A Powys para skier and founder of the UK's first sit ski company says he is "thrilled" to have smashed the world record for the furthest skied using seated equipment for a ski charity.

Fresh from winning silver at the English Para Surfing Open, Olly Jones, from Llandyssil, near Abermule, and his seven teammates had hoped to break the record of 44 kilometres skied in eight hours by descending the 180m long slope - the longest indoor real snow slope in the UK - at the Chill Factore in Manchester on Monday (September 25).

That would have meant achieving an average of 38 runs per hour - but in the end they smashed the record by 15 kilometres, raising money for Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK) in the process.

The achievement is now subject official approval by Guiness World Records, with the team hoping to gain their certificate before the start of the new ski season.

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"We have smashed the world record and most of us have fallen apart after finally doing the world record," Olly said. "We all finished as a team of eight snaking down the hill.

"We surpassed it by 15 kilometres, so we're all thrilled. It's been a full-on day, lap after lap, and lift run after lift run. We're really happy."

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The incredible achievement follows a long recovery after suffering from a viral infection at 25 years old which left him bed bound for several years and unable to speak.

Despite his initial condition improving, the 39-year-old, who celebrates his 40th birthday this weekend, still suffers from joint pains, fatigue and headaches.

But the trained design engineer has turned his illness into a business by establishing the UK’s first sit ski company ArcticFox Adaptive, first started in a caravan in Churchstoke, and whose equipment was used in the world record challenge.

Olly will be doing a public talk about his life so far in his home village of Llandyssil on Wednesday (October 4) inside the village hall at 7.30pm.