Whilst at the Snozone Big Air competition this weekend, Natives inadvertently caught up with Alain Baxter, Britain's top slalom skier:

Natives: Hi, my name's Iain
Alain Baxter: I'm Alain. I work for Drambuie.
Natives: Cool, I hope there's plenty of it!!!

[Ten minutes later]

PR person: Well, this is Alain. Have a good chat and if you need any extra info just mail me..
Natives [to AB]: Oops, I thought you were only here to give away the booze!
AB [equally embarrassed]: Well, they do sponsor me...

And in many ways this incident sort of sums up Alain Baxter. He is genuinely just a quiet guy who wants to ski. And when it does, he does it very well!

In case you weren't around last winter, he broke the mould by being a British skier who was consistently a threat on the World Cup circuit. Without going too far down that hyperbole route, it's fair to say that this man is 'a genuine medal prospect' for next year's Winter Olympics. The Austrians, who he trains with and regularly beats, are in awe. He finished the last race of the season in 4th, the highest ever position by a Brit in a Slalom.

So that leaves Salt Lake City in February. But as most of the usual questions will get asked any number of times between now and than, we thought we'd ask about those other burning issues:


Balance

Natives: I've read that Ingemar Stenmark used to practise tight-rope walking to improve his balance. Have you ever done anything like that?
AB: Once or twice. I also used to practice walking on fences in Scotland.

Kids

Natives: When you skied at the British Juniors it was a real boost to the younger racers out there. Why did you do it?
AB: I couldn't do it often, as the FIS guys wouldn't like it, but I always try to do my best to support them - you need all the help you can get.

Money

Natives: Obviously your Drambuie sponsorship has helped. What about the Christies auction?
AB: That was great. It raised about £20,000 and will make a real difference. It was really Adam Sullivan, who I used to race with on the British team. He deserves a massive amount of credit.
Natives: What one material thing would really make a difference to you now?
AB: A car. I'm sure there must be a manufacturer out there who could benefit from it and it would really help me.

Working

Natives: Did you ever think about working a ski season?
AB: About four years ago, things were not going well and I seriously considered it.
Natives: Where would you have worked?
AB: Courchevel. My folks run a ski school out there. I would have played pro ice hockey [Alain is also a top class hockey player]
Natives: Did you go out to Courchevel much when you were younger?
AB: When I was around 17/18, my brother and I used to go out there loads. I know the area well.
Natives: And what bars did you like best?
AB: At that time the best were the Equipe, the Cantina and the Kalico - all great bars.

Natives wishes Alain all the best for the Olympics. And don't forget, if you'd like to help Alain in his bid for a medal (and get featured all over the media to a great ABC1 audience) then let us know - what's a car between Olympians after all..?!?

What do you think? Do our skiers get enough funding? Tell us on the Message Boards