A brief history of Ski Mountaineering Racing

Traditional ski mountaineering combines elements of - you guessed it - both skiing and mountaineering. The discipline originated in the early 1900s in the form of Alpine military patrols, as soldiers covered mountainous terrain on skis while carrying out shooting exercises. Military ski patrolling was a medal event in the 1924 Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France and a demonstration sport in the 1928, 1936 and 1948 Winter Olympics. While recreational ski mountaineering and long-course.

SkiMo race events are typically carried out in high mountain terrain and involve ski-touring and mountaineering techniques such as skinning uphill, boot packing, freeride descent and roped glacier travel, Olympic ski mountaineering races take place on developed pistes. Milano-Cortina 2026 will be contested on the famous Stelvio slope in Bormio, Italy, known for its alpine downhill skiing events.

SkiMo has been a feature of the British snowsports season for some years now, thanks to the efforts of Di Gilbert, Louella Hamilton and Skimo Scotland.

Since 2012, a hardy bunch of lycra clad competitors have been taking to the slopes to pit themselves against the Scottish conditions, in a variety of races including individual and vertical.

Whilst the scene has thrived, it has remained relatively small, lacking a framework for development of the sport and its athletes. Unlike in the European Alps, where Skimo is a well-resourced pursuit with formed competitive teams, the British scene has remained entirely amateur. Those who have raced internationally, have done so independently, with the British Mountaineering Council acting as the representative body, issuing race licences, and providing support in the form of race suits.

It was widely acknowledged that, for the sport to develop, more structure was required. Back in 2013 Di Gilbert (SkiMo Scotland Rep) first began pushing for support and a route to getting Skimo and Skimo athletes more representation. Meetings with Sport Scotland and Mountaineering Scotland, amongst others, followed. Unfortunately, nothing took off, and the project went back into hibernation.

It was only in 2023, when a chance meeting between Di Gilbert and Andy Syme, President of the BMC, in the CIC Hut led to a rekindling of effort. Catalysed by the announcement that Skimo was to be trialed as an Olympic event, the BMC offered additional assistance, support and resource, and collectively set about finding athletes and supporters who might want to be involved.

The BMC Skimo Steering Group was born!

The initial Steering Group meeting was held in May of 2023, with mixed representation from across the Skimo and outdoors community. First, a terms of reference document was developed, with the relatively modest aims of promoting the sport, providing a framework for athletes to develop, and looking forward to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina.

Since then, the Steering Group has grown, become more organised, and begun to put in place the structures required to truly grow the sport of Ski Mountaineering Racing in GB. A big thank-you to the team of enthusiastic volunteers who have got the project off the ground, and continue to take the sport from strength to strength.