Page 46 - 2021 AMA Summer

SKIMOUNTAINEERING
LA PIERRA MENTA
Pete Davis
The winter of 2021 was notable. Not for the reasons that we skiers and climbers would normally hope for, but for being cancelled. Unless that is like us, you happen to live in Scotland. Our county of Stirlingshire was blessed with “once every 10 years” snowfalls and fortunately the county boundaries include many of the bigger mountains that are suited to ski touring. Not that we needed to venture too far; one Saturday in early February we traversed the Campsie Fells, below which our house lies, from East to West over a distance of 28km. As it happened, we were following in the ski tracks of one William Naismith who in 1892 described the first use of skis for touring in Scotland on the very same hills, recording his adventure in the Scottish Mountaineering Club journal. It is very rare today to have sufficient snow cover to complete this tour, but we were able to ski down into our village of Killearn at dusk, where a cracking day ought to have been crowned with a pint or two in The Old Mill. The pub was of course cancelled...
There was one other notable event: the sharper eyed amongst you may have
spotted that ski mountaineering racing - or Skimo - was (at long last) announced to become an Olympic sport. The first competition will take place at the Milano-Cortina winter games in 2026. Skimo is a timed racing event that follows an established trail through challenging winter alpine terrain while passing through a series of checkpoints. Racers climb and descend under their own power using backcountry skiing equipment and techniques. Since 2014 a small but tenacious group to which I belong has been pushing to promote Skimo in the British Army. We have been through four iterations now of preparations for la Patrouille des Glaciers - the Swiss Military Patrol race that welcomes five thousand competitors, both military and civilian, to the Valais for two identical races that are run back-to-back during the last week in April every second year. This race links Zermatt to Verbier over 57.5km and 4,386m of ascent, reaching a high point of 3,650m during the traverse of la Tête Blanche.
I love Skimo. I can’t wait to get back to competition again this winter. It makes you fit, fast, and efficient. Thrashing your way downhill on ultralight gear teaches you to be a better skier. If you were to spend a few days a week on your Skimo gear, imagine how nice it would be to switch back to one’s fatter skis? It’s often said that there is no better exercise than Nordic skiing and traditionally this was true, but Skimo is very similar. Elite Skimo athletes are recording VO2 Max results on a par even with the legendary Bjørn Dæhlie, multiple Olympic and World Nordic skiing champion. If you’re a trail runner, this is the perfect complement to what you already do. After a winter spent on light gear, the transition back to running is easy. No matter how light your ski gear, it is still heavier than running shoes. Once back on trails, you’ll feel like you are flying. No wonder then that the roll call of recent
46 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER