The new sport of ski mountaineering should become an official sport !

Just this year, ski mountaineering, also known as “skimo”, became the only new sport at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. However, officials still argue about whether skimo should become a real sport. I think that skimo should become a sport because it tests on your endurance, speed, and skill. Also, I think something that constitutes a sport is the spirit and the energy to compete in it.

For a sport to be officially recognized, it needs the confirmation of the IOC and must also undergo other tests to assess the safety and rights. Then, the International Sports Federation (IF) needs to see if this sport follows the rules set by the Olympic Charter.

Skimo is a sport where, first, you climb up the mountain with special “skin” that grips well on the bottom of skis to prevent falling, and part of the climb would include taking off your skis. For this part of the climb, athletes will have to go on foot. When they reach the top of the mountain, they use the ski to go down. They take the ski (without the “skins.”) out of their backpack and use them to go down the mountain.

According to an article about the history of skimo on the official Team USA website, it says that skimo was already being played in prehistoric times. The first official record of skimo was in 1897, when the German geologist Wilhelm Paulcke crossed Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland mountain range on a pair of skis, just like skimo. This sport gained lots of popularity in Europe because of the cold weather and snowy climate there, and Italy was able to make it even bigger. In 2010, there were more than 33,000 people in the country, and that led to the 94,000 that now play the sport.

I think that skimo should become an official sport because it is testing on the athlete’s endurance, speed and skill. Also, it is a competition where athletes have to try to win. When a sport tests an athlete’s spirit, it helps show someone’s characteristics and maybe even build it. And so, when it is a competition, the athletes will have the energy to compete and also to keep going. That spirit is valuable at all times.

Some people might object that skimo is too aggressive and is too dangerous. However, many other sports are aggressive, such as American football. All sports may have a dangerous part in them, but there are many ways you can prevent that. Some elbowing in competition is normal because it is just part of competing.