Lovers of snow-covered wild spaces, you will love watching the ski mountaineering event at the Winter Olympics which will take place from February 6 to 22, 2026 in Milan-Cortina.
The news fell on Tuesday morning: the discipline will be on the program.
With a total of 48 athletes competing and 5 medals at stake. The exact spot is unknown at the moment but will be revealed within a few months.
Two preferences all the same: the Dolomites or a mountain range in Lombardy.
Great news, we have just voted at the IOC session and unanimously to add a sport to the 2026 Winter Games in Milan: ski touring known as ski mountaineering (in performance mode).
A booming sport that does not require new infrastructure.
It's great !
- Tony Estanguet - OLY (@TonyEstanguet) July 20, 2021
Contacted by Le Parisien, the Director General of the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, Roberto Cavallo, was delighted with the decision by rethinking this long-term work, supported by the Italian National Olympic Committee: “The question had already arisen since 2011 But before getting there of course, our federation had to obtain official status.
This has been done since 2014. Then we redoubled our efforts and the discipline proved its worth, particularly during the last Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2020 in Lausanne.
It is a great success and a great opportunity for the mountaineering world ”.
Read alsoThe 2026 Winter Olympics will take place in Italy
The "performance" mode of ski touring
What will the Olympic events look like? A real timed race, the runners start at the foot of the mountain with a very physical climb. They are helped by seal skins, that is to say anti-recoil fluff placed under the skis, to cope with sometimes very steep slopes (greater than 100%). When they reach the top, a dizzying descent in off-piste mode awaits them. The circuit, alternating phase of ascents and descents, will be repeated three times minimum.
The discipline will be assessed through three specialties.
The most traditional, the individual event lasting 1h30 or 2h over 1,500 vertical meters.
The second event, undoubtedly the most spectacular, is the sprint race carried out in 3 minutes over 80 meters.
Finally, the last event proposed, the mixed relay by national team.
Each of the events will have its round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
On the logistical side, the Italian mountainous landscape will remain immaculate.
Apart from the delimitation banners around the circuit, almost no infrastructure needs to be added for the holding of the events.
A specificity that makes this sport a sustainable and ecological practice, highly appreciated by the IOC.
