Snow problem
By Ronan Scott
SNOWBOARDING in this part of the world is not for the easily discouraged.
Then again it may come as a surprise to many that it happens at all.
It definitely does – as local snowboarder Kieron Black can testify. Kieron has been snowboarding in the Mourne mountains and also in the Sperrins.
He features in a BBC documentary, called ‘Chronicles of the Sperrins’, in which a camera crew follows him as he attempts to snowboard on the Derry side of that mountain range.
He has been snowboarding for over 20 years, and travels to the Alps when he can, but also tries to take his board to the Sperrins or up to the Mournes when weather permits.
Climate change is having an increasing influence on many aspects of daily life.
Kieron explained it has affected his ability to get a ‘hit’ as he calls it, a ride down the mountain.
“I think in the last 10 years incrementally the greenlight days (days when you can snowboard) are getting fewer,” he said.
“As global warming kicks in and it gets wetter and it gets warmer, we are getting fewer chances.”
But another consequence of climate change is that extreme weather events are becoming more common.
Which could mean more frequent snowstorms, bringing good conditions for snowboarding close to home.
Kieron fondly remembers the winter of 2013.
“We had a two-week period of snow when we were heading up there every day, and we had enough time to build a ramp and jump near Silent Valley.
“I got on the front cover of the Telegraph and the Newsletter that year. That was an exceptional one.”
He says that nowadays, two or three times a year is regarded as a good season.
The ‘Chronicles of the Sperrins’ was filmed in January 2025.
Kieron appears in the series as a snowboarder eager to get a ride on a snowy slope in the Sperrins.
But he said preparation for filming was not straightforward because they were waiting for the right conditions since November 2024.
There hadn’t been any proper snow for months.
“It got quite tense. They have a lot of people to bring, and a lot of commitment to get there.
“They wrap shooting on each series around about the 10th of January.
“So, we were days away from the end of their shooting schedule.
“Our weather, as you know, is fickle, so we were on tenterhooks waiting to see if it was a go.
“The night before we were watching the weather forecast very carefully, and we had not made the decision.
“Then we got to 4am and the messages started bouncing back and forth at that time to see if it was a go.
“It was at that point that we decided, yeah, that we should just take a roll on it.
“I had the van packed the night before anyway. It was just a case of filling the water bladders and making sure that everything was ready.”
They made their way to the Sperrins and hiked up to the location that Kieron and his fellow snowboarder, Paddy Dougan, use, and found that the conditions were good.
They filmed over a few days.
“It was good conditions. It was a lovely couple of days to get up there and get out and away from everything.”
Kieron was well known to the producers because he had featured on a previous documentary called ‘Chronicles of Strangford’.
Veronica Cunningham, the producer for Brian Waddell Television, was keen to film Kieron in action.
“I am not sure how it came up in conversation, but during the ‘The Chronicles of Strangford’ the conversation turned to the mountains and I had mentioned that we would normally get a couple of falls of local snow a year.
“They were doing the Sperrins and they asked if I had hit (been snowboarding in) the Sperrins and I said I had, many times.
“She said that she would love to get that on film.
“So, then we were just on a waiting pattern to get something shot in the Sperrins.”
Kieron is a really keen snowboarder and will travel to the Alps as many times as possible in a season.
To satisfy the urge to slide while he is at home, he goes to the Sperrins and to the Mournes.
“We watch from December to March.
“That is usually when you have the best chance of getting something local.
“I’ve been to the Sperrins a dozen times.
“More times in the Mournes.
“We know where we are going, we know the route.
“We are watching the radar pictures, and you can see which mountains are getting loaded.
“There are a few locations in both those ranges that we would hit.
“It just depends on the predominant wind direction, normally with the storms they come in the same area, so it is the same slopes getting loaded.
“If it is coming from the north the Sperrins will get it.
“If it is coming from the south or the east then the Mournes will be front and centre.”
But he pointed out that the snowfall is modest at best, and it is a hobby for only the most passionate.
Kieron was in the Sperrins in mid-January and experienced very icy conditions.
And, not surprisingly, some falls.
“That is all part of it.
“The philosophy of riding at home is that you have to regard it as a good hike with a heavy pack.
“If you get to slide down something that is a bonus.
“There are many times where you do the work and you don’t get the reward.
“If you are coming home in a bad mood about not getting to slide down it then you are doing it for the wrong reasons.
“You save that for the Alps, where you have a guaranteed result.”
He said sometimes snowboarders express an interest in trying out Northern Ireland slopes, but they are quickly put off.
“People come and say that they would love to do that, then they hear the numbers and they go ‘oh’.
“When people ask what it is like, I will say that you have to drive there, it is an hour and a half in, or two hours. You ride for maybe a 30-second descent.
“Then you have to climb up again, then you might get another 30-second descent. You might get a third one if you are lucky, then you have a two-hour hike back to the van.
“Then they are like ‘What?’
“You find it is only the few that will commit to something like that.”
Kieron is hoping the final days of winter will yield a few more trips into the mountains.
“This year we have just had the one shot. And we were lucky to get that.
“There is a chance that we might hit it again this year.
“Some years you don’t get up at all.”
‘Chronicles of the Sperrins’ is available to watch on the BBC iPlayer now.
