Alex Astridge: From Ski Dubai to the Winter Olympics

Olympic Village Milan, credit: Ariunbat Altanzul

UAE Olympic skier Alex Astridge grew up skiing on an indoor slope in Dubai. As the Žampa Cup prepares to make its Middle Eastern debut, he explains why bringing international ski racing to his hometown matters.

Where It All Began

Imagine growing up in a desert city where summer temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees Celsius, then discovering that your greatest passion is skiing.

For Alex Astridge, that is simply what childhood looked like.

Born in the United Kingdom to a British-New Zealand father and an Italian mother, Alex moved to Dubai when he was just six months old. His father worked for Emirates, and the family made the United Arab Emirates their home.

When Alex was three, his parents introduced him to skiing at Ski Dubai, the indoor ski resort inside the Mall of the Emirates. There was no ambitious sporting plan behind it.

“It wasn’t really, there wasn’t any thought behind it,” Alex recalls. “It was kind of just like, oh yeah, you know, you learn how to ski for a general kind of life skill.”

With relatives living in Switzerland, knowing how to ski seemed useful for occasional family holidays. But what began as a practical childhood activity gradually became something much more important.

While other children in Dubai spent their weekends playing football or rugby, Alex went skiing. His first coach was Mohamed Moulay, who would later accompany him on one of the most important journeys of his life.

When Alex was nine, several Austrian skiers living in Dubai noticed his potential and encouraged his mother to take him into the mountains. She began looking for training opportunities in Italy, and Alex eventually started combining skiing in Dubai with training on Alpine snow.

Still, becoming an Olympian was not part of the original plan.

The Race That Changed Everything

By the time the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international sport, Alex was about 14 and seriously considering giving up competitive skiing.

He still enjoyed skiing, but a professional career seemed increasingly out of reach.

Then an unexpected opportunity came along.

When Dubai hosted ENL races in 2021, Alex entered as a forerunner, expecting little more than a chance to ski and have fun.

Instead, it became a turning point.

Representatives from the newly formed snow sports division of the UAE Winter Sports Federation noticed him and saw a possibility he had not yet imagined: He could qualify for the Winter Olympics.

“They kind of asked me if I could do it, and I said, ‘I don’t know, I haven’t done it yet.’ And then I tried, and I managed to qualify, which was great.”

Alex’s path led from a 400-meter indoor slope in Dubai to the Winter Olympics.

But for him, reaching the Olympics meant more than fulfilling a personal ambition.

“There are a lot of kids just like me in Dubai, not just in alpine skiing but all sports, where they’re not local by blood, but they’ve grown up in Dubai and Dubai is their home.”

Alex sees his story as an example of how children who grow up outside traditional winter-sports nations can find a path to international competition.

A Skiing Community in the Desert

Ski Dubai opened in 2005, bringing real snow and a 400-meter slope to a city surrounded by desert. Since then, it has grown into more than a tourist attraction.

Alex estimates that about 300 alpine skiers now train regularly in Dubai, with six clubs supporting the local skiing community.

And while the racecourse may be short, its importance is difficult to measure in meters.

“I wouldn’t say it’s big. It’s a 16-second-long racecourse, but it’s got a big heart,” Alex says.

Alex stays closely involved in the community, especially as young athletes transition from indoor skiing to mountain training.

One of those young skiers is Athena Makonnen, whose journey has already been featured by Ski Racing Media. Read Athena’s story.

Alex knows how much it matters to help young athletes find opportunities. He remembers navigating much of the international skiing world on his own.

That community is one reason the Žampa Cup’s arrival in Dubai matters to Alex.

An Injury, a Friendship and the Žampa Brothers

Alex’s connection with the Žampa family began in 2022, when he broke his leg the day before the Dubai ENL races. It was his first serious ski injury, and the experience left him shaken. That was when he met Slovak ski racer Andreas Žampa, known as Andy.

“He told me, like, yeah, don’t worry, it’s common, because that was my first injury, so I was pretty shocked.”

The two stayed in touch, and their paths continued to cross when the Žampa brothers passed through Dubai after racing in the Southern Hemisphere.

Last year, Andy introduced Alex to his younger brother, Teo. What happened next had very little to do with skiing.

Alex invited Teo to play padel with some friends in Dubai. They started late in the evening and kept playing until 2 or 3 a.m. During the game, Alex suggested that Teo return to Dubai to race.

“He hadn’t done a slalom race at that point in a few years, so I was like, just do it, it’ll be funny, like we can have fun.”

That casual invitation grew into a close friendship. Teo now stays with Alex whenever he passes through Dubai and Alex has also visited the Žampa family in Slovakia.

