Ready for skins on the slopes? Ski mountaineering is making its Olympic debut

BORMIO, Italy — The newest sport on the Olympic program goes by the name "skimo," which is short for ski mountaineering. Its basic principles are just as condensed: race up the slope and back down as fast as possible.

There's so much more nuance to it, though, in a sport that traces its roots to the late 19th century. Ski mountaineering became fashionable before the arrival of mechanical lifts, when the only way to go up was by climbing. And the best way to get back down was, of course, skiing.

"I love this sport because it takes me into the mountains and gives me an incredible sense of freedom," explained Swiss athlete Marianne Fatton, who won the women's sprint event at the skimo world championships last March. "For me, the Olympic Games were really the cherry on top. I was already incredibly happy just to be able to compete at a high level."

There are a range of skimo categories that blend endurance, technique, speed and Alpine ability. For the Milan Cortina Games, the focus will be on the individual sprint and the mixed team relay. The men's and women's sprint competitions are Thursday in Bormio, with the mixed relay two days later.

What is the format?

The individual sprint features a bracketed-style setup. The top finishers keep advancing until they reach the final, which will consist of six athletes. The course is composed of an ascent on skis with the assistance of "skins," which are pieces of fabric that allow athletes to hurry uphill but prevent sliding backward. After going through a diamond-shaped pattern, there's a running section in boots with skis on their backs, followed by another uphill section on skis. From there, the athletes remove the skins and ski down.

A typical individual race lasts about three minutes. The total ascent is roughly 70 meters, and the course length is about 750 meters.

In the mixed team race, each athlete completes two laps of the course, one after the other. The final takes about 30 minutes. The ascent on that course is about 135 meters and the length around 1,500 meters.

Athletes can be called for penalties, ranging from unsportsmanlike conduct to technical errors to missing equipment. It can result in adding three to 30 seconds to their time or even a disqualification. For instance, incorrect storage of the skins is a 3-second addition, while losing the skin before the finish line is a 30-second penalty. Failing to correctly fasten skis on a backpack is a 3-second infraction.

What exactly are skins?

Skins are adhesive fabric strips that go on the bottom of the skis while racers traverse uphill. They allow grip to go up without sliding backward. They're taken off to go downhill and typically placed in the racing suit. The skis are narrow, lightweight and shorter than an Alpine model to help provide more control. They're designed for efficiency going up and down the mountain.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

The boots are lightweight, too, since athletes will be running in them. They have a lever so athletes can toggle back and forth between walk and ski mode. The bindings are designed for quick transitions.

How many are involved?

There will be 36 racers (18 males, 18 females) competing for the medals. Of the total, 35 are making their Olympic debuts; Phillip Bellingham of Australia competed in cross-country skiing at three Winter Games.

The International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) oversees the sport, with approximately 56 national federations spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa. The sport has seen a 45% increase since it was approved for the Olympics in 2021. There are approximately 3 million ski mountaineers around the globe, according to ISMF.

The sport has been proposed for the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps.

Who are the favorites?

It's so wide open. Among the female athletes to watch are Emily Harrop of France and Fatton. On the men's side, it's Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain, Thibault Anselmet of France and Jon Kistler of Switzerland. The U.S. has a strong team in the mixed relay in Anna Gibson and Cameron Smith, who recently won a World Cup event.

What qualities are needed?

The races are a mix of cross-country skiing, biathlon and ski cross. The top athletes have the lung capacity of a cross-country racer and the skills of a downhill racer.

"It's a fun mix," explained Harrop, the sprint-race silver medalist at worlds.

No coasting on the downhills, either.

"In skimo, the effort is nearly constant," Fatton explained. "You don't just glide down. You have to stay fully engaged, skiing aggressively and as fast as possible. For me, the ideal skimo racer needs a very strong VO-2 max, excellent recovery ability, real power and a high tolerance for suffering."

Photos show athletes as a blur of motion at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics