Kingston's Toby Deighton is hoping his skiing will now go from strength-to-strength after picking up his first English national titles at under-18 level on Thursday.

The Kingston College student, who turns 17 on Saturday, is competing at the English Alpine Championships in Bormio, which help provide an early glimpse of the stars of tomorrow with 400 of the country’s best alpine skiers descending upon the Italian resort this week.

And Deighton rounded off his campaign in style by picking up two English titles in the Super G and Alpine Combined event on Thursday, taming the fearsome Stelvio piste to top the podium.

He finished as fourth-fastest Brit overall in the morning’s breathless Super G behind Scottish racers Zak Vinter, Fraser Middleton, and Scott Buchan, but after laying down a flying Slalom time in the afternoon he was able to climb a place to third in the overall Combined standings.

Both results were good enough to take the English crowns, and Deighton - who trains with the Ambition Racing team - is thrilled his hard work in training is starting to pay dividends.

“I think under the circumstances I did well,” he said. “It was my first ever FIS Super G so I did ok considering that, and then I messed up the top of the slalom but got the hang of it after that.

“It was a tough course, so I was pleased to get down. Scott beat me in the Super G so I was keen to beat him in the slalom, and I’m really pleased to come top of the English standings.

“They are my first titles since children’s racing, so that definitely gives me something positive to take away from the week.

“It’s been pretty mix-and-match in terms of my form this week, I skied well in the first slalom but then skied out of the second for example.

“So I’ll keep working on what I’ve been doing in training; getting forwards and making sure I’m not sitting back in the turn.”

Meanwhile, Richmond resident Amber Buckland continued her success at the Championships by picking up two more English titles in the women’s under-21 category.

The 19-year-old former Surbiton High School student, who trains with the British Ski Academy, finished as the second highest Brit in both the Super G and Super Combined events behind Scotland’s Nicole Ritchie.

But that was good enough for her second and third English titles of the week for Buckland, who came into these Championships without a single one to her name.

She said: “I wasn’t expecting to win this week so it’s been amazing.

“The Super G wasn’t a particularly good run from me - I was pretty scared coming down it to be honest.

“So I made quite a few mistakes and I wasn’t too happy with it, but I don’t train much Super G so that’s pretty much what I was expecting.

“It was a scary course but I did it because I wanted to get another speed race under my belt and hopefully the more experience I get doing them the better my times will be.

“Racing Super G definitely helps you for GS as well, and the slalom was a bit better but I got really late at the bottom of the course and made a mistake.

“It’s good to finish again. The consistency I’m showing is good but I just want to go a little bit faster in the Super G next time.”

The English Alpine Championships, organised by Snowsport England, are run every year in the Italian resort of Bormio. Follow the action via www.englishalpinechamps.org.uk or @SnowsportEng on Twitter. Want to get into skiing or snowboarding? Find your nearest slope offering value-for-money GO SKI GO BOARD sessions at www.goskigoboard.org.uk.