In 2011 I stopped playing rugby for England so during the Six Nations, which is on during February and March, I was able to grab a week's skiing. But I still had to take it pretty easy because I didn't want to get injured while I was playing for Gloucester. In 2013, when I retired fully from rugby, I finally had the chance to go a couple of times a season.

With ski jumping I reached a plateau and the more I did it the worse I got.

Zara [Phillips] skis very well but is happy to take it easy around me. She will often wait for me when I'm on my snowboard but she can really whizz around if she needs to. I only snowboard if I'm on my own with Zara; if we're with other people who want to go a bit quicker, I will stick with skis.

I think when you go skiing you have to buy into the après, so it has to be lively for me. There is such a unique atmosphere in ski resorts that it's all about having fun once you get off the mountain and, as a couple, we embrace that.

I started going on ski trips at senior school. I can't remember exactly where but we skied in the Tirol in Austria a couple of times and also went to Val d'Isère in France. When I was 15, rugby took over and there wasn't time to ski any more. I didn't ski again until I was 33.

In 2011 I stopped playing rugby for England so during the Six Nations, which is on during February and March, I was able to grab a week's skiing. But I still had to take it pretty easy because I didn't want to get injured while I was playing for Gloucester. In 2013, when I retired fully from rugby, I finally had the chance to go a couple of times a season.

I vary my days between skiing and snowboarding - I can go fast down pisted runs but still struggle in the bumps on a snowboard.