Where to Ski And Snowboard - Ski mountaineering added to Winter Olympics

Ski mountaineering added to Winter Olympics

29th June 2022, by Abi Butcher

The sport of ski mountaineering — the competitive version of ski touring — has been added to the schedule for the 2026 Winter Olympics, along with freestyle skiing dual moguls.

The 2026 Winter games take place in Milano-Cortina, and the addition of ski mountaineering — also known as “skimo” — to the schedule goes hand-in-hand with the sky-rocketing popularity of ski touring in recent years.

Skimo received unanimous approval last week by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with a programme to consist of five new medal events — sprint and individual for men and women and a mixed-gender relay event. The same five events were held to tremendous success at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne in 2020, echoing the desire among ski enthusiasts to enjoy the mountains in a more environmentally-friendly, fitness-focussed way. In Italy, ski mountaineering is one of the fastest-growing winter sports among amateurs.

Other disciplines included in the 2026 Olympics will be the skeleton mixed team event, luge doubles for both men and women as well as men’s freestyle skiing dual moguls, women’s freestyle skiing dual moguls and women’s ski jumping large hill.

The IOC also announced that the alpine combined event, which had low entries in Beijing 2022 Winter Games, is under review.