British Skiers & Snowboarders Make Sporting History

It’s a record for the Brits and it came with a World Cup silver medal for ski cross athlete Ollie Davies in Reiteralm, Austria on Friday 17 February.

It was a double celebration as it was Davies’ first World Cup podium of his career.

It will send him to the Freestyle World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia this week with confidence.

He will be the first Brit to take to the snow in the ski cross qualifiers on Thursday 23 February.

Two years ago at the World Championships in Idre Fjall, Davies almost made it onto the podium with a 4th place.

The results across all disciplines – including 10 gold medals – are particularly welcome following UK Sport’s decision last summer to cut funding from GB Snowsport.

“It’s been so incredible to see medals in every one of our disciplines this season and with some of the biggest competitions of the year still to come we have real hopes of expanding our tally,” Vicky Gosling, CEO of GB Snowsport said PlanetSKI.

“It’s no secret that this has been a tough year, but our team is truly proving that we have the guts, determination and skill to be among the best in the world.”

Vicky Gosling, CEO of GB Snowsport. Image © PlanetSKI

GB MEDALS THIS SEASON (all World Cups unless otherwise noted)

snowboard cross

• Gold—Charlotte Bankes x 3
• Bronze – Charlotte Bankes x 1

ski cross

• Silver – Ollie Davies x 1

Ollie Davies wins World Cup silver at the Reiteralm. Image © FIS Freestyle GEPA Pictures/Harald Steiner (c/o GB Snowsport)

moguls

• Bronze – Makayla Gerken Schofield x 1

freeski

• Gold – Zoe Atkin x 1 (X Games)
• Silver – Zoe Atkin x 1
• Silver – Kirsty Muir x1
• Bronze – Kirsty Muir x 2 (X Games)

Zoe Atkin, Gold in the Ski Superpipe at X Games Aspen 2023. Image ©Jamie Schwaberow/X Games

Freestyle snowboard

• Silver – Mia Brookes x 1

cross country

• Bronze – Andrew Musgrave x 1

alpine

• Silver – Dave Ryding x1

Dave Ryding on the Kitzbühel podium, January 2023. Image © KSC/Julian Jamnig

Para snowboard

• Gold – James Barnes-Miller x 4
• Gold – Ollie Hill x 1
• Silver – James Barnes-Miller x 2

Para Nordic

• Silver – Scott Meenagh x 1

Para Alpine (all World Championships)

• Gold – Neil Simpson & Rob Poth x 1
• Silver – Neil Simpson & Rob Poth x 1
• Silver – Menna Fitzpatrick & Katie Guest x 1
• Bronze – Neil Simpson & Rob Poth x 1
• Bronze – Menna Fitzpatrick & Katie Guest x1

telemark

• Bronze – Jaz Taylor x 2

The season’s tally so far made us reflect on what in 2017 looked like a hugely ambitious target announced by the national governing body.

Called British Ski & Snowboard at the time, it confidently declared that it aimed to become a top 5 winter sports nation by 2030.

Not only in the traditionally strong park & ​​pipe events, but across the ski and snowboard disciplines.

Then-performance director Dan Hunt’s announcement brought a few jaws down, including ours.

But since then we’ve been watching how things are going.

After seven years, we are no longer 100% convinced that this is a pipe dream.

Of course, some veteran performers will retire by 2030, but the youngsters emerging behind them are already delivering the goods.

Vicky Gosling remains optimistic.

“We have our ambitions really high for this decade and have no illusions that there is a lot of hard work ahead of us,” she told PlanetSKI, “but the performance and development of British athletes is really starting to speak for itself, and I don’t see one Reason why, with the right support around us, we won’t be able to deliver even more historic achievements in the years to come.”

The real question is whether the momentum of recent years can be maintained.

And most importantly, what is happening with GB Snowsport’s funding and how it is dealing with what it has.

To say the funding situation has been a rollercoaster ride is a bit of an understatement.

This is how we saw the situation in 2020, just as news broke that UK Sport had more than doubled its funding for GB Snowsport:

And then in the summer of 2022, when Alpine, Cross-Country and Para Nordic all lost their funding despite some great results:

Image c/o GB Snowsport

The funding cut was a major disappointment for GB Snowsport, which made some tough and sometimes criticized decisions.

The governing body used to support European Cup teams, made up of athletes striving to reach the next level and move up to the World Cup team.

The Europa Cup program no longer exists.

Some of those who were present have spoken out about the decision, which they say made it impossible for them to fund their sport.

One is alpine skier Rob Poth. He acts as a guide for visually impaired para-skier Neil Simpson and has won three Para-Alpine World Championships medals with him this season.

Rob Poth at the 2017 British Alpine Championships. Image © PlanetSKI

“Following the total collapse of the GBS Europa Cup program last year I had no choice but to work and explore different ways to have time in the snow without spending thousands of pounds that I can no longer afford. ‘ Poth said recently on Instagram.

“I’ve tried to do everything in my power to be able to ski at all, be it coaching, instruction and, more recently, guiding.”

He added: “Personally, I have felt let down on a number of occasions over the past few years. With little to no communication, no structure, and mismanagement in place of a program, I was basically left to my own resources to try to continue my career after funding cuts, which the association knew were coming would.”

In recent years other British athletes have been forced to give up an expensive sport they can no longer afford to compete at a high level.

The future will not be easy but right now Britain has some incredible snowsports enthusiasts and coaches working hard for themselves, the families and others who support them and their country.

We wish them all the best for the rest of the season and beyond.

The 2023 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships will be held in Georgia from February 19th to March 5th. A GB team of 13 skiers and snowboarders compete.

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