World Champs success, World Cup consistency & a World Junior medal- another Great British season
A Breakout Season for Alpine Skiing
2024-25 has been a season for breakthroughs, surprises, drama and a whole lot more, with Switzerland, the United States and Norway receiving the bulk of the media attention. However, Great Britain has fallen under the radar for some time.
Despite a limited budget, a national team that spends very little time together over the course of the season, and a country that doesn’t get much more than 10 days of annual snowfall, GB Snowsport continues to punch well above its weight across all snow sports.
Ryding Leads, But Support Grows
Dave Ryding, from Lancashire, has set the precedent. He is the only man to score points in every single slalom this season. But the times are changing. He now shares top-10 honors with Laurie Taylor (Aspen 2024) and Billy Major (Hafjell 2025), both of whom broke through in the last 14 months. The future looks even more exciting, with the Carrick-Smith brothers advancing steadily throughout the season.
Ryding’s ability to inspire a country without the access to resources of many of his competitors is a true testament to the hard work and dedication the 38-year-old puts in daily to deliver top results. The British No. 1 finished the 2024-25 season ranked 15th in the World Cup slalom standings, cementing his place in the second seeding group for the start of the 2025-26 Olympic season.
Major and Taylor Rising
Taylor and Major have trailed close behind Ryding for some time, but their consistency has finally started to show. Both 28-year-olds recorded top-12 finishes on the World Cup tour this season. In fact, in the last two slaloms of the World Cup campaign, Major beat Ryding at both Kranjska Gora and Hafjell. That ensured, for the second season in a row, Britain had two different racers in the top 10 at some stage.
Women’s Program Seeks a Spark
While the squad is significantly weaker—and currently has no World Cup points on the women’s side since Charlie Guest’s retirement last spring—there are still positives. Reece Bell and Vici Palla both achieved personal bests on the Europa Cup circuit and gained valuable World Cup experience.
Reece Bell’s name might be familiar to older ski racing fans. Her father, Martin, and uncle, Graham, raced for Great Britain in the 1980s and 1990s. If she reaches the heights of her family members, British fans will know where their women’s World Cup points will come from in the future. Despite spending much of her life in Colorado, she is fully committed to a successful career representing the British flag, even after numerous injury setbacks in recent seasons.
The Next Generation is Here
At the same time, the next generation is making serious waves. The Carrick-Smith brothers have spent nearly 10 years training with the Butler family. Molly Butler, 18, was the youngest member of the British team at the World Championships and raising her hand with some top-quality displays.
They broke new British ground at the World Junior Championships, where the eldest Carrick-Smith brother, Luca, 19, won slalom bronze. He became the first British World Junior medalist since Graham Bell, more than 40 years ago. Without a doubt, Luca, Freddy, Zak Carrick-Smith and Molly Butler are four names the world will be hearing much more about soon.
Steudle Charges on the Speed Side
While all of these athletes compete in technical disciplines, one British skier is pushing boundaries in the speed events. Roy-Alexander Steudle placed 29th in the World Championship Super-G and came close to scoring World Cup points in Kitzbühel. He’ll be recovering from an injury suffered during downhill training at Worlds after having improved his Europa Cup personal best this season and will target his first career World Cup top-30 finish in the Olympic campaign.
More Than Momentum
These are just a few signs of the British team’s continued growth in alpine ski racing. In a World Championship season that saw Britain send its largest-ever squad of 14 across all disciplines and competitions in Saalbach, both Ryding (6th) and Major (15th) scored in slalom. There were many strong runs, promising splits and top results for a country still battling limited funding, a short ski season, and the sport’s powerhouses.
For now, at least, Great Britain is still fighting at the highest level in one of the sports it funds the least.
Eyes on Milano-Cortina 2026
Twelve months from now, the conversation could be very different—focused on a historic Winter Olympic Games for GB Snowsport. Britain will aim for its first official Olympic alpine ski racing medal, and Milano-Cortina 2026 may be its best chance yet to end the drought. While many still remember the bronze medal Alain Baxter briefly held before it was controversially stripped after the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, an official podium this time would mark a major breakthrough.
About the Author: Matt Garcka
