Olympics: Alpine skiing
Dave Ryding
LONDON (Reuters) - The Alpine ski season is drawing near and Britain’s top Olympic hope  Dave Ryding  will be heading indoors  far from any snowcapped mountains.
Three weeks in Hamburg may lack the glamour of Val d‘Isere and Wengen  but  Ryding  feels the north German port city’s indoor ski facility offers just what  he  needs ahead of potentially the biggest season of  his  career and February’s Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea.
“I like to go indoors because I know what I’m going to get ” the 30-year-old slalom specialist told Reuters on  his  return from three weeks of training in Ushuaia  in the glacial southernmost tip of Argentina.
Most teams will incorporate some indoor time in their preparations  but the majority for days rather than weeks.  Ryding  is a bit different.
Rivals may think  he ’s mad  but it works for a man who last January equaled Britain’s best ever World Cup result with a stunning second place in Kitzbuehel - one of the showcase slaloms of the season.
 He  had led after the first run down the famed Hahnenkamm slope before being pipped by local favorite and overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher.
“They (other rivals) think I’m crazy  but I’ve grown up on those short dry ski slopes which are the same length if not shorter ” said  Ryding .
Growing up in post-industrial north-west England   Ryding  grew familiar with dry ski slopes around the country by competing in summer series of races.
 Ryding  recognizes that Austria’s Olympic medal contenders are unlikely to have ever pitched a tent near a concrete hill but says such experiences stood  him  in good stead.
“In the end we used to love camping. It just became the way of life ”  he  recalled.
While there will never be a level playing field in a sport that involves steep slopes and sheets of jagged ice  and countries with considerable natural advantages   Ryding  has showed  he  has both the talent and resilience to succeed.
 Ryding  was 27th at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 17th in Sochi four years ago. Last season  he  had six top-10 finishes in the World Cup.
 His  first race of the 2017-18 season is scheduled for Levi  Finland  on Nov. 12 after the World Cup starts with a giant slalom in Soelden  Austria  at the end of October.
”I’ve proven I can get a podium when my day’s right “  he  said. ”They (rivals) certainly take me more seriously than they used to four years ago  I guess.
”I’ve never really looked at  myself  and thought I’m British and these Austrians are looking down at  me .
LONDON (Reuters) - The Alpine ski season is drawing near and Britain’s top Olympic hope  [TGT]will be heading indoors  far from any snowcapped mountains.
Three weeks in Hamburg may lack the glamour of Val d‘Isere and Wengen  but  [TGT]feels the north German port city’s indoor ski facility offers just what  [TGT]  needs ahead of potentially the biggest season of  [TGT]  career and February’s Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea.
“I like to go indoors because I know what I’m going to get ” the 30-year-old slalom specialist told Reuters on  his  return from three weeks of training in Ushuaia  in the glacial southernmost tip of Argentina.
Most teams will incorporate some indoor time in their preparations  but the majority for days rather than weeks.  Ryding  is a bit different.
Rivals may think  he ’s mad  but it works for a man who last January equaled Britain’s best ever World Cup result with a stunning second place in Kitzbuehel - one of the showcase slaloms of the season.
 He  had led after the first run down the famed Hahnenkamm slope before being pipped by local favorite and overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher.
“They (other rivals) think I’m crazy  but I’ve grown up on those short dry ski slopes which are the same length if not shorter ” said  [TGT] .
Growing up in post-industrial north-west England   [TGT]grew familiar with dry ski slopes around the country by competing in summer series of races.
 Ryding  recognizes that Austria’s Olympic medal contenders are unlikely to have ever pitched a tent near a concrete hill but says such experiences stood  [TGT]  in good stead.
“In the end we used to love camping. It just became the way of life ”  he  recalled.
While there will never be a level playing field in a sport that involves steep slopes and sheets of jagged ice  and countries with considerable natural advantages   [TGT]has showed  [TGT]  has both the talent and resilience to succeed.
 Ryding  was 27th at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 17th in Sochi four years ago. Last season  [TGT]  had six top-10 finishes in the World Cup.
 [TGT]  first race of the 2017-18 season is scheduled for Levi  Finland  on Nov. 12 after the World Cup starts with a giant slalom in Soelden  Austria  at the end of October.
”I’ve proven I can get a podium when my day’s right “  he  said. ”They (rivals) certainly take me more seriously than they used to four years ago  I guess.
”I’ve never really looked at  myself  and thought I’m British and these Austrians are looking down at  me .