Lancashire World Cup star Dave Ryding confirms he will ski another season
Video Report by Granada Reports Correspondent Victoria Grimes
British skiing star Dave 'Rocket' Ryding has confirmed he WILL return for another season on the World Cup circuit.
He is the most decorated British Slalom skier of all time and the 36 year old once again took to the podium in Kitzbuhel in Austria, winning second place in the world famous Hahnenkahm race in January 2023.
In 2022 at 35, he became the first British, and also the oldest man ever to win a World Cup gold in the Slalom event in the Tirolean resort.
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It follows his second place at the same race in 2017.
"I'm certainly not the youngest but I'm still fighting with the young guys!" he told Granada Reports Correspondent Victoria Grimes.
The race is the highlight of the World Cup calendar, known as the Wimbledon of ski racing.
"To get another podium finish at Kitzbuhel again was awesome so maybe I was saying the right prayers! I just seem to gel with it well - I don't know why being from Lancashire, but it's going good!
"When you win a race there, you get your own gondola lift, so if you want to ride in mine it's there!"
But despite his triumph in Kitzbuhel, it was a winter of mixed success. He finished the season with a 'Did Not Finish' result in Soldeu in Andorra.
In August 2022, Dave and his teammates learnt that there would be cuts to winter sports funding, leaving them with a large financial hole to fill, a move at the time described by Dave as 'devastating".
When asked if the worry affected his performance this season he said: "it's hard to say - the stress is never easy to deal with, so to drag it into the season wasn't easy but you've got to deal with things in life and that was the situation we had this year.
"I did the best I could with it and we got through the season ok and I'm still ranked in the top 15 in the world.
"Hopefully there's still life in the old dog yet, and we can try again to get back into the top ten again next year!"
"I'll do at least one more season and then we'll see after that."
Dave has since renewed his sponsorship with leading Austrian ski resorts Obergurgl-Hochgurgl, known as the 'Diamonds of the Alps', due to their vast height and enviable snow records.
The resort has been his main helmet sponsor since 2017.
A popular destination with British tourists, those on holiday were thrilled to see Dave there at the Hohe Mutt Alm, where he signed helmets and posed for selfies with his fans.
One of those was Mike, who previously lived close to Dave's home in Bretherton in Lancashire. Enjoying a holiday with family and friends he said: ''it's amazing what he has achieved - for an athlete who started on a dry slope to now be representing Britain is fantastic. And he is a lovely bloke too!"
Speaking of the support from his sponsor resort, Dave says "Obergurgl always has my back"
"The snow is wonderful and it's a great resort. I was hoping to have my wedding here but then the Pandemic happened."
2022 was a big year for Dave outside of skiing - he married wife Mandy and the couple welcomed baby Nina in June 2022. Now nine months old, Dave believes she has inherited his love of skiing: "Nina always seems to come alive when the skiing is on TV! he said.
Paying tribute to his wife, he said: "Mandy always has my back and is so supportive. You need that in sport - I have a lot of bad days but she's always there for me - I owe her a lot."