Shwmae, my name’s Chris Knight.

I’m a Swansea based adventure travel creator, filmmaker, writer, former Welsh rugby player, and the sole person behind Oh What A Knight.

Through my website, YouTube channel, and social media platforms, I share hiking routes, outdoor adventures, travel guides, gear advice and challenge based content designed to help people get outside, explore more, and take on adventures of their own.

My love of the outdoors started close to home on the rugged coastline of the Gower Peninsula, before growing further through family holidays in the Austrian Alps. Those early experiences gave me a real appreciation for wild places, mountains, coastlines and the simple joys of being immersed in nature.

After graduating from Reading University with a Geography degree in 2012, I returned to Wales and spent several years playing professional rugby. During that time, I represented Wales Sevens, the Scarlets and Cardiff Blues, and was fortunate enough to play in six countries across four continents, including at the 2013 Sevens World Cup.

However, after a brief four year professional career, I was forced to retire premeturely after slipping a disc in my spine.

 

Rugby had been a huge part of my life and identity for as long as I could remember, so having it taken away through injury felt like having the rug pulled from under me.

Struggling with the physical recovery, alongside the loss of identity, purpose and direction that rugby had given me for most of my life, I escaped to the mountains of the Bannau Brycheiniog and Eryri.

At first, hiking was simply an escape. But over time, it became much more. The Welsh mountains not only helped me rebuild, but helped me find a new purpose, and it was there that my passion for adventure, hiking and photography really began.

 

After being placed on furlough during the pandemic in 2020, I created Oh What A Knight as a way to share my adventures, photography, and love of local adventures here in Wales.

What started as a personal project quickly became a way to showcase the incredible landscapes, hiking routes and outdoor opportunities we have across Wales and the wider UK. It also gave me a new outlet for the part of me that still wanted to chase challenges, tell stories and create something meaningful.

Around the same time, I began a Master’s degree in Sports Broadcast Media and started a YouTube channel to develop my skills both in front of and behind the camera.

Winning Vlog and Blog of the Year at the 2022 Wales Media Awards was a proud moment, especially as everything on my website is written, filmed or edited by me. I was also runner up in the Ed Townsend Student Journalist of the Year category.

After graduating with first class honours in July 2022, I went on to work across a wide range of roles in live sports production, including as an assistant producer, drone pilot, camera operator, editor, reporter, presenter and commentator.

I didn’t read the black tie memo

 

Since focusing more time and effort into my social channels and website, I have been fortunate enough to turn my passions for adventure, travel and hiking into a full time career.

I am now a self employed freelance content creator who specialises in creating both long form and short form digital content. My philosophy when it comes to creating content, whether that is written, video or imagery, is to amaze, inform and inspire, while sprinkling a little bit of Welsh humour on top.

  • Amaze people with the footage and images I produce.

  • Inform people with useful information about a route, place to visit, or the kit / equipment I use

  • Inspire people to get outside and take on these, or other adventures themselves.

 

Outside of creating content, I am an Ordnance Survey OS Champion and spend a lot of my time hiking, trail running, cycling and taking on challenges that push me physically, mentally and creatively.

Over the years, those challenges have included:

  • 2019 - I bikepacked 870 miles around the entire coastline of Wales over 15 days to raise money for the charity Restart Rugby.

  • 2020 - Covid lockdown stopped play

  • 2021 - I bikepacked from the north coast to the south coast of Wales via an ancient Roman road known as Sarn Helen. Filming the journey as a documentary for my master’s degree.

  • 2022 - I completed the Welsh 3,000s and Welsh Three Peaks

  • 2023 - I completed Ironman Wales and the Welsh 3000s in 11 hours

  • 2024 - I hiked the Welsh Three Peaks whilst cycling in-between them, and completed the Snowdon 6 Challenge

  • 2025 - I complete the Welsh 3,000s in 9 hours, alongside two Ironman 70.3 races.

  • 2026 - I completed my first Mountain Ultramarathon (57km with 3,500m ascent), Hiked 120 km across Madeira, and hope to complete the Bob Graham round

 

These adventures and challenges were initially fuelled by a loss of identity after rugby, a desire to push myself, a chance to raise money for charity and, on occasion, wanting to have a good story to tell the grandkids one day.

But in 2024, I unexpectedly lost my father to a heart attack.

He was one of the main reasons I fell in love with the outdoors in the first place. He always encouraged me to chase my passions, and he loved watching my challenges and adventures on YouTube.

Since losing him, those adventures have taken on a deeper meaning. They are still driven by the same things that first pushed me into them, but now they are also shaped by grief, his encouragement and the knowledge that he would have loved following along.

So, as the years tick by and my knees continue to live on borrowed time, I will keep chasing my passions, taking on ridiculous side quests and trying to build a life around the things I love.

Hopefully, you’ll follow along.

Diolch,

Chris “Oh What A” Knight