the, too much. Okay. Yeah, get me in the bar now. It's good to know that. I'll have a Calibraza. It's good to know this stuff for the future. Tom- ... are you an ice skater or a sledger? Sledger, for sure. Sledger? Yeah. You, have you done quite a bit of that? I mean- No, but I've been- ... it's dangerous

ice skating once and knocked myself out. So it's like, narrows it down quite quickly, to be honest. Menna, I'mSauna or hot tub? Ooh, hot tub.

Definitely hot tub. Hot tub with a cup of tea. That's heaven. You know me already. Dave, first lifts or [00:39:00] lying? For you. The grand old age of 39 ... I'd go first lift, as long as I can have a good breakfast.

breakfast is my favorite. I've gotta get breakfast and a coffee. That's a fact. Four espressos and go. Fair play. And finally, Tom, fondue or raclette? Raclette. Fondue is far, far too much cheese. Okay, so you like a bit of potato mixed in with it? Yeah, some bacon on some raclette- Bacon ... is good as well.

All right, thank you very much. I'm gonna just put it out there again to the audience. Anybody wanna ask any of these guys a quick question, Any, anyone there? We've got, we've... Yeah, go on, at the back there. Hang on a minute. Hang on. I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming.

Hi there. so I'm also from the Snow Camp, and I've c- come through, like, Snow Camp doing the journey with us. yeah, I just had a question for pretty much any of yous, but, mainly Dave. If you could go back sort of like maybe 10, 15 years in time and, and you had any advice for the younger generation, what would be one piece of advice you'd give to really reach that top [00:40:00] level?

first of all, just enjoy it, you know? if you can enjoy whatever you do, you're in a way better position to be able to do it long term- Even now in my training, I try to do things I enjoy.

and then it's all about being consistent to the process every single day, and giving yourself enough time for that consistency to kind of compound into being something good. Because if you try and do something for a month, you'll improve a little bit. If you can stick with it a year, you'll improve more.

But if you can do it for 10 years, you're gonna be a completely different, not, skier, whatever it is. You're gonna be a completely different person. So if you can stick with something for a long time and be consistent at it, you will be amazed at where you were and where you've got to. Wow. I'm exhausted just listening.

No, I'd say the exact same, really. it's, you've gotta put in the effort to get that outcome. 

Without running the [00:41:00] risk of just sounding like a broken record and saying, "Enjoy it," again, I'll say watch as much skiingindulge in skiing as much as you can. I watch skiing all, like, all the time. Like, it's a constant part of my life whether I'm doing it or whether I'm watching it, and I think that's just an easy way to get inspiration and, and yeah, improve.

got one for Tom. what's your favorite feature on park? see, everyone in the UK assumes that UK skiers are really good at rails, and I'm like, "It's certainly not a strong point of mine." I like a big s- almost scary to hit jump is, like, my favorite thing to hit in my, run.

Scary to hit jump means- that you're scared when you're coming towards the jump or not scared? Definitely. Definitely scared. After, after not hitting, jumps all summer, the biggest jumps we have to hit are in November, and, in Stubai in Austria, and [00:42:00] they are like monolith, uh, 110 foot gap, like, things, and it's just like, yeah, terrifying.

But also, when you get comfortable, it's so much fun. Like, yeah. I'm not scared anymore. Anyone else? Yeah. is there a specific challenging moment you had once it come to a competition, and how did you overcome it?

Yeah, so there was one race in particular that stands out, and it was... We don't race them anymore, but it was a parallel event. And, So it's a head-to-head and a knockout, so if you don't perform on that run, you're out of the competition. And, the... All of a sudden, people started hitting these gates in a certain way that really didn't suit me.

And I remember before the competition, I said to my coach, "I feel like a duck out of water," and I really didn't wanna be there. But I thought, "Right, I'll just try and get through the first round, and, if I get through the first round, it's been a good night." so that, I just reassessed my goals, put my goals just as low as they could be.

I got through the first round, and I ended up [00:43:00] finishing second. and I think it was just because I reassessed my goals for the evening. I put myself in a situation where I thought, "Maybe I can get something out of it," and then got into the flow and, did really well in the end.

Yeah, for me, I was at my first Paralympics, at the age of 19, and I crashed in the downhill, my first event. I was bib number one. had a hell of a lot of pressure on me. and absolutely crashed, and thankfully not injured, but I knew I had to do that same run pretty much the next day. so for me, it was getting through that, "Oh, my God, I could do this again.

I could crash and burn horribly again." but actually I just trusted the process and trusted in my guide and my teammates and, and went, "Do you know what? Let's just go and give this another go." and yeah, ended up h- coming back with a bronze medal, which was... I didn't even [00:44:00] realize. I was so relieved to get through the finish line, after that, that race, I didn't r- even realize.

For me, it's just dealing with the weather. Like, we, we all have had to compete in adverse weather conditions before, but, like, the wind and, the light, the clouds can all play a big part in, the standard of the competition but also your own mindset going into the competition.

