Paul Hothersall is spearheading England's alpine ski racing hopes. The Clitheroe winter sport ace spoke to JENNY SCOTT. . .

THE first time Paul Hothersall took up his skis, there was no snow in sight. "It was my ninth birthday," he recalled, "and I'd persuaded my parents to take me to Pendle Ski Club.

"Every October they have an open day, where you pay 50p for a test session on the slopes.

"I just loved it."

The following year Paul, from Clitheroe, graduated to proper snow on a family holiday to Borovetz in Bulgaria.

"It was a completely different thing to dry slope skiing," he said. "The main thing you notice is that the run doesn't end after 100 metres.

"But I didn't find it difficult to make the adjustment from dry slope to snow. I would always recommend people take a few dry slope lessons if they're going abroad to ski for the first time."

Paul's authority on the subject derives from the fact that last year, after 15 years in the sport, he became the chairman of Snow Sport England's Alpine Racing Committee.

His position, a voluntary role, meant he was in charge of organising the England skiing team and all English skiing.

"I've always been a person who won't criticise somebody unless they're prepared to do something about it," he said. "So I decided to get involved in Snow Sport England -- formerly the English Ski Council."

The job was not, however, as glamorous as it sounds. It meant that Paul, as well as skimming across the snowy peaks of Europe, also became embroiled in the more down-to-earth matter of scraping around for cash.

"Skiing doesn't feature much in Sport England's spending masterplan," said Paul.

"The whole country gets £40,000 a year to spend on skiing. It's quite difficult to manage the budget and find sponsors, but we work really hard.

"I've stepped down as chairman now, just because it was cutting into work a bit."

In his "other life" away from the slopes, Paul's full-time job is as an engineer at BAE Systems.

The fact he skis on a volunteer-only basis comes down to a decision he made at the age of 16.

"The people who take skiing seriously have to commit at 16 and try to fit in 100-plus days a year on snow," he said.

"I made a decision at that age I would get a job and then ski socially, which is what I've done. I'm quite happy."

In 2002, Paul graduated from Loughborough University with a masters degree in engineering. His work at BAe Systems has, however, afforded him new opportunities in skiing.

"A couple of years ago, the RAF invited me to their skiing championships," he said.

"I went on to coach the team and they won the inter-services competition, so they want me back now! I also organise the dry slope racing they do."

As well as coaching the RAF, Paul also runs events for his ski club, Pendle, the place where he first learned to ski. He continues to ski twice a week and two years ago he helped his team to win the national interclub prize, while Paul himself won the English senior championship on snow.

"That was the last time I took skiing seriously," he said. "At the moment I've retired from real racing. Now I run these events and only take part in them socially."

Even on a casual basis though, Paul remains near the peak.

"Last weekend I beat a couple of members of the England team, which I don't think they were very pleased about," he said. "But I'm happy just to ski socially -- I feel I have a good balance in my life."

Paul's love of the ski slopes has taken him across Europe -- to France, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Andorra and even Scotland.

"Out of all the years I've been going to Scotland, I've had two fantastic skiing days there and the rest have been awful," he said.

"Quite often it looks like a hurricane has hit the place."

Of course, the drawback with British skiers entering international competitions is that this country doesn't see much snow.

As Paul said: "Our England team may have the October half term to get some races in, whereas the Austrians can race throughout the season."

However, with the opening of three indoor snow slopes in the country -- including the one at Castleford -- the situation is improving.

"These indoor centres are helping us on that front," said Paul. "There are also a lot more outdoor snow slopes -- although in the North West, we've really only got Kendal, Rossendale and Pendle."

However, one of the aspects Paul finds most rewarding about his work is helping youngsters from Pendle break into the sport as he did.

"I really enjoy coaching the kids," he said. "You don't get up at 6am on a Sunday morning to stand on the side of a hill for hours if you don't enjoy doing that kind of thing.

"I particularly enjoy teaching youngsters how to ski because that's how I started."

If anybody wants to learn more about skiing, go to Snow Sport England's website: www.snowsportengland.org.uk