I have checked out the roster of our 2026 Canadian Olympic Team (Opening Ceremonies to take place today) and overall, we have sent 207 eager and talented athletes to Italy to participate in 14 of the 16 Olympic events. Their stories will play out over the next 2 weeks as we shout them on from here at home.
One of the two categories that we don’t have anyone registered to compete in is Ski Mountaineering, a sport that is making its debut as an Olympic Event. (The other category is Nordic Combined which is an event that mashes cross-country skiing with ski-jumping! Who thinks these things up?)
I had never heard about Ski Mountaineering before this very moment, and I would imagine that several of you are in the same predicament. In a way, it is a blessing that we don’t have any Canadian Olympic Ski Mountaineers competing because we would make for a very quiet cheering section. The sport has a long history in Western Europe, but is still pretty new here in Canada.
Although it has the very cool nickname of SkiMo (which I will try to work into every single sentence from here on in!) the sport of Ski Mountaineering is a head-scratcher for people like me. SkiMo has a couple of subcategories but the events to be run during the Olympics will be both Men’s and Women’s Sprints, as well as a Mixed Relay.
SkiMo Sprint sees participants climbing UP a mountain, first on skis (I’m not making this up) and then when the slope gets even steeper, they whip off their skis and hang them off their backpacks and run up the remaining “steps” in their boots. When they come to the agreed upon top/summit, they all snap back into their skis and race back down the mountain. Whoever gets across the finish line first, wins.
Anyone who has ever slapped on a pair of skis knows that skiing uphill is more effort than it is worth (and is presumably why they invented the ski lift), so to facilitate the first leg of the Ski Mountaineering experience, something called a climbing skin is attached to the bottom of each ski with a loop at the front and a hook at the back to hold it in place. The climbing skin is not quite as wide as the ski itself and is sticky on the side that has contact with the underside of the ski. It used to be made from sealskin, but these days is constructed of either mohair (chosen if the conditions are on the colder side) or nylon (better in warmer conditions). These skins allow the ski to move forward but the ‘hairs’ dig in to prevent any backward slipping.
So, up the hill the competitors race, frantically running along on their skis and looking like a bunch of cross-country skiers being chased by a bear. But with less screaming and crying. They climb in a switchback pattern that challenges their turning abilities but helps as they scale the side of a mountain while wearing skis.
Then, just as their lungs start to come apart at the seams, they hit the beginning of The Really Steep Part of the climb. Here is where they take off their skis and slip them into a holster or sling on the side of their backpack and, after a complicated dance move, the skis are bungee-corded at the top of the backpack so that they aren’t flopping around during the uphill run/climb.
Which, as I mentioned, they continue to do in their ski boots.
As for their backpacks, these Mary-Poppins-like packs allow a SkiMo competitor to be ready for any sort of mountaineering emergency. You’ve got yer snow shovel, a snow probe, there’s a personal radio transmitter that would be useful if a competitor got caught in an avalanche during a race (has that happened before?), and tucked in there someplace is a survival blanket. Crampons may be insisted upon by the race governing body if The Really Steep Part is quite icy on the day of the race. If they aren’t required, they’ll go into the backpack too.
The regulations state that competitors also need to have ski poles, a helmet, wear goggles for UV protection (no kidding!), and carry a safety whistle. A safety whistle!
This sounds like a terrible event! I’m not at all surprised that Canadians have been slow to pick it up.
Once the competitors crest the mountain top (about 100 metres higher in elevation than the starting line) the athletes yank out their skis, clip into the special ski bindings that allow for both the flexibility necessary when uphill climbing as well as the stability needed for downhill skiing, whip off their skis’ skins in a lightning fast move that can only be described as AWESOME, tuck the skins into whatever outfit they’re wearing, and then point their skis downhill for their hair-raising descent. Their skis are about 20 inches shorter than those used regularly for downhill, by the way, so using their edges is vitally important in maintaining control as they ski the descent.
The entire SkiMo Sprint race encompasses one uphill and one downhill section and only takes around 3 minutes to accomplish! How is that even possible?
The Mixed Relay teams, one man and one woman, use a different track layout and each team member traverses the course twice. Each rotation of the course takes about 15 minutes, but the same elements are included; ascents and descents while juggling the skills of skiing/running uphill with downhill skiing. As in relay events everywhere, one person has to tag their teammate before they can start their own assault of the route.
I don’t think I even possess the stamina to watch this event from the couch!
The next couple of weeks will be filled with amazing and eye-popping winter sporting events as the Olympics unfold their usual array of exhilarating wins and heart-breaking losses. Over the next 16 days, while you watch as much or as little of the Games as you possibly can (depending on your tolerance level), enjoy following our 207 world-class Canadian athletes as they put out their very best efforts.
And you can bet that the roster for 2030 will need to be expanded to include our up-and-coming Canadian SkiMo squad–once we can talk them into it!