The Žampa Cup Comes to Dubai

Their friendship helped inspire a much bigger project.

On Nov. 14, 2026, the BILLA Žampa Cup will make its debut at Ski Dubai, taking the Slovak-founded children’s racing series outside Europe for the first time.

For Andreas Žampa, the expansion is about more than organizing another race.

“I’m someone who supports small nations in the ski racing community, and I believe ski racing needs to spread globally. You never know where someone might be who has the potential and determination to achieve great results,” Andreas Žampa explains.

“A few years ago, I met Mohamed Moulay, originally from Morocco, who is the head coach of the Dubai Ski Team. We started discussing ideas about how we could help develop skiing in the region. I helped them organize FIS races, and we stayed in close contact.

This year, the idea of bringing the Žampa Cup to Dubai came up. We’re really excited about hosting our first Žampa Cup outside Europe and the first international children’s ski race in the UAE, specifically in Dubai.”

Alex is now too old to compete in the children’s series, but he understands what an event like this can mean to young skiers growing up in Dubai.

“It’s awesome that the Žampa Cup is also reaching Dubai now, because it’s one of the biggest kids’ races, in my opinion, in the world currently.”

He believes it will help connect the local community with the wider world of skiing.

“It also lets the skiing community in Dubai experience the global skiing community, which I think is really great, because I didn’t have that when I was a kid. I just had to figure things out as I went.”

From a Childhood Idol to the Olympic Village

Growing up, Alex was primarily a giant slalom skier. As a small child, he found the slalom gates difficult to manage, so he preferred giant slalom. And like many young GS racers, he had a favorite athlete: Ted Ligety.

The American Olympic champion and giant slalom legend was one of Alex’s childhood skiing heroes. Years later, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Alex unexpectedly found himself standing near the man he had admired for so long.

Without his glasses, he was not entirely sure whether the person in front of him was actually Ligety.

“I kept walking closer and closer to the point that I was like this close to his face, and I was like, yeah, it is Ted Ligety!”

Alex got a photo with Ligety. But his own road to the Games had been far from easy.

In August 2025, while training in Ushuaia, Argentina, he suffered a complete tear of his medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL). After discussions with his surgeons and federation, they decided to delay surgery because he would not have had enough time to fully recover before the Olympics.

Alex could still ski, but not at the intensity he had originally hoped for. His participation marked a historic achievement for the United Arab Emirates.

“It was the first time we’d ever reached the Winter Olympics, so it was a very big thing for us. The fact that we were just participating was always huge.”

An Olympic Milestone for the UAE

At the Games, Alex was joined by Mohammad Khadim, Head of Snowsports, and his childhood coach, Mohamed Moulay — the same man who taught him to ski at age 3.

Alex also shared the experience with fellow athletes and friends Faiz Basha of Singapore and Andrea el Hayek of Lebanon.

One of his strongest memories came from the start area in Bormio, where he watched some of the world’s best racers assess a particularly demanding slalom course. Even the biggest names appeared concerned.

“You kind of forget that these guys are just people. So when they are just sitting next to you and they’re stressing about the same things as you, it’s really cool to see.”

For Alex, who learned to ski on an indoor slope in Dubai, sharing those moments with the world’s best racers showed how far that childhood passion could take him.

The Next Destination: Crans-Montana

The Olympic Games were not the end of Alex’s journey.

Now a university student, he continues to divide his time between Dubai and Italy, where he trains with an Italian ski club.

His routine is unusual even by international skiing standards. In Dubai, he can drive five minutes to the indoor slope, train on snow and reach the beach 15 minutes later.

At the height of the season, he spends about two weeks each month training in Italy.

Alex hopes to compete at the Winter Universiade in January, the 2027 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in February, and the Junior World Championships in March.

The Crans-Montana championships would be his first appearance at a senior World Championships. He missed the 2025 edition in Saalbach because the UAE prioritized participation in the Asian Winter Games.

Ted Ligety remains Alex’s childhood idol, and he also enjoys watching today’s racers. He especially admires British slalom skiers Laurie Taylor and Billy Major for their technique, as well as the contrasting styles of the Žampa brothers.

“Andy skis like a man on fire. He’s a bit crazy, but it’s really cool to watch,” Alex says.

Alex’s journey from an indoor slope in Dubai to the Olympic Games shows how far his passion has taken him. Now, the Žampa Cup is bringing international children’s racing to his hometown, giving a new generation an opportunity he once could only imagine.

One of those young racers may already be beginning a story of their own.

Learn more about the Žampa Cup’s international expansion and its partnership with Ski Racing Media.