A JustGiving personal fundraising appeal has been created to help Olympic hopeful Billy Major achieve his dream of skiing for Great Britain.
Although Billy does receive some funding from the British Ski and Snowboarding Organisation (BSS), the shortfall means that to further his career, the award-winning skier requires financial support.
On the JustGiving page, fundraiser and friend Lyn Keohane says: “Billy is a hard working individual; he is known for being one of the first on the training slopes and last off. He is quietly spoken and modest but also highly competitive.
“Determination, commitment and luck will all play a part, and Billy does have the potential to reach the highest level. However, he cannot succeed without good training facilities and the right equipment. Naturally all of this costs money and to have the opportunity to become a world ranked British skier, in simple terms, Billy needs financial support.”
Born in Cambridge in 1996, Billy developed his love for skiing whilst spending the winters in Val Cenis, the French mountain village in the Maurienne Valley, where his parents run a small ski business.
From 2008 – 2011 he attended the College de la Vanoise as part of the Ski Etude section, for promising young skiers in the Maurienne.
And from 2011 – 2015, he studied for his Bacallaureat at the Lycee Ambroise Croizat in Moutiers, again in the Ski Etude programme, entry to each year being restricted to the top 30 young skiers in France.
By 2012 he had competed in his first full season of FIS (Federation International de Ski) races and in 2013 was selected as part of TeamGB for the Winter Youth Olympics in Romania.
He became the overall British Under 18 Champion in 2013. 2014 by winning the junior Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom and Slalom events.
In 2014/15 he was selected as part of the British U21 squad and despite some injury setbacks he won the British U21 Downhill and Super G titles.
Since then things have moved up a level for Billy and he is now skiing for the British Europa Cup Squad which are a specially selected elite team.
He has had great success in this team and was awarded the Victor Ludorum trophy at the British Championships in Tignes for best results by any male or female skier and also became the British Men’s Alpine Champion in 2017.