SKIMO – EXTREME WINTER SPORT WITH MILITARY ORIGINS
Description
Ski Mountaineering (Skimo) combines brutal endurance with technical alpine skill. Imagine racing up a mountain on skis (or carrying them on your back), navigating narrow ridgelines with crampons, before descending at speed – all under race conditions. Lieutenant Colonel Pete Davis, technical director of British Army Skimo, explains why the sport is growing fast within the Armed Forces. From its inclusion at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics to the first-ever Army Skimo Championships alongside Exercise Lions Challenge, momentum is building. With participants from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and a growing RAF team, could an Inter Services Championship be next? Rooted in 19th-century Alpine travel and linked to the historic military patrol event of the 1924 Winter Games, Skimo has deep military connections — and its resurgence could signal a new era for armed forces sport.
