The Newest Olympic Sport, 'Skimo'

The 2026 Olympic Games are underway in Italy, and we have already seen some great moments unfold, but there is plenty of action that has yet to begin.

The newest addition to the Winter Games is almost upon us, and it’s called Skimo.

Making its official debut at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games, Skimo is ready to take the world stage for the first time.

Skimo, or Ski Mountaineering, is one of the oldest winter activities that is a part of the Italian mountain heritage and traces back to the early travelers of the European mountains.

Unlike other ski races at the Olympics, Skimo involves both uphill and downhill skiing, which is as intense as it can get.

Here’s the premise of the sport.

A skimo race begins at the bottom of the hill, and skiers start with skins on the bottoms of their skis, which helps with gripping the snow.

The uphill part of this event is something we have never seen before, and it basically tests the pain tolerance of cross-country skiing.

As the racers get to the top of the course, there’s a section where skis can not be used. So skis will be dropped, thrown on their backs and hiked up the hill with boots on. It’s called “boot-packing.”

Back at the top of the mountain, the racers will hop back into their skis, rip the skins off, and race down the hill through a bunch of gates and obstacles to the finish line.

The downhill portion of this event will be the most familiar to normal Olympic fans, because it’s basically alpine skiing.

There are men’s, women’s, and mixed sprint events, where racers will climb about 230 feet to the top over the two uphill sections of the course, then finish off by racing down the hill.

The mixed relay races will be teams of a man and a woman, and each racer will go through the course twice.

No passing of the baton as we see in other Olympic events, because skimo racers use ski poles. A tag is the only thing required.

The sport is all about moving through the mountains in the lightest way possible and having clean transitions to save as much time as possible.

It’s just the beginning for this version of the sport, and it all starts on February 19th in the Italian town of Bormio.

The fans will get a very good taste of the sport's intensity.

Biathlon is my current favorite event in the winter Olympics, but Skimo has a great chance to take that over. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, kick back and continue to enjoy the rest of the action that has been on display.

Austin Moran is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acm6506@psu.edu