What is skimo? The thrilling new sport at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games explained

Winter Olympic fever is well and truly taking hold and it is not long now until scores of the world's best athletes head to Milano Cortina 2026 to compete for the biggest prizes. There are 16 sports on offer at this Winter Games, with one completely brand-new discipline to the Olympics: ski mountaineering, also known as skimo. We take a look at how the Winter Olympic Games' newest event works.

As the Winter Olympics quickly approaches, athletes across the globe are gearing up for their shot at glory.

For some, it will be their first chance to compete at the Winter Games, which kick off on February 6, 2026.

That's because one sport is making its debut at the Olympics in Milano Cortina next year: skimo, short for ski mountaineering.

It's the only new sport introduced in this Olympic cycle, joining the likes of more famous events like alpine skiing, biathlon, figure skating and curling.

In total, there will be 116 medal events in 16 disciplines, including the brand-new event of skimo.

But what is skimo, and how does it work?

What is skimo, or ski mountaineering?

Ski mountaineering combines two different skills: uphill and downhill skiing, with mountaineering or hiking.

Events involve athletes skiing both up and downhill, as well as hiking up an icy or snowy landscape on foot, which is known as booting, with skis attached to the athletes' backs.

There are different disciplines within skimo: endurance events and extremely short sprints.

At Milano Cortina there will be three medal events: a men's and women's sprint, plus a mixed relay, a format commonly used in other winter sports.

Before the racing begins, the athletes will be seeded according to a preliminary time trial. The individual events will then feature elimination rounds until the field is narrowed down for the final, where the medals will be awarded.

A total of 18 men and 18 women will compete across the sprints and the mixed relay.

Ski mountaineering is the newest sport at the Winter Olympics

Image credit: Getty Images

How does ski mountaineering work?

The sprints are blink-and-you-miss-it stuff, but hugely entertaining. The men will traverse the course in around three minutes, and the women around four minutes.

The events will feature a short booting section uphill, before the athletes put their skis on to finish the climb, followed by a downhill towards the finish.

The mixed relay will feature a similar combination of hiking uphill with skis attached, finishing the climb on skis, and descents.

Like in other multi-format events like triathlon, there are small changeover areas on the course where the athletes take their skis off or put them on, or rip off the 'skins' on the bottom of the skis to be more suitable for going downhill. The skins help the athletes grip the surface as they climb uphill.

It's a fast-paced and highly technical event, with athletes needing to be equally strong climbing, descending, and quickly marching along snow and ice on foot, all without losing unnecessary time in the changeovers.

The athletes race on skis similar to cross-country skis, rather than those you might see in downhill alpine skiing, which is also part of the programme in Milano Cortina next year.

Where will the ski mountaineering Olympic events take place?

The Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina are spread out, with host venues for different sports across northern Italy. The opening ceremony will be held in Milan, with the closing ceremony in Verona.

The ski mountaineering events will be held in Bormio, in the north-west of Italy, in the Valtellina valley.

It's a popular sport in Italy's Alpine regions, and Italian athletes have won many of its major honours.

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