PAT SHARPLES
Team GB’s Snowsport Head Coach on supporting Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic hopes, and his aims for Beijing 2022
“I'm a very lucky guy,” says Pat, who’s built a career out of something he loves
MY JOB IN A NUTSHELL...
I’m the GB Snowsport Head Coach, working across all the snowsport disciplines (Olympic and Paralympic) on the UK Sport World Class Program. These teams include Freeski, Freestyle Snowboard, Moguls, Ski and Snowboard Cross, Cross-country, Alpine, Para Alpine, Para Snowboard and Para Nordic.
I spend a lot of time at performance camps all over the world and working with the coaches and support team on performance plans. My main focus is to make sure we can support our athletes, coaching team and support staff with everything they need to progress and deliver at the highest level. Basically my job is to serve for the GB athletes and coaches.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN...
I first started skiing at my local slope, Rossendale ski centre, at the age of seven. I quickly became hooked, and when I was old enough to finish ski school at 16, I travelled to the French Alps to look for work and pursue a career in skiing, even though I had no idea what direction it would go in.
I spent my first couple of weeks living rough in Courchevel, until a British tour operator (Ski Olympic) took me in. They gave me a job washing up, making beds and cleaning toilets, until I got promoted to ski tech, which I ended up doing for five years.
It was here in Courchevel that I got into mogul skiing and exploring the backcountry, and I started getting some pretty good competition results and coverage in the British ski mags and movies. This led to me getting sponsored by the likes of Salomon and Oakley, as well as some other great brands.
By the time I reached my sell-by date I had already started coaching at the British Freeski camps, which were based in Saas Fee, run by Warren Smith. We then started the Salomon Grom camps back in the UK, which then led on to creating the first ever British Freeski team when the sports of Slopestyle and Halfpipe became included into the Olympics.
MY TYPICAL DAY…
This changes from day to day. Some days I can be out on the mountain with the athletes and the coaches, and then others I’m travelling around the UK to have different meetings with athletes, coaches and support staff. I work very closely with UK Sport as they fund the World Class Program, and we are always looking at how we can progress things for the future.
THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY CAREER SO FAR…
Just having a career in something I love is my highlight. I feel super fortunate to have been given the opportunities I’ve been given because of skiing. I’ve managed to travel the world and meet some amazing people who are now some of my closest friends. I even met my wife while I was in the mountains. I’m a very lucky guy.
WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT MY JOB…
Seeing the athletes achieve the goals they’ve set themselves, whether it’s a performance goal like a new trick, or a competition result they’ve been aiming for. At the end of the day, my job is to put things into place so athletes can progress and achieve their goals, so it gives me huge satisfaction when they do this.
THE HARDEST PART IS…
When you see athletes struggling, whether it’s due to an injury, or they’ve not achieved what they hoped for, even though they’ve put their heart and soul into it. It’s easy to think some of our athletes have a very blessed life, which in some ways they do, but not everyone sees how hard it can be behind the scenes and all the sacrifices they have to make to be a world class skier or snowboarder.
IF I HAD TO CHOOSE ONE PLACE TO SKI FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE…
That would be easy – Courchevel in France. It’s my second home and I never get bored of skiing here.
FUTURE PLANS…
At the moment I’m committed to helping support our athletes and coaches as we move towards Beijing 2022. Obviously it has been a challenging couple of years, and I just want to focus on seeing through our plans in the best way we can.
Team GB's Dave Ryding in action. Seeing the athletes achieve their goals is what Pat loves most about his job