Ski Mountaineering

Ski Mountaineering , a sport which gives the full chance of enjoying the beauty of the serene mountains, has evolved as a result of the combination of the skills of skiing and mountaineering .

The skiers take on the sport with an aim of reaching the summit of a mountain by using their mountaineering skills and then ski down that very mountain top. The merging of the skiing techniques with that of mountaineering helps the skiers to climb some mountains which are otherwise not easily accessible.

The history of ski mountaineering dates back to 1855 and the honor of being the first ski mountaineer is bestowed upon John “Snowshoe” Thompson who used the skis to deliver mails across the steep eastern part of the Sierra Nevada mountains. However, it is the German skier Wilhelm von Arlt who is regarded as the Father of Ski Mountaineering . Other important ski mountaineers include Cecil Slingsby and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle . A Ski Mountaineering Racing or Randonnee Racing is also organized in which the sport is converted into a timed race. Some of the equipments used in the sport are ice axes, ropes and crampons .

Ski Mountaineering is a sport extremely popular among the adventurous sports lovers. It serves the sports world well by making the interests of the people grow simultaneously in two sports-mountaineering as well as skiing.