TALENTED skier Michelle Palmer underlined her prowess on the slopes as she powered to double slalom glory in the recent Celtic Cup ski series at the artificial ski slope in Pontypool, writes Noel Davies.

Palmer, who lives in Swindon but trains in Torfaen, was queen of the hill as she annihilated the opposition including British number one Shana Prince.

Over one hundred skiers packed Wales' only downhill course for the weekend's action including the Welsh ski team.

They were there to battle it out against their British counterparts in the Celtic Cup. Gemma Harris, 14 from Cardiff and a British Children's Ski Team member, lead the rest of the field in the Giant Slalom event winning overall and beating skiers with considerable more experience than her.

Since her selection to the Welsh squad last year as the youngest ever team member Harris has gone on to prove her potential and is now ranked 6th in the UK.

Welsh squad members Rhys Evans, 18 from Swansea, and Jamie Page, 19 from Cardiff, scored excellent results in the mens competition.

In the three events through the weekend Evans took one silver medal and two bronze demonstrating consistent top class ski racing.

Page finished in third place in Saturday's slalom competition, though crashed out in the other two events.

Overall Welsh ski squad members achieved a remarkable 17 finishes in the top ten. Overall winners of the events were Georgie Hunt of Hemel Hempstead and Michelle Palmer of Swindon.

The ski racing circuit now moves on to the slopes of Llandudno next weekend where the overall series winners of the Snowsport Wales Celtic Cup will be decided.

The ski race series, designed on the same basis as the Alpine World Cup, includes slalom, giant Slalom and parallel slalom events.

Competitors gain points from each event which are totalled to give the overall series positions.

International ski racing returns to the Pontypool slopes at the end of September for the Welsh Championships.

For further information upon skiing in Wales, courses, events & training visit the Snowsport Wales web site www.snowsportwales.net or call Robin Kellen Programme Manager Snowsport Wales on 029 20561904.