The Rocket's modest launch pad

An inspiration

It's a journey that has proved to be motivating for Pendle Ski Club's 600 members — mostly young, but some into their 70s — who come for weekly lessons and races.

Walk into the small clubhouse beside the slope and there is a large Union Jack flag draped on the wall with "Rocket" — Ryding's nickname — across the middle. Next to it is a photo of Ryding, whose pointed finger is above the words: "Your Ski Club Needs You."

When Ryding competes in World Cup races on a Sunday morning, kids gather around the TV at the club to cheer him on.

"You've got to start somewhere — he was here and he's been able to get to the Olympics," said 16-year-old Jayden Cuttriss, who was speaking at a race night at the club that took place in driving rain, but with no complaints from the youngsters involved. "It shows it's possible for anyone."

Jonathan Fenton, the club's oldest pupil at age 77, said of Ryding: "He's the best British skier we've ever had. An inspiration for one and all."

Last shot

Ryding is retiring at the end of the season, so this will be his fifth and last Olympics.

When he races in the slalom in Bormio on Feb 16, he'll try to improve on his best individual Olympic finish of ninth place in 2018 and win the country's first ever medal in Alpine skiing. Alain Baxter won bronze in the slalom in 2002, but was stripped of the medal after failing a drug test.

Then, Ryding wants to give something back to skiing and help forge a path for a future Olympic champion from Britain.

"No one has ever done it from the dry slopes before. In a sense, no one knows as well as me what it takes at each level, at each stage, to make that difference," Ryding said.

"If I can bring back the pathway that I took and then encourage kids to give it a go, and try, somehow, to create a financial structure that can help as well, I think I can make a big difference in the British skiing scene."