222: Vicky Gosling, GB Snowsport CEO

GB Snowsport CEO Vicky Gosling joins Iain for this special episode of The Ski Podcast. 

We go behind the scenes of British skiing and snowboarding to find out what goes into running an organisation like GB Snowsport and how a country with no mountains outperforms countries from across the world.

We also find out about Vicky’s background in the RAF, what it was like working alongside Prince Harry on the Invictus Games and the link between snowsports and surfing.

This episode is part of a series of podcasts we're publishing this winter focusing on women in the snowsports industry. 

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SHOW NOTES

In 2022/23 GB Snowsport recorded 50 World Cup, World Champs, X Games podiums
That included a podium in every single discipline (4:00)
Pat Sharples is Head Coach of the GB Snowsports (6:30)
Listen to Iain’s interview with Pat Sharples (33:15)
Vicky and Pat had to sleep in their car in St Moritz (8:30)
Vicky was a Group Captain in the RAF, deployed to the Gulf (10:30)
In 2014, she became Military Exec Lead for first Invictus Games in London (12:30)
Vicky was appointed CEO for the 2016 Invictus Games in Orlando (14:00)
Herding Morgan Freeman and Michelle Obama at the opening ceremony (15:00)
Appointed CEO of GB Snowsport in 2018 (15:30)
‘British Ski and Snowboard’ was re-branded to ‘GB Snowsport’ (16:30)
The goal to become a top five snowsport nation by 2030 (18:00)
Funding from UK Sport went up after Pyeongchang, but was cut after Beijing (20:15)
Team GB won one medal at Sochi 2014 (Jenny Jones) and two at Pyeongchang 2018 (Billy Morgan & Izzy Atkin) (21:30)
Kirsty Muir was the highest-placed Briton on snow with 5th in Big Air (23:30)
Listen to Iain’s interview with Kirsty Muir in Episode 174
Listen to Iain’s interview with Dave Ryding in Episode 199 (29:30)
Dave shares his ring-fenced funding with Billy Major and Laurie Taylor (29:30)
Dave Ryding’s coach Tris Glasse-Davies has left to work for US skiing (30:00)
The Alpine Team ranked 6th in world in 2023/24, ahead of USA, Italy, Canada (31:30)
Jim Ratcliffe donated £11m to help fund new clubhouse for the Courchevel race club (32:00)
Mia Brookes is the youngest ever world champion (33:00)
Listen to Iain’s interview with Zak Carrick-Smith in Episode 200 (33:15)
In 2022 Vicky became Chair of GB Surfing (35:45)
Skateboarding medallist Sky Brown just failed to qualify in surfing for the Paris Olympics (37:30)
The effect of Brexit on GB Snowsports (39:30)
Listen to Stu Brass talking in Episode 213 about how he first met Jenny Jones in Tignes (40:30)
Chamonix 2024 saw the first global warming determined slalom (41:00)
FIS are under pressure to change their schedule to reduce emissions (41:30)

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