ROSSENDALE Special Olympic Ski Team may have only been established a few months ago but it is the fruition of six years of hard work.

And it is hard work that has paid off in spectacular fashion.

For the team has recently returned from the Special Olympics Great Britain’s National Alpine Ski Champion-ships in Italy with a clutch of medals – including three national champions.

The idea to create a competitive team came from Andy Squire, headteacher of Tor View Special School, where skiing has been a part of the curriculum for a number of years.

The school has held an after-school ski club every Thursday at Ski Rossendale and now holds a Saturday club for the newly formed team.

“Skiing has been a big part of this school for a number of years so we decided to form a club to give the more accomplished skiers more of a competitive challenge and in an competitive environment,” he said.

“We are delighted with the success the team achieved in Italy but that has been down to many years hard work and commitment from these skiers.”

Seven of the eight skiers who made the trip to Italy are current or former Tor View students.

The Rossendale team had skiers aged from 13 to 21-years-old who competed in slalom, giant slalom and super giant slalom (Super G) and picked up a total of three golds, seven silvers and four bronze medals.

And it was Liam Kay, Jade Owen and Thomas Kirk all returned from the slopes of Pila as champions.

Competing in the advanced 16 to 21-year-old age group, Liam, 17, from Rawtenstall, won gold in the Super G, was second in the giant slalom and fifth in the slalom.

Thomas, competing in the same age group and category, won the Super G while the 16-year-old from Bacup finished just outside the medals in his two other races, fifth in the slalom and sixth in the giant slalom.

Jade, 15, was the youngest of the Rossendale champions after picking up a gold medal in the 12 to 15-year-old advanced giant slalom and then followed up with a silver in the Super G.

The Bacup teen-ager missed out on the chance of a treble of medals after missing a gate in the slalom.

Joseph Holden could count himself the unluckiest of the Rossendale party despite returning with three medals.

For the 21-year-old from Rawtenstall was the ‘nearly man’ of the team with three silver medals – finishing second in the Super G, giant slalom and slalom in the advanced 16 to 21-year-old category.

Cameron De Vial also returned with three medals from the interme-diate 16 to 21-year-old section, the 18-year-old from Accrington finishing second in the Super G and giant slalom and third in the slalom.

David Corr was the youngest of the Rossendale team and showed he has the same skiing talents as older brother Chris who is the current under 16s national champion with the All-England Dry Slope Squad. David, aged 13 from Chorley, picked up two bronze medals in the Super G and giant slalom in the advanced 12 to 15-year-old age group. He too missed out on the chance of a hat-trick of medals after a missing a gate in the slalom.

Hamish McFarlane completed the medal haul for Rossendale, the 19-year-old winning a bronze medal in the intermediate Super G. He also picked up a couple of fifth place finishes in the giant slalom and slalom.

And while 15-year-old Daniel Myers just finished outside of the medals, he impressed on his first national championship. Daniel, from Rossendale, was fourth in the slalom and fifth in the Super G in the advanced 12 to 15-year-old section.

“We’re absolutely delighted with the way in went,” said head coach Mike Hopkins who is based at Ski Rossendale. “We may not have come away with the biggest amount but if you compare the number of skiers to the number of medals won then we were definitely the most successful.”

Following the hugely impress-ive debut in the national finals, the club is looking to go on to bigger and better things.