So you have to kind of, really trust in your ability to be able to perform.

One more. Hello. so I think, Dave, you touched on it, but I guess it's a question for everyone really, but, you talked about the anxiety that comes with performing a sport and maybe the pressure, but then you talked about how you deal with that and get through it. And I think we can all relate to anxiety and pressure in our lives in different ways.

So what is the main tactics that you used to be able to push through that anxiety and still perform well 

You [00:45:00] got it. I mean, for me personally, like, our sport has so few competitions in a year. Like, I competed five days in the whole season this year, so the pressure definitely adds up and adds up, and it, it's, like, going into the last competition of the season and I'm like, "Oh, I haven't had a good result in the last two, maybe three events."

I guess I try and just remain as calm as possible. It's, something I've worked on the last, 24 months. in the build up to this Olympic cycle was just remaining as calm as possible within training and competition, and that happened to bring the best out of my performance which was, good.

'Cause in an adrenaline fueled sport, it's really easy to get all worked up, and actually doing the opposite of that was really helpful for me. so for me, it was all about sticking to the routine that I know and that I built. I did one race and then tore my ACL this season.

that's the first race I've done in two years. So I haven't had a chance to do any races to practice, before the Paralympics. so it was very much falling back into that, routine and [00:46:00] knowing that that is what works well for me and go through those in almost, like, a schedule type way.

and then also talking through all those processes over and over in my head with other, people. So, like, my guide, my coaches, so they all knew exactly what I was doing. and they knew whether to talk to me or to leave me alone, all that sort of stuff. so yeah, it's all about communication throughout everything, I find and that's, yeah, falling back on what you know best is...

works well for me. I think, yeah, like, if you remind yourself of the, all the work you've done and the plan that you've had that will put yourself in the best possible position, and if you're honest with yourself that you have done everything, then you can at least be as calm as you can that you've done what you can.

and I also like to talk, if I'm feeling nervous, talk to my coach. Say, "I'm," you know, "I'm..." Yeah, I can't say what I'd say to him, but I'd, like- ... "I'm really nervous today." and just talking about it just, it almost frees you, and you feel some [00:47:00] of that pressure going away And also remember that everyone else is probably in the same boat.

it does feel very individual, and you feel like you're in your own little world and bubble, but every other competitor that day is also feeling nerves. and whether it's an exam at school or competing at the Olympics, everyone's got the same nerves, and everyone's trying to get the most out of themselves.

So knowing that it's normal is also a way to just, you know, okay, this is normal, and let's take it on. One for all of you. Bit of a fun one, not so serious. We were out in Avoriaz on a big ski holiday with Crystal. 20, 22 of us, and one of our crowd, who's similar age to us, did the pond skim.

Oh, nice. Have any of you ever done it, and what did you think of it? How did you do it? Not that I'm planning on... Yeah, I, I've definitely done one. Loved it. Yeah. tried to do a 360 into it and didn't [00:48:00] succeed. that's what I remember about a pond skim. It was blooming cold. Oh. But, yeah, loved it. It's great, great, great fun.

Oh. I haven't actually, but it looks like great fun. I'm not sure how it would work with a guide situation. Not, not sure how that's gonna work, but w- I'll eventually give it a go, maybe on my retirement day, though. There's a fun video online of this ski rescue thing where you can get on top- Oh, yeah

and have somebody in the- Yeah, I've seen it. I've seen- ... in the back, and

they both came over together with the float like behind them. I have done a pond skim It was the end of the day. It was spring, end of the season as well, so I was a couple of beers deep, which I think most people are when they try a pond skim. But, I didn't realize that the edge of the pond, at the end of the pond skim is essentially just a brick wall.

I kind of managed to, initiate the skim part successfully and then got a bit too excited, leant back, and was like, "Whoa," and then just hit this wall and, bounced completely backwards and landed sort of [00:49:00] upper back, but I was fine. But it was an eye-opener for next time, for sure. Did you try it?

No. Maybe think about it. Next year. I have also done a pond skim, but it was in 1994 at Coronet Peak in New Zealand- Wow ... on 195 very, very straight old-school skis, and I failed miserably. Right. Thank you very much, everybody, for joining us tonight. Massive round of applause to the athletes for tonight, 'cause they've been-

so proud to be British to see what these guys have achieved and what they're gonna go on to achieve as well. So thank you very much for joining us tonight. Absolutely fantastic Rob, second live podcast done Second live podcast done What do you think? I'm really enjoying this because normally it's just Dom and I rabbiting on about skiing and stuff like that.

And actually we can just sit back and let these guys do it. So I think we should do more of these. Do this more often. Do this more often. Yeah, we do, do this more often. Do this more often. Thanks guys for joining us. Thank you. And thank you all for coming along tonight. Thank you very much. [00:50:00]Thanks a lot.