sport
Italy is one of Europe’s leading countries for winter sports thanks to its extensive selection of picturesque, snow-capped locations.
At the mention of winter sports, the usual reaction would be to imagine sports such as regular skiing and snowboarding. However, a new breed of winter sport, ski mountaineering, has entered the world of snow sports.
So, what is ski mountaineering? The sport consists of skiers climbing mountains, either wearing or carrying their skis, depending on the steepness, in order to reach higher points from which they then travel down the mountain, skiing off-piste through challenging alpine terrain. This sport can be done either recreationally or competitively and requires particular equipment - for example skis that are especially adapted for travelling uphill through the use of ‘skins’ attached to the bottom of the skis, allowing their user to wear them whilst skiing uphill without slipping backwards. The skins can then be removed in order to ski downhill. Two special types of skis are also used. Telemark skis mean the skier’s heel isn’t locked in place and is therefore free to move around in the ski, making it easier for them to travel uphill. A similar ski called an Alpine ski is likewise used. Alpine skis allow the heel to be optionally locked into the ski so that the two different modes can be used when skiing either up- or downhill.
Ski Mountaineering is a sport that is growing in popularity. Within the sport, competitors take to the slopes and are timed as they climb the mountain and then travel downwards via an established trail, passing through numerous checkpoints. It consists of three different categories: vertical race, sprint, and individual events.
Although it is widely considered a competitive sport, ski mountaineering is also enjoyed recreationally. As it is growing in popularity throughout Italy, many ski resorts, such as Suldon in South Tirol, organise what are known as ‘ski tours’ where, over the course of several days, skiers are taken on off-piste tours across the mountains, staying in huts along the way. This new style of holiday is hugely popular in Italy in destinations including the north-western Gran Paradiso area and the Dolomite mountains in the north-east. The idea of ski touring means that skiers are able to gain access to certain areas of the Alps and the Pyrenees that resort skiers are unlikely to experience. Italy has produced a number of famous ski-mountaineers such as Mario Bacher who competed in the 1968 winter Olympics as a cross-country skier. Mario Bacher was born in Formazzo, which is located in Piedmont, Italy and is a well-known Italian ski destination.
As the sport is continuing to grow in popularity, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation has decided to put an application forward to make ski mountaineering an official sport in the 2018 Winter Olympics which will take place in PyeongChang in South Korea from the 9th to the 25th February 2018. In order for the application to be successful, it must first be approved by the International Olympic Committee before it becomes an official Olympic sport. Whatever the outcome of this application, the fact that it is even being considered is further evidence of the irresistible rise of the sport.
WINTER SPORTS IN ITALY
Louise Morgan