Skimo, short for ski mountaineering, made it's olympic deput this year, but has been around in Montana for quite some time. The sport continues to grow, with the Big Sky Skimo Cup having races at Maverick Mountain, Bridger Bowl, Whitefish, Great Divide, Red Lodge, and Teton Pass.
"This is year 6 of the the big sky cup,” said Matt Madsen, manager and coordinator for Big Sky Skimo. “It's been around for 20+ years. There's always been a little bit of a scene in Montana. But we've really taken a coordinated effort to build a cup series that focuses at races at small ski areas in Montana, as well as building the community."
A community it was. people of all ages from all across Montana headed to Teton Pass Ski Area for the championship race through the biggest, nastiest snowstorm of the year. The preparation for the race was extensive, with days of work from Teton Pass employees and skimo volunteers.
The weather conditions were an added challenge on top of the challenge of mountain climbing and skiing. Athletes compete by starting at the base of the mountain and following a course that requires climbing several ascents and then skiing down, not once, but usually multiple times. Not only did the racers have to climb up through the deep snow on skis and also boot-packing, but then had to ski through very deep snow.
Although Teton Pass Ski Area performed avalanche mitigation, the tremendous storm ultimately created conditions where safety was a concern.
"The weather in the mountains can change just like that and we went from having good conditions to having blowing snow, cold temps, and had to shorten the course and get everyone down. They still got to ski a lot of powder on the way down," said Madsen.
