I learned to ski at 13 on a school trip to Italy. Then I skied on dry slopes at the Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre for the next four years. When I left school at 17 I got a job in Colle di Tenda in Italy, right on the French border in Limone-Piemonte, working for a company that took school trips there.

I got to know every square inch of the resort, both on and off piste. There was one run I really loved – a straight red with a blue run zigzagging across it. At the top I would put my Walkman on with something like Jump by Van Halen (the song features when I’m ski jumping in the film). Then I’d set off and where the blue hit the red, I would take off and go flying through the air, jumping at least 40 metres, possibly even 50, then land and carry on down the red.

I first tried ski jumping about five years later. I was in Lake Placid, upstate New York, downhill racing on the North American ski circuit. Not a lot of people know that I was a very good ski racer, the press [at the time of the 1988 Calgary Olympics] ignored that fact. In Lake Placid I’d run out of money, which was quite a common occurrence for me, and then I saw the ski jumps. I realised Britain had lots of downhill, cross-country and biathlon skiers but we’d never had a ski jumper, so I thought I’d give it a go.

My time in Colle di Tenda was great training for ski jumping. I jumped over cars; I jumped over snow cats. I’d spend half the run in the air and was as comfortable jumping as I was racing down the slope. So in Lake Placid, when I did start jumping, I just had to get used to the Nordic, not Alpine, cable binding equipment.

I started jumping this winter again for the first time in 20 years. I was in Courchevel with a group raising money for Ski 4 Cancer and I did the 60-metre and 90-metre jumps. It was great. I’m hoping to do more in the future. I’m in as good shape now as I was back when I was 24.

I love looking at mountains. I love the scenery, the different colours at different times of year and the different weather conditions. I love snow, and fresh air, and the atmosphere. And I love the exercise and how you can ski as hard as you like, it’s up to you.

I’m just as excited to put a pair of skis on now as I was when I was 13, that’s 39 years ago! I still go as often as I can. If the conditions are good I like going off-piste, through the trees and under chairlifts. But I also still like the technical challenge of the slopes and practising my turns.

It doesn’t matter if there isn’t much snow in a ski resort or if there’s only one run open, as I’m used to the dry slopes in Gloucester. As long as I’ve got my skis on I’m happy.

Why is there that need to go on a skiing holiday and never ski the same piste twice? I meet a lot of people who say, “Oh I don’t like going to that resort as there are only 20 runs: I will ski it all in a day and get bored.” And I’m thinking, I don’t see the point in that: I’d be happy to ski one run all day everyday because I can ski it so many different ways.

When I used to go skiing in Europe, it cost £300-£500 just to get there. Now if you go at certain times of the year you can fly to Europe for £20, so that’s good. But hotels in ski resorts can be astronomically expensive. They are all very high-end bistro kind of accommodation, but I’m quite happy to sleep in a broom cupboard for £100 a week. In fact I’d rather do that than live in luxury.

• Eddie the Eagle is in cinemas now