While the French ski prodigies were slapping gates and perfecting their already exquisite technique at the age of 11, Paddy was only just clicking into his first pair of skis in the now derelict Sheffield Ski Village on the north’s finest Dendix.
Now, for the uninitiated, skiing on dry slopes is a bit of a right of passage for us Brit skiers. It’s nothing like the real stuff, and I’ll not even mention the horrors of the friction burns in the event of a fall on this stuff.
“Paddy was only just clicking into his first pair of skis in the now derelict Sheffield Ski Village”
Paddy’s rise to the podium of freeride skiing is nothing short of a rarity. I’d have called it a miracle, but after watching the interview below, you’ll soon learn that there’s nothing supernatural about this – it’s all been achieved through that classic ‘northern grit’.
Now one of the founders of Legs Of Steel, the crew who put out some of the heaviest freeride and freestyle edits in the industry, Paddy’s still able to keep throwing it down year after while based in Innsbruck, the capital of Tirol.
Joining us on this week’s episode of Piste Off TV, Paddy talks us through his Sheffield upbringing and what it’s like carrying the ‘stigma’ of a British skier performing at the top of the freeride circuit. We also cover a new ski film that Paddy was a part of – The Origins Of Skiing – which was a world away from the usual LOS business. In it, Paddy meets the Sámi people of northern Sweden, whose ancestors first developed skis to travel the unforgiving terrain of northern Sweden.
Then, being Piste Off TV, we have a bit of a geek out about ski gear. Paddy was part of the development team for the new Revolt series of skis from Volkl, so I was keen to dive into how he put his mark on this soon to be classic range of skis. Anyway, that’s enough from me. Enjoy the episode.
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