Nestled within the picturesque Ribble Valley in northwest England lies a modest ski slope, a mere 140 metres long and 10 metres wide, often shared with roaming sheep.
This gentle incline, featuring three small rises and a largely flat finish, sees grass occasionally poke through the plastic matting that forms its bristly surface. Snow is conspicuously absent here.
The word most frequently used to describe Pendle Ski Club is "humble". "And I don’t think we’d change it for the world," says John Holmes, an instructor and volunteer at the facility. "It’s a unique environment but it’s one where you can succeed. You really can."
Dave "Rocket" Ryding stands as a testament to this ethos.
To the astonishment of many rivals from traditional winter-sports nations like Sweden, Austria, and Norway, Ryding has ascended to become Britain’s most decorated slalom racer.
His journey began on Pendle’s quaint, unassuming dry slope at the age of six, continuing well into his teenage years. His impressive resume includes being the sole British winner in the nearly 60-year history of the Alpine skiing World Cup, a victory achieved in Kitzbuehel, Austria – one of the sport's most renowned and challenging circuits. Now 39 and in the twilight of his career, Ryding is considered a potential medal contender at the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
"People know my story and they can’t really believe that it was possible," Ryding told The Associated Press.
"It has definitely defined who I am as a ski racer and also has got me a lot more credit than, say, if I was from Austria or somewhere like that. I’ll be known as the guy who grew up on the dry slopes. It has never been done before and hopefully it keeps influencing the next generation."
Britain, with its temperate climate, hardly presents itself as a skier's paradise. The Met Office, the national meteorological service, reports an average of just 13 days of lying snow per year.
The country boasts 67 slopes, according to the Ski Club website, with only a handful being indoor snow domes.
The odds of Ryding reaching the pinnacle of the sport were therefore exceptionally low when he first strapped on skis. He recalls attending lessons in tracksuit bottoms and a long-sleeve T-shirt, often enduring friction burns from the coarse surface whenever he fell.
Practice sessions and races frequently took place on warm summer days, occasionally interrupted by sheep idly crossing the slope from nearby fields within this government-designated "area of outstanding natural beauty."
"It’s in a national park so the sheep were free to roam and do their business or whatever on the slopes," Ryding recalled. "If they chose during the training session that they wanted to cross the slope, respectfully you had to give them time."
The brevity of the slope meant Ryding could traverse it in barely 12 seconds. He believes this constraint, far from being a hindrance, actually aided his professional career. "When I was first on snow – and still to this day – if there’s a flat section or a particularly flat start to a race, then I’m very, very fast compared to most other people," he explained.
John Holmes closely observed Ryding's progress through his teenage years, witnessing him develop the technique on a dry slope that would eventually allow him to compete with Europe's elite skiers.
"We sometimes get members turning up who have had a couple of ski holidays, they slide about on the bristles and they don’t tend to enjoy it," Holmes said. "But the people who start on the bristles learn the technique of weight on the outside ski, getting a good edge set ... direction and turn shape. So it does instill the fundamentals."
Ryding's remarkable journey has proved a powerful motivator for Pendle Ski Club's 600 members, who range from youngsters to those in their 70s, attending weekly lessons and races.
Inside the small clubhouse, a large Union Jack flag hangs proudly, emblazoned with "Rocket" – Ryding’s nickname – across its middle. Beside it, a photograph of Ryding features his pointed finger above the words: "Your Ski Club Needs You."
On Sunday mornings, when Ryding competes in World Cup races, children gather around the club's television to cheer him on. "You’ve got to start somewhere – he was here and he’s been able to get to the Olympics," said 16-year-old Jayden Cuttriss during a race night held in driving rain, with no complaints from the young participants.
"It shows it’s possible for anyone." Jonathan Fenton, the club’s oldest pupil at 77, described Ryding as: "He’s the best British skier we’ve ever had. An inspiration for one and all."
Ryding is set to retire at the end of the season, making the upcoming Milan Cortina Games his fifth and final Olympics.
When he competes in the slalom in Bormio on 16 February, he will aim to surpass his best individual Olympic finish of ninth place in 2018 and secure Britain's first-ever medal in Alpine skiing.
Alain Baxter won bronze in the slalom in 2002 but was subsequently stripped of the medal after failing a drug test. Post-retirement, Ryding intends to give back to the sport, helping to forge a pathway for a future British Olympic champion.
"No one has ever done it from the dry slopes before. In a sense, no one knows as well as me what it takes at each level, at each stage, to make that difference," Ryding stated.
"If I can bring back the pathway that I took and then encourage kids to give it a go and try somehow to create a financial structure that can help as well, I think I can make a big difference in that British skiing scene."
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