British Alpine Squad For 2022/23 Season Named

GB Snowsport has confirmed the 42-athlete Alpine squad which will represent Britain for the 2022/23 season, with Charlie Guest, Billy Major, Charlie Raposo, Dave Ryding, Laurie Taylor, and Alex Tilley all once again named in the nation’s World Cup squad.

Coming off the back of a landmark season which saw career-best World Cup results for Guest, Major, Raposo, Tilley, and Ryding, the squad will be looking to build on Britain’s burgeoning reputation on the Alpine circuit following a succession of exceptional performances over the past 12 months.

The new season will mark the first time in Alpine history that Britain enters the season with a defending Alpine Men’s World Cup winner in its ranks, following Ryding’s sensational victory at Kitzbuehel in January in a performance that confirmed Britain’s status as a significant player on the Alpine circuit.

Dave Ryding celebrates victory at Kitzbuehel Slalom World Cup, January 2022. Photo: GEPA pictures/ Wolfgang Grebien

Guest will be looking to build on an impressive season, with the highlight a 13th place finish in Schladming in January, while Raposo will aim to continue the impressive late-season form which saw him pick up World Cup points in back-to-back Giant Slalom World Cup races in Kranjska Gora in March. Tilley, whose season was marked by an astonishing recovery from injury to secure her place at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, will hope for a repeat of her exceptional beginning to the 2021/22 season which saw her take 13th place in Giant Slalom at Soelden World Cup last October. Major and Taylor, meanwhile, will look to secure more high-profile finishes having taken two Europa Cup (Major) and one National Championships (Taylor) podiums last season, with each also securing top-30 World Cup finishes.

Charlie Guest at Schladming Slalom World Cup, January 2022. Photo: GEPA pictures / David Geieregger

In the Europa Cup squad, Victoria Palla is promoted from the FIS squad ranks after an impressive season which saw her take 11 podiums, including two victories, at FIS, National Championships, National Junior Championships, and National Junior Race levels, where she joins Reece Bell who is working her way back from injury having made her World Cup debut last season. Rob Poth, Roy-Alexander Steudle and Owen Vinter make up the rest of the Europa Cup squad, with Poth having taken victory at the FIS Slalom race in Rogla in March, Steudle securing three podiums including two victories at the GB Alpine Championships in Tignes, and Vinter securing six podiums in March and April at National Championships and National Junior Championships level, including two victories at the GB Alpine Championships.

Reece Bell on her Slalom World Cup debut in Lienz, Austria, December 2021. Photo: GEPA pictures / Armin Rauthner

The FIS squad will see 31 further athletes representing the country, with eight 2005 born athletes securing squad places for the first time, including George Black, Candice Bomberg, Charlotte Holmes, and Kieran Woolley who all secured podium finishes at the 2022 GB Alpine Championships earlier this year.

DAVE RYDING SAID:

“Coming off the back of last season’s results, and particularly Kitzbuehel, I’m going into this season hungrier for success than ever before. Knowing I’ll be out there training and competing alongside the same team members as the past 12 months is a huge bonus; Billy, Laurie and I bring the best out of one another in training and on the slopes, and we all feel stronger athletes for being part of such a talented squad of skiers.

“After getting my first World Cup win it has given me the confidence to believe that there is even more possible in the future!”

CHARLIE GUEST SAID:

“I’m really proud of how I skied last season, and I’m delighted to be back in the World Cup squad again and pushing for more. We’ve got a great set-up around us and some really promising athletes coming through the ranks, which makes this such an exciting time for British Alpine skiing.”

GB SNOWSPORT ALPINE DIRECTOR, PAUL TRAYNER, SAID:

“All 42 athletes named in this season’s Alpine squad are here on merit, and because they represent the present and the future of Britain’s Alpine skiing hopes. Last year, every one of our World Cup athletes had a sensational season, and the athletes in the Europa Cup and FIS squads have got a real benchmark to reach with the performances those guys are delivering.

“Britain’s reputation on the Alpine circuit is higher than it’s ever been in modern snowsport history, and this squad is the best group of athletes to take it to new heights. Every single one of them, and the coaches, support staff, and academies that have supported their journeys so far, deserve enormous credit and warm congratulations.”