sports

How a volunteer ski slope nurtures Olympic dreams

Founder John Lowther did not think the slope would last more than one year when it was built in 1984 [Kendal Snowsports Club]

As the Winter Olympics wraps up, UK snowsports enthusiasts have been eking out what the rest of the season has to offer.

Scotland's outdoor centres said they have been enjoying their best winter in six years, while in Cumbria, Kendal's dry slope has been lively.

Volunteer-run Kendal Snowsports Club (KSC) was founded by John Lowther in 1984 and remains a treasured facility for those who use it, from first-timers to professionals.

The 89-year-old has reflected on his time building the slope from scratch, his proudest moments and how he is "confident that there will be Olympians" from the club when the Games are held in the French Alps in 2030.

A grainy image showing a woman wearing a red skirt and a white top who stands beneath a steep earthy slope. The slope has green grass on the side and at the bottom. There is red and white tape marking off parts of it.
John Lowther got a group together and chose Castle Hill as the location for the dry slope [Kendal Snowsports Club]

"We didn't know whether it would last for one year, five, or 10 when we started it all... and here we are 42 years later," Lowther said.

Back in the 1980s, he would drive on a weekly basis to Carlisle to access the nearest slope.

"One night, I was driving home over Shap in a howling gale and pouring rain with another friend.

"We were stopped by a policeman who wanted to know what we were doing out in this weather late at night."

Lowther said he told the officer he had been skiing, but "he did not believe us until we showed him skis and boots".

"As we drove away, I turned to my friend and said, 'I think it is time we built a ski slope in Kendal'."

A group of people work together to hold timber up on a site which is half-built. They are wearing dated clothes from the 1980s and overalls because it looks like it is raining with wet conditions. There are planks of timber holding the facility up.
The ski club members built the slope and lodge from scratch in the summer of 1984 [Kendal Snowsports Club]

He and skiing friends found the site on Castle Hill and then organised a meeting in February 1984 where 200 people agreed to sign up and pay £10 each.

"During that summer we worked every evening and weekend building the slope, laying the matting, and in August we built the ski lodge," he said.

After opening that September, the 200 "blossomed into 500".

"We decided right from day one that no-one would get paid and we would all be volunteers," Lowther continued.

A row of skiiers wearing red and white ski clothing and ski boots. The image quality is quite blurry because it was taken in the 1980s. They are standing lined up with skis, poles on green dry slope matting.
KSC's first instructor team, with founder John Lowther pictured third right [Kendal Snowsports Club]

Currently there are about 1,250 people who sign up every year for several disciplines, including race training, freestyle skiing, adaptive skiing and snowboarding.

Lowther said he had "lots and lots of very proud moments" such as seeing future Olympic skier Emma Lonsdale take to the slope "when she was five years old".

He also loved watching children and teenagers "doing all the fancy tricks" and seeing the club's racing team.

A black-and-white photo of skiis on a dry slope - dated in the 1980s. There are two men walking up a slop wearing boots and have their skiis resting on their shoulders and have a pair of poles in one hand. The dry slope matting is very basic.
Skiers would have walk up the matting before a tow lifts were built [Kendal Snowsports Club]

Each volunteer plays their part, he said, from instructing to gardening and there had been a "tremendous amount of support".

"They do it because they love it and want other people to learn the skills needed to enjoy winter in the snow, as well as keeping fit through the year," Lowther said.

More than 50,000 people have learnt to ski on the slope in the last 42 years.

Lowther said the club, which is now a charitable group, had "become one big, happy family".

A person who is disabled is skiing using an adaptive seat and ski. They are wearing purple and red waterproofs and are being pushed down by another skiier. The adaptive skiier is laughing and looks happy.
The ski slope has become popular for several different snowsport disciplines, including adaptive skiing [Kendal Snowsports Club]

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