An 11-year-old skier, currently representing Wales, has her eyes set on one day competing in the Winter Olympics. 

Charlie Wilberforce-Marsh from Brynford has been skiing since she was four-years-old after taking to it on a family holiday in the French Alps. 

Since then, she has joined a skiing club in Llandudno, where she trains on the dry slope weekly.

Charlie has also represented Wales and has competed all over the UK. 

The covid pandemic put a halt to a lot of under 10s competitions for Charlie, but since returning to action she has achieved a number of podium finishes in national races. 

Her next race is the Inter-regional Championship 2022, which takes place on Sunday, August 7, where she will represent Wales against teams from the rest of the UK and Ireland. 

Charlie's mum, Claire has discussed her daughter's long-term ambitions, she said:

"She has been selected for the Welsh academy for the last two years and is hoping to make it into the development squad when she is old enough to meet the criteria.

"She hopes to become U12 Welsh Champion at the next Welsh Alpine Championship in Champery Switzerland in January 2023.

"Continue her success in the Great Britain indoor and outdoor series during the next few summers and hopefully win a series overall title.

"At 16 she would like to compete on the FIS (International Ski Federation) winter circuit in Europe.

"Eventually win a world cup race and compete in the Winter Olympics."

However, competing in a sport that is not so common in North Wales and the UK, does come with it's fair share of obstacles.

Claire added: "The biggest obstacle facing Charlie’s ski racing career is financing her training and development.

"As a skier you have to pay every time you want to practice or train, nobody owns their own ski slope and we generally don’t have sufficient snowfall in North Wales or the rest of the UK for that matter. So we rely of dry ski slopes or indoor artificial snow centres to train and race at which comes at a considerable cost.

"As well as paying for all the equipment such as multiple sets of skis, ski servicing tools and equipment and protective clothing as well as coaching sessions, race entries, travel and accommodation.

"There is no funding available due to the lack of medals won at Olympic level for Alpine skiing which is a shame considering the talent that now exists in the UK."