SNOW, SKATE, surf, ironing - there's no kind of board that can't be used in an extreme sport.

But the latest craze to hit Wales has one advantage over all of them.

Mountain boarding, in simple terms riding a plank with four wheels nailed to it down a precipitous hill, is a sport which isn't at the mercy of the elements.

The Green Man Mountain Board Centre near Brecon hosted the first ever Welsh Championships last weekend.

Owner Gavin Hogg, 44, told the Argus about the origins of this new and unusual sport.

He said: "Mountain boarding was created by a bunch of frustrated snowboarders who wanted to extend their season.

"They got the idea of putting wheels on their snowboards about ten years ago, though there's a dispute about where in the world this happened - possibly America, but others say the UK or New Zealand.

"It's a kind of natural progression from surfing to skateboarding to snowboarding to this.

"There's a wide variety of applications to the basic idea and an interconnecting relationships.

"Ten years ago the boards were made of metal and bits and scraps from people's sheds, but now they've developed into lightweight, strong boards.

"There's a lot of research and development going into them to make them dynamic and flexible.

"And there's a public interest in the sport that's growing and growing all the time.

"It's represented in about 25 countries around the world now and people have said it's the fastest growing sport in the UK.

"Quite a few years ago I bought a couple of second-hand boards for my boys for Christmas and we've never really looked back.

"They've been boarding around the hills of Wales ever since and that made us think that other people might be interested.

"We opened in the summer of 2002. We've built some fairly large earth structures and we've built a downhill track for them.

"It's a very exciting sport, lots of rough and tumble, and it is extreme - bones get broken - but people have an immense amount of fun doing it.

"We hosted the first Welsh Championship here last weekend and had the country's top riders in competition.

"There was a nice relaxed atmosphere."

For more information call The Green Man on 01874 636202.