Alain Baxter - The Highlander

Date of Birth:
26/12/73

Place of Birth:
Edinburgh

Home Town:
Aviemore and now Stirling

Home ski area:
Cairngorm

Started skiing age:
2

Year on British team:
16

Height:
179cm

Weight:
85kg

Club:
Cairngorm ski club

Nickname
The Highlander

Coach:
Rasto Aznoh
(Slovenia)

Equipment:
Skis, Boots & Bindings: all from Head

PHOTO GALLERY

The Rise to the Top

Alain Baxter's hard fought rise up through the 6,000 internationally registered racers world wide is a testament to his determination to succeed and his raw talent. But some would argue he was always destined to make it to the top.

His parents (Iain and Sue) were both British Ski Team members and subsequently leading figures in British ski teaching, so it was no surprise when they named their son after one of their own heroes, the 70s French skiing star Alain Penz.

Living in Aviemore he had the run of the local Cairngorm ski slopes where he inherited all of his parents' love of the sport and he also developed his basic skills and competitive instinct. He was also becoming a mean Shinty player (the traditional team game of the Highlands which is like a tough relation of Hockey) and an accomplished semi-professional ice hockey player. He still sometimes plays for local teams, but luckily for Britain, he stuck to skiing.

Achievements

Age 2	Starting skiing without his mother's help (on plastic Mothercare skis!)
Age 7	Regularly skied alone at Cairngorm
Age 14	Joined Scottish Junior Ski Team
1987	Selected to join the British Junior Ski Team
1990/91	Age 16-17 \| Scottish Alpine-based Team \| World Ranking (Slalom): unranked
1992/93	Age 18-19 \| British Team \| World Ranking (Slalom): 960
1993/94	Age 19-20 \| World Ranking (Slalom): 386
1994/95	Age 20-21 \| World Ranking (Slalom): 301
1995/96	Age 21-22 \| World Ranking (Slalom): 383
1996/97	Age 22-23 \| World Ranking: 438
1997/98	Age 23-24 \| World Ranking: 289
1998/99	Age 24-25 \| World Ranking: 87
1999/2000	Age 25-26 \| World Ranking: 105
2000/01	Age 26-27 \| World Ranking: 61
2001/02	Age 27-28 \| World Ranking: 11 Completed in Salt Lake City Olympics and became the first Briton to win a medal for skiing - he won Bronze for Slalom, only to be disqualified from the competition a few days later and the medal had to be returned
2003/04	World Ranking: 31 Appeared on BBC Superstars - runner-up in Series 1 and winner of Series 2.
2004/05	World Ranking: 40

For a full listing of results, please go to the FIS pages.