Skimo is coming to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
The Olympic family's newest sport is set to ignite the lower slopes of the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio on Thursday, local time.
But what is it? And why are the athletes so excited?
What is skimo?
Immensely popular in the European Alps, skimo sees skiers climb up the side of a mountain on their skis, or sometimes on foot with the skis attached to their backs, before descending back down in a far more orthodox manner.
Skiers are able to climb up hill with skis on as they have "skins" attached — strips of fabric that allow the ski to grip on the uphill sections.
The skins then need to be removed, but not discarded. They are stored in a little pouch on the front of the athlete's ski suit before they head back downhill.
Sprint races will only last about 3 minutes, with a qualification round before semi-finals and finals, which all take place on the same day.
At the 2026 Games there are men's and women's sprint events, as well as a mixed team relay that features one man and one woman who each complete the course twice.
The individual events take place on February 19, while the relays are on February 21.
Who is competing for Australia?
Debutant Olympian Lara Hamilton will be joining three-time cross-country Winter Olympian Phillip Bellingham as Australia's two representatives in skimo.
Bellingham said he never expected to be back at the Olympics following 2022.
"It's pretty cool," Bellingham, the first Australian man to compete in two different sports at a Winter Olympics, told the International Olympic Committee.
"I thought I was done and retired, so to be back here one more time, which will be my last time, is pretty surreal.
"I only heard about it after the [Beijing 2022] Olympics. The director of the cross-country told me that I should give this a go, and here I am.
"Ski mountaineering is more explosive and it's more an anaerobic effort [than cross-country], especially the sprints.
"The transitions, they're very technical, especially when you're fatigued and breathing hard."
Hamilton, a regular on the world trail running circuit, only heard about the sport while competing at an NCAA running competition in 2021 and saw it as a great chance to compete at a Games.
"The dream was always to go to the Olympics," she said.
"Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out in running. So when I saw that a sport I love to do was making its way into the Olympics, I started to really focus on it in 2022, and I haven't looked back."
She said she fell in love with the sport when cross-training as part of her trail training.
"I've always loved pushing my limits," she said.
"It just so happened that I've truly fallen in love with skimo. I live for adventuring in the mountains — it makes me feel alive."
Who else should we look out for?
Frenchwoman Emily Harrop and Spaniard Oriol Cardona Coll claimed victories in what was the fifth leg of the 2024/25 ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Cup, an event that doubled as the Olympic Test event.
"I want to give my best, to have no regrets," Harrop said this week about her Olympic ideals.
"I really want to focus on doing the best performance possible. Being clean, being strategic.
"And then, of course, we are here for medals, so that would also be a big, big plus."
Margot Ravinel, who said she liked "everything" about the sport of skimo, in particular "the pain and going all-in", said her French teammates were a very good chance of winning.
"I think Thibault [Anselmet] is capable of it but he'll have to have an unbelievable race to win," she said.
"Emily [Harrop], generally if everything goes well, she should win. But often she wins all the sprints in the World Cup, and in championships she doesn't win.
"I don't know why that happens in championships, but on paper she should win."
Then there's the husband-and-wife pairing of Michele Boscacci and Alba De Silvestro, who will combine in the mixed team event for Italy.
"For the mixed relay, Alba and I are more competitive," Boscacci said.
"I always say that if it wasn't for her, given my age, since I am 36, I would never have made it to these Olympics because it's her that has always motivated me.
"I won my last World Cup in 2022 and maybe I got a bit complacent.
"But having her at home, I always got new motivation, especially in these [new Olympic] formats."
Where is it taking place?
The skimo course is at the base of the Stelvio Ski Centre, where the men's alpine skiing events have taken place in Bormio.
It features four sections: an ascent on skins, followed by a 10-metre elevation gain on steps climbed on foot, another short ski ascent, and finally, a 70m downhill course with banked turns.
The course has already been given the tick of approval from athletes, who took to the slopes in February 2025 for the official test event.
"The course is very good, so it promises to be a great Olympic Games next year," two-time overall World Cup winner Thibault Anselmet of France told Olympics.com.
"There's everything, some very steep parts, some parts that are a bit flatter, a nice gate, a nice downhill."
