"The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will debut a new sport next month: Ski mountaineering, which combines uphill sprinting (on boots and on skis) and downhill skiing. Although the sport on the global stage is relatively new, it does have roots dating to the late 19th century. Backcountry winter sports have grown in popularity and there is anecdotal evidence that they saw a surge in participation during the pandemic. Something to know about skimo: It's fast, with sprint races lasting about 3 minutes."
"The race works like this: The racers sprint uphill with skins on the bottom of their skis. A skin is a strip of material that allows for traction going uphill. They then run a section in boots before putting their skis back on to traverse another uphill section. Once at the top, they take the skins off and race downhill. In the men's and women's sprint-event format, there will be a qualifying round where 18 racers qualify over three heats."
Ski mountaineering debuts at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics with sprint races and a mixed relay. The discipline blends uphill movement on skis and in boots with technical downhill skiing and has historical roots in the late 19th century. Sprint races are very fast, lasting about three minutes, and require athletes to use skins for uphill traction, remove them at the summit, and descend at speed. Sprint-event progression uses heats, semifinals, and time-based qualifiers to determine finalists. The mixed relay pairs one female and one male athlete who each complete two ascents and descents, with the female athlete starting. Current sprint champions include Marianne Fatton and Oriol Cardona Coll, and Emily Harrop is a noted favorite after winning the venue test event last winter.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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