'In 20 years I've seen leaps in human performance but frightening climate change'

Ed Leigh is co-presenter of Ski Sunday, which starts on 4 January (17:30 GMT) on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. This winter will be Ed’s 20th year working on the iconic BBC Sport programme.

Context is everything. Twenty years in the context of geology is a heartbeat, a snowflake in the blizzard of time — but change the context to the world of television and the same period represents a fifth of TV’s lifespan.

In my two decades on Ski Sunday, I have witnessed huge leaps in human performance, frightening environmental changes, inspiring shifts in alpine and winter sports culture and incredible advances in technology.

The biggest (and my personal favourite) change during my tenure at Ski Sunday has been in women’s sport.

Ski Sunday’s coverage was dominated in its early years by the daring of Franz Klammer and Jean-Claude Killy, the machismo of Alberto Tomba and the aggression of Hermann Maier.

But the rise of female stars in the 21st Century has been a joy to watch. Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Schiffrin’s record-breaking careers have elevated female skiing’s profile above male skiing in many countries.

Closer to home my co-presenter Chemmy Alcott was a consistent top-10 campaigner in alpine and Jenny Jones, Izzy and Zoe Atkin, Charlotte Bankes, Mia Brookes and Kirsty Muir have outshone the men, claiming numerous British firsts with World Cup, World Championship and X Games titles.

Jenny and Izzy have both won Olympic medals and it is impossible not to dream, looking at Mia, Kirsty, Charlotte and Zoe’s form, that the 2026 Winter Games in Milan in February might produce Team GB’s first ever gold on snow.