Chemmy Alcott was a little out of breath when she answered my call on her mobile.

She had climbed four floors of her base at Lofer, Austria, in double-quick time to answer it.

Chemmy had just completed a morning in the gym and was due to return there after lunch before finishing the day playing volleyball with other Alpine skiers seemingly suffering from an energy overload.

It may have been a day off, but with only one more before her season ends in the middle of April she likes to "keep on the go."

Chemmy satisfies her restless spirit this weekend by travelling to Tigne in France to defend her British title Apart from a bunion on her foot and a back problem that might tempt her to pay a visit to her Brighton chiropracter Matthew Bennett, she is full of joie de vivre.

Chemmy is on an upward curve in a roller-coaster season that has taken her to the United States and across Europe.

The downward journey involved a viral infection which forced the 20-year-old from Hove to break off from preparations for last month's world championships in St Moritz and return home.

"I was worried. I don't get ill much but my heart rate was so high and I didn't know what was causing it," she admitted.

"I came back and just lay in bed. It had been my body's way of telling me I had been overdoing it. I had certainly pushed myself in training and competition. I had blood tests and it was discovered I need more iron and red meat.

"I competed in St Moritz and didn't do all that well as I wasn't fully fit.

"But now I'm rejuvenated while a lot of other skiers are jaded. I don't want the season to end now."

An indication of her change in fortunes came two weeks ago when she gained her first World Cup points at Super G in Austria.

The moment she re-wrote British skiing history took her by surprise.

"There was a 20-minute hold and the temperature went up five degrees. I thought I was not going to do too much.

"I was even more convinced after my run. I was so out of control and had loads of marks on my helmet where I hit the gate marks.

"I wasn't pleased but I looked up at the positions board and I had finished 27th, three inside the position I needed to get a point. In fact, I got four.

"I'd looked miserable so I thought I'd better look happier. I roared in delight, otherwise they might have thought I was a moody girl.

"It was quite something because I was the first female British skier to get a point in more than 40 years and it was only my second World Cup. It took Alain Baxter seven years to get his first point.

"Cup points are what a skier is judged on, it's what gets you respect. I'm taken more seriously by people who used to laugh at British skiers. If you can get one big result a year it keeps you going."

Her performance is proof of her improvement since her 14th place as a teenager at the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City last year.

Her emergence earned her a major sponsorship deal from an investment company, Witan, until the next Olympics and Chemmy has also joined the British Team programme which means a new coach in Austrian Gerhard Graber.

"I had done my skiing privately but now I'm not struggling to find the money for everything anymore," she said.

"I took a shot by joining the programme but It is working out well with Gerhard, especially since I taught him English!

"I had a mutual split from my previous coach Chris Knight who felt he'd taken me as far as he good. Gerhard is very professional and seems to some overly pedantic which I think is an Austrian trait. It's been good for me because I'm the opposite of that, a bit laid back."

At Tigne she competes in four disciplines. She won the Giant Slalom, the Super G, Downhill and Combined in Salbach 12 months ago to take the domestic crown. This time she aims to triumph in the Slalom as well.

"I feel the pressure in a domestic event," she admitted. I'm expected to win. I have won more than 40 British titles and I want to keep winning them."

Her sense of humour, intelligence, striking looks and enthusiasm are characteristics which cannot all be contained in skiing alone.

When the season is over she will travel to Flaine, France for a photo shoot alongside other leading British athletes, including Darren Gough, Matthew Pinsent, Jason Robinson and Helen McArthur, to promote Marks and Spencer sportswear.

"I'm flattered to be part of that. I've modelled before and enjoy it. Before it helped fund my skiing. Now I do it if I want to earn some extra money."

It shows how much her profile has broadened but, as a self-possessed individual, she will not allow sidelines to distract from her skiing.

"I'm living my dream. There are a lot of ups and downs and a few wiggles in between, but I love it and want to achieve as much as possible."