Ben Sneesby admits that while his preparation for the Alpine Skiing World Championships wasn’t ideal he was happy with his performance on the Canadian slopes.

The High Wycombe native raced in the seated slalom when he travelled to compete in his maiden World Championships, which were held in Panorama on 1-10 March, and skied his way to a sixth place finish.

Sneesby, who represented Team GB at the Paralympics in Sochi last year, relished competing at the top level once again even though he felt he may have done better with more thorough preparation.

He said: “I had two weeks training in Canada before they (the World Championships) started and two weeks isn’t a long time when you’re competing against some of the best athletes in the world.

“I had those two weeks and they gave me that feeling back but it wasn’t enough time to make any improvements so to come sixth in the slalom was a good result.

“It was better than I expected and better than was expected of me by the national governing body. It’s a top class result for anyone but considering I haven’t been training much I was very pleased with it.”

Skiing is the 20-year-old’s passion but the sport has taken a backseat since he began studying sports science at Sheffield Hallam University in September.

The Bucks youngster is desperate to get the balance between his studies and competing in top level competition right as he continues his preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

“I haven’t done as much skiing as I would have liked to do and as of next year I want to make the situation easier,” he said.

“It needs understanding from both sides, skiing and academic, and the emphasis falls on me to make it work because I’m the one that’s studying and skiing.

“I haven’t done as much skiing as I expected that I would be able to do, but having said that it hasn’t been a devastating experience or anything like that. My expectations weren’t as realistic as they should have been.”

The World Championships in Canada marked the end of the ski season, and, despite not participating in as many competitions as he would have liked, Sneesby will take a lot of fond memories from his time in Panorama.

He said: “We had an opening ceremony which wasn’t on the same scale as Sochi but it was a much more intimate celebration.

“All the athletes were invited into town where there was a stage and there were announcements being made about how wonderful it was that the competition as being held there.

“There were performances done, and we were all sitting round these mini bonfires that they’d made and then cooking marshmallows. It was a really nice atmosphere and I enjoyed it.

“Although I haven’t been skiing much this season it was a nice way to finish it off, and to be skiing and competing a year on from Sochi was a nice feeling. To be back out doing the sport I love and competing at the top level and to come back finishing sixth as well was a good feeling.”