‘It’s usually drunk Brits’ – Andy Murray at centre of dramatic rescue on ski slope after fearing he would fall off cliff

ANDY MURRAY has revealed that he had to be rescued up a mountain after a disastrous first attempt at skiing. The Scots tennis legend, 37, has been taking up new hobbies after hanging up his racket last summer at the Olympics in Paris. He tried his hand at golf in the autumn and over the winter he decided to take up skiing. But it hasn't gone that well, so far at least. Just before he headed to Melbourne as Novak Djokovic's coach for the Australian Open, Sir Andy hit the slopes and emerged unscathed, saying he had “no injuries just yet.”.

However, the two-time Wimbledon champion has now explained how he became stuck thousands of metres up a mountain. On a recent trip with some of his family, Sir Andy and his brother-in-law missed the last ski lift and were faced with a daunting 3km run back down the slope. As a beginner, that wasn't really an option and Sir Andy told of his embarrassment at essentially having to slide down on his BACKSIDE until he reached a restaurant and some flatter ground.

Speaking on the Sporting Misadventures podcast with Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Andy recalled: “The first two days were shocking. I couldn’t get off the ski lift. I couldn’t get up. “They’re quite low some of the ski lifts. My wife refused to go on the ski lifts with me because it’s embarrassing isn't it when I just couldn’t get up. “So I was having to go on with strangers who were like having to lift me up. My brother-in-law was having to help me.

“The first day I got stuck up the mountain at the end of the day. “We were on a beginners slope at the end of the day the ski lift to take you back up to the top was closing and there was another one slightly further down the hill. “Me and my brother-in-law were like let’s just go a little bit further and we’ll go up the other ski lift. “So we went down the mountain a little bit, but I can’t ski. I don’t know how to stop at this stage. We’d been on literally a beginner green slope.

“We went let’s say 500m down the slope, got to where the ski lift was and the other ski lift had shut. “The guy who was operating it said the only way to get down now is you have to get down the mountain. I was like 'I can’t ski'. He told us we shouldn't have gone up when we were told it was closing. “The only way is you’ve got to go for it. He said it’s about three kilometres to the bottom. It’s late in the day so it gets icy as well, it’s harder. I had no idea how to stop.

“I’d gone for about 500m, it's a narrow slope and I’m like if I try to turn I’m going off the side here. I’m going straight down the mountain. “I’ve gone past my brother-in-law and I'm shouting to him I’m in trouble here, I don’t know how to stop here. “I threw myself on the ground and then started trying to go down on my a*** which I couldn't really do. “I got to a restaurant eventually having picked up the skis and I’m now walking, and I had to get rescued on one of those skidoos.

“The rescue team were snapping because usually it’s drunk British people at the end of the day that have got stuck up the mountain and that’s not really their job to rescue them. “They are there to help people who have hurt themselves and are injured rather than just some idiot that thought they could get down the slope late in the day. “That was a bit embarrassing.”. However, with a couple of days' worth of practice and tuition, Sir Andy felt more confident - and will return to the slopes soon.

“By the end I got quite into it and enjoyed it and we're going to go again in April,” he said. With his aim to become a scratch golfer, learning to ski and a hotel business on the side as well as potentially continuing his coaching career, Sir Andy is still quite the busy man. Add into that his desire to spend more time with his family rather than being on the road all the time as a tennis player, he has spoken of how little he misses the sport in which he made his name.

Indeed, he insists he is TERRIBLE at tennis now. Sir Andy said: “I’ve not missed playing at all. I’ve hit tennis balls like three times since the Olympics in Paris and I have no desire to do it right now. “Maybe at some stage I will want to play and the times that I did I was terrible. I played so badly. But I actually enjoyed it. I didn’t find it frustrating or anything. “I hit with some friends and just enjoyed playing even though I can’t play anymore, I can’t move, my shoulder’s gone, I can’t serve.