Pembrokeshire skier bags a Welsh hill that rarely sees snow

An off-piste skier hoping to carve on every peak in Wales has bagged one of the country's rarest slopes.

Chris Morris, 30, a property manager from Reynalton, Pembrokeshire, said the snow seldom lasted long on the nearby Preseli Hills.

But the conditions were just right on 19 January when Foel Eryr was blanketed in the white stuff.

"I got up there and took advantage before it was all washed away," he said.

"The Preselis are my local hills," he explained.

"I've always lived in Pembrokeshire and have looked up there and seen some snow and just really wanted to get up there and ski."

Being near the Welsh coast and having a highest peak of just 536m (1759ft), they "don't get as much snow as some of the other hills in Wales", Chris said.

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"I was watching the evening news and Derek [Brockway] the weatherman said there'd be some snow up in Pembrokeshire," he remembered.

"So I just sort of went up there [the following morning] and had a look, as you never really know if there's going to be much snow."

It was still dark when he arrived at Foel Eryr, a peak above the small village of Rosebush, but the rising sun soon revealed perfect conditions.

Chris on Foel Eryr in the Preseli Hills

"That was the first time that I had any decent skiing up there," he said.

"Normally, either there isn't enough snow or the snow comes down and it just gets blown away, so it was nice to earn a few turns."

"You could see Cardigan Bay, the mountains in Ireland, Snowdonia (Eryri) in the north, some stunning landscapes for skiing," he added.

Can you ski in Wales?

Chris is part of a little-known group of skiing enthusiasts who eschew the Alps for Welsh mountains.

There are no ski resorts, so it is strictly an off-piste endeavour and not, according to Chris, for the "faint-hearted".

"If you have the right kit... a lightweight pair of skis and comfortable, flexible boots, it's a lot easier," he said.

"But still not as easy as going up on a lift."

With no ski lifts in Wales, Chris says skiers use light equipment and flexible boots to make it easier to walk back up the slope

He started to learn "conventionally" from 13, first at Pembrey in Carmarthenshire, one of the six artificial ski slopes in Wales, and then at ski resorts abroad.

"I've been skiing in to France, Austria, Italy, the Balkans, and I've done a bit up in Scotland."

In 2018 he watched a video of Mike Richards, a ski instructor from Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, skiing in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, also known as the Brecon Beacons.

"That just sort of opened my eyes to what's possible in Wales when conditions allow," he said, explaining how the following winter he and Mike met up to ski on Pen y Fan - the tallest mountain in the national park.

He has been hooked ever since, sometimes even heading to the slopes when there is no snow.

Chris skiing with a friend, Sean Manley, as they descend Pen y Fan in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park

"Then you kind of know the lay of the land and where the hazards are," he said. "When the snow comes, you can avoid most of them."

Next on his bucket list is Wales' tallest mountain, Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon.

"Snowdon's quite rocky so you need a really good covering of snow," he said.

"But some of the mountains nearby have some grassy areas that don't take an awful lot of snow to get into condition."

Chris about to set off from Moel Eilio near Llanberis in Eryri National Park, also know as Snowdonia

He skied Moel Eiliol, above Llanberis, calling it "good fun in the sunshine".

So what is the alpine skiing scene in Wales like?

"It's been going on sporadically for a long time, so some people kind of know it exists," he said.

"But a lot of people are surprised about what we have here in Wales.

"I think the mountains are absolutely perfect, if you can get them in good condition with a good covering of snow, then it's absolutely superb."

Chris shreds some Welsh powder in western Bannau, descending Fan Foel towards Llyn y Fan Fawr

Skiing has had its brief moments in Wales.

In the 1980s, on a slope near Merthyr Tydfil, snow-making machines were used to create a groomed trail at the Merthyr Ski Slope centre.

But making snow and keeping it on the slope proved too difficult and the centre closed.

Britain's most famous ski jumper, Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards visited Merthyr in 1988 for the opening of a new artificial slope at the same site in Pentrebach.

That closed as well, but plans were submitted last year by Marvel Limited to build the UK's longest indoor ski slope as part of Rhydycar West, a £300m leisure resort on a 575-acre site overlooking Merthyr Tydfil.

Chris said he was focussed on what is already on offer in the Welsh "back-country".

"The mountains are stunning," he said.

"It's just a shame that the snow it's very transient... it never really stays for any sort of length of time unfortunately."

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