Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss welcome addition of ski mountaineering as Olympic sport

A young ski mountaineer
A participant in the ski mountaineering individual race at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games ISMF

Ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, a decision that bodes well for Switzerland, which has many of the world’s best athletes in this discipline.

The Lausanne-based International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided unanimously on Tuesday to add ski mountaineering, which involves carrying lightweight skis up off-piste routes and then skiing down them, to the 15 Olympic winter sports. This list has not changed since snowboarding was introduced at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano.

In an effort to maintain interest, the IOC is now giving Olympic host cities the opportunity to offer new disciplines if they are both “spectacular” and “culturally relevant to the host country and beyond”, the IOC said in a statementExternal link. However, as an “additional sport” requested by the Italian organisers, there is no guarantee that it will remain an Olympic sport.

The ski mountaineering programme in Milan will consist of five new medal events: two men’s events (sprint/individual), two women’s events (sprint/individual) and one mixed-gender relay event. An athlete quota of 48 (24 men/24 women) will fall within the overall quota of 2,900 participants.

Those five ski mountaineering events had contributed to the success of the Winter Youth Olympic Games in the Swiss city of Lausanne 2020, the IOC said, explaining its decision.

Swiss medals?

Ski mountaineering is also a fast-growing winter sport among amateur/weekend practitioners and is particularly popular in Italy. “Europe is the continent where ski mountaineering has seen the greatest development, but over recent years more and more participants, at both professional and amateur level, have been identified all over the world,” the IOC said.

It also has the advantage of not requiring any construction or even a dedicated site, an important factor since the IOC decided to limit the costly investments that often deter host cities.

Since the early 2000s Swiss men and women have won dozens of medals in the various ski mountaineering events at the World Championships. Most recently Rémi Bonnet, Werner Marti and Victoria Kreuzer cleaned up at the World Championships in March.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

More heavy metal detected in Swiss grassland

More

Study finds more heavy metal detected in Swiss grassland

This content was published on Copper and zinc can be expected to accumulate in the soil, particularly if farmyard manure is used for several years and is greater than the amount of nutrients absorbed by the grass. This was announced by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) on Friday. The findings are based on the results of the seventh National Soil Monitoring of Switzerland (Nabo).

Read more: Study finds more heavy metal detected in Swiss grassland
The Federal Administrative Court in St Gallen, Switzerland.

More

Court rules al-Qaeda supporter can stay in Switzerland

This content was published on A Kurdish supporter of the Islamist terrorist network al-Qaeda can stay in Switzerland, the Federal Administrative Court has ruled. It has withdrawn the annulment of the man’s provisional admission.

Read more: Court rules al-Qaeda supporter can stay in Switzerland
Dieselgate scandal: In 2015 it emerged that millions of VW diesel-powered vehicles had been manipulated to pass environmental standards.

More

Swiss prosecutors close VW ‘Dieselgate’ case

This content was published on The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has closed criminal proceedings relating to the Swiss owners affected by the Volkswagen “Dieselgate” emissions scandal.

Read more: Swiss prosecutors close VW ‘Dieselgate’ case
Employment prospects remain stable in the fourth quarter

More

Q4 job prospects in Switzerland remain stable

This content was published on The employment outlook in Switzerland will remain stable towards the end of 2024, according to the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich.

Read more: Q4 job prospects in Switzerland remain stable
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida.

More

Swiss woman accuses Donald Trump of sexual assault

This content was published on A former Miss Switzerland candidate has accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in New York in 1993. The US Republican candidate’s campaign team has denied the accusations.

Read more: Swiss woman accuses Donald Trump of sexual assault

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR