Ski mountaineering, or Skimo for short, is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. Competitive Skimo is typically a timed racing event that follows an established trail through challenging winter alpine terrain whilst passing through a series of checkpoints. 

Over the past 12 months, we have been in discussion with Graeme Woodward, a Performance Coach from GB Skimo who is also a Visiting Lecturer in the School of Sport and Wellbeing at Leeds Trinity University, regarding the potential to support athletes looking to transition into competing in Skimo.

On Sunday 13 October 2024, the British Mountaineering Council, GB Climbing, launched their GB Skimo Start Up Plan, in which they set out the means of selecting and training a GB Skimo squad with a five-year goal of fielding a team at the 2030 Winter Olympic Games. This includes supporting athletes for International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) events in the intervening years and sending a pair of athletes to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina, Italy, where Skimo will feature in a Winter Olympics for the first time since 1946

As part of this process, Leeds Trinity University has been selected to provide Physiological Testing on Saturday 26 October to aid athletes in meeting the selection requirements. The physiological testing will focus on metrics that are already considered to be markers of high performance in endurance sports, and other metrics that coaches may identify as specific indicators of the potential for high performance in Skimo.

The physiological testing carried out by Leeds Trinity is a vital part of GB Ski Mo’s selection process and preparation for the Winter Olympics, providing coaches and athletes with specific performance data and a roadmap to optimising performance.  

The Physiological Testing Day will be led by myself along with School of Sport and Wellbeing staff members Dr Nicola Arjomandkhah and Heather Jackson, with the support of eight undergraduate students. Over the past couple of weeks, the students involved have undertaken training to upskill them in preparation for the day, when up to 12 athletes will attend and complete a range of physical examinations such as measuring maximal oxygen consumption and hamstring strength tests.  

I’m sure my colleagues will all agree that we are excited to be supporting the sport of Skimo with its drive towards the winter Olympics. It offers a wonderful opportunity for colleagues and students to get up close to potential Olympians, providing vital performance-related testing in our sport science labs, and help build a working relationship with the sport that we hope will extend well into the future.

 Dr Danielle Davis is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science at Leeds Trinity University.