CAMERON THOMAS got off to a flying start in this year's Celtic Cup ski competition with a first and second place in rounds one and two held at Rossendale in Lancashire.

The Celtic Cup is a national competition organised by Snowsport Wales, held at Rossendale, Pontypool and Gloucester slopes.

The Torquay Alpine Ski Club contingent were joined by top racers from Norfolk and London, including three of the top four in the last British Dry Slope Championships.

The series consists of six days racing spread over three weekends. The format is the same as the national championships - two runs each on a different course, with a course inspection but no practice allowed.

Racers must go as fast as they can down a course they have not skied before, leaving little margin for error. As both runs need to count, a single mistake can mean that the racers end up with nothing.

Thomas won the U13 age category last year after a thrilling finish at Gloucester, where he and fellow Torquay racer Jake Whittaker were only separated by a point going into the last race of the series.

The 13 year old from Brixham has now moved up to the U15 category competing against significantly older racers. He claimed second place behind a racer nearly two years his senior.

Thomas went one better on day two and won his age group.

The quality of this result was such it would have merited a podium position in the U17 age group as he beat the time of the third-placed racer in this category.

Proud dad, Gerald, said: "Cameron loves to ski and race, moving up an age group usually means a dip in results for a year so he's done really well.

"There is still a long way to go in the series, but hopefully Cameron will be able to get some more results like these and challenge for an overall podium position at the end of the series."

Thomas was not the only Torbay skier to compete. Thomas Simmons (14) from Abbotskerswell just missed out on a podium with a fourth place on Sunday.

Matthew Lugger (14) from Ivybridge was poised to go one better as he was lying fourth after the first run, only 0.1 of a second behind third place.

Unfortunately, a big push out of the start gate caused one of Lugger's skis to release and he was robbed of the chance of a second run time.

The next rounds of the Celtic Cup take place at Pontypool on June 12 and 13.