Regula Meier, president of the International Ski Mountaineering Federation in Switzerland, couldn’t say enough about the “absolutely great” Salt Lake City Skimo World Cup held in December at Solitude Mountain Resort.
“It was such an amazing experience, really. Don’t worry, we’ll come back,” Meier told the Deseret News. The two-day event was the final opportunity for ski mountaineering athletes to qualify for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, where the sport will make its Olympic debut.
So far, the historically European sport known as “skimo” that sends skiers up steep slopes under their own power has only been approved by the International Olympic Committee as the sole new sport for Italy’s Games that begin next February.
But Meier said she “absolutely” wants to see ski mountaineering, which requires skiers to make their way uphill with and then without their skis before racing down, become a permanent part of all future Winter Games, including when Utah hosts another Olympics in 2034.
“It’s very, very important to continue to grow the sport in America,” she said.
Although ski mountaineering began with military training in the Swiss, French and Italian Alps and continues recreationally there among skiers of all ages, Meier said it’s spreading around the world.
“We cannot say it’s a European-dominated sport any more. We’re well past that,” she said, citing the success of North American and Asian competitors. Team USA’s Anna Gibson and Cameron Smith won the final mixed relay qualification event at Solitude and will compete in Italy.
The World Cup wasn’t the first international ski mountaineering competition held in Utah, she said, noting some federation officials competed in the state more than 20 years ago. Now, Meier wants to return much faster, as soon as November 2026.
“For me, that would be a perfect start to the season,” the federation president said, praising what she said is a sizable ski mountaineering community in Utah as well as the sport’s U.S. leadership that’s based in Park City.
The appeal of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains is the high altitude, she said. Because ski mountaineers typically can’t train at ski resorts while lifts are running, training for the World Cup moved above Big Cottonwood Canyon to Guardsman Pass, which reaches above 9,700 feet.
“Everyone was climbing up this pass and the small hill at the top of this pass. This was really great,” she said, pointing out that unlike many winter sports, ski mountaineering requires little infrastructure.
‘Skimo’ not the only new sport proposed for Utah’s 2034 Games
In Italy, ski mountaineering events are being held in Bormio, a resort also hosting men’s alpine skiing. With Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons off limits for Olympic competitions due to environmental concerns, ski mountaineering would likely have to share a ski venue in 2034.
Any decisions about adding the sport, however, are years away according to Fraser Bullock, president and executive chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
“It was great to have a skimo World Cup here in Utah, to see Team USA win the mixed relay and qualify for the Olympics in Milano Cortina,” he said. “We will be having first discussions on the sport program in 2027, which will be a fun exercise. Any discussion before then is premature.”
Other sports are already vying to be included at future Winter Games, including cross-country running and cyclocross, a mix of road cycling, mountain biking and steeplechase, that don’t utilize snow or ice.
That proposal has been opposed by the Winter Olympic Federations.
The group’s president, Ivo Ferriani, has said putting ski mountaineering on the program for the next year’s Winter Games is “a successful example” of a better strategy, focusing on “evolving existing winter sports to attract broader participation and audiences.”
Meier isn’t taking sides in the debate.
“I won’t say I’m in favor or I’m against because I’m so happy we are in the Games as a guest. I’m thankful for that. I don’t want to judge about other sports,” she said. “For me, it’s really most important that we are there.”
The issue was raised as part of new IOC President Kirsty Coventry’s sweeping review, undertaken after she took office in June. While the working groups she’s assembled on the Olympic program and other topics don’t have a deadline, findings are anticipated early next year.
Meier’s focus, though, is on showcasing her sport at the next Olympics.
“I think they will see that we are still a winter sport. Our sport is practiced on snow, it is in winter, not in the summer. In the summer you have trail running or biking,” she said. “But I think this is a basic decision the IOC has to take, if they want to add summer sports or not.”
What’s different about ski mountaineering
So what will success for ski mountaineering at the Italian Olympics look like? Meier isn’t sure but is hopeful exposing ski mountaineering to an Olympic audience next year “opens the door to more and more possibilities.”
Already, she said, tickets are sold out for the three Olympic events in Italy, both men’s and women’s sprint races plus a mixed relay, like the one won by Team USA at Solitude. Milan-Cortina organizers are calling the sport “exciting, intense and adrenaline-filled.”
But they also pointed out that ski mountaineering offers an opportunity “to connect with nature and pristine landscapes,” utilizing steep, off-piste areas that don’t have to be equipped with lifts or gondolas.
Ski mountaineers test their ability to climb on shorter, lighter skis with special gripping called skins, a nod to the sealskin originally used in the Arctic, and also with those skis strapped to a backpack before speeding downhill.
Alpine skiers, Meier said, expect “great, groomed slopes with huts and restaurants everywhere but more and more, for young people it’s getting in fashion to say, ‘No. I want to be myself out in the nature, without any noise, without anything, just climbing the summit by myself.’”
That was especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were looking for a way to spend time outdoors, she said. Money is also a factor, since “ski resorts are getting more and more expensive,” Meier said, driving people to look for alternatives like ski mountaineering.
“A lot of people are practicing this sport,” Meier said, noting that in her Swiss mountain community, that ranges from young children to those who are more than 80 years old. “The community is so big and we really have disciplines for everyone.”
Count Utah as part of that community, said Sarah Cookler, USA Skimo head of sport.
“Utah has a very strong group of youth skimo athletes,” Cookler said, “who are breaking through on the international stage now and who will be in great contention for top performances in 2034.”
