Imagine climbing a snow-covered Colorado mountain with your skis strapped to your backpack, switching to climbing skins for the uphill journey, and finally reaching a summit with miles of untouched terrain stretching below you. After the climb, you remove the skins, adjust your bindings, and ski back down. No chairlift, no groomed run, and no shortcut to the top. That is the basic idea behind ski mountaineering, one of Colorado's most adventurous winter traditions. Often shortened to skimo when referring to its competitive form, the sport combines skiing, climbing, endurance, and mountain navigation. Its history in Colorado stretches back generations, shaped by early backcountry explorers, military mountaineers, and a community of athletes who helped turn this niche pursuit into an internationally recognized sport.
What Exactly Is Ski Mountaineering?
Ski mountaineering, skim is different from traditional downhill and cross-country skiing. Rather than riding a lift or following a groomed trail, participants travel uphill on skis, often using specialized climbing skins attached to the bottom of their equipment. The skins provide traction on snow while allowing the skis to glide forward. When the terrain becomes too steep or technical, skiers may carry their equipment and climb on foot. Reaching the summit or a designated transition point means removing the skins, switching equipment into downhill mode, and skiing back down.
The sport can involve several skills:
● Uphill travel: Climbing steep slopes using climbing skins and specialized bindings.
● Bootpacking: Carrying skis while climbing sections that are too steep for skinning.
● Technical descents: Skiing challenging mountain terrain, sometimes in exposed or steep conditions.
● Mountain navigation: Understanding terrain, weather, snowpack, and avalanche hazards. Traditional ski mountaineering can be a long, self-supported mountain adventure. Competitive ski mountaineering, commonly called skimo, takes many of these same skills and turns them into timed races. Courses can include steep climbs, transitions, bootpacking sections, and downhill skiing.
Colorado's Early Backcountry Skiing History
Colorado's relationship with ski mountaineering began long before the sport even had a name. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, skis were an important way to travel through the state's snow-covered mountain communities. Miners, residents, and winter travelers passing by, used skis to cross mountain passes and reach remote settlements. As skiing became more popular for recreation, some adventurous skiers began using the equipment to explore mountain terrain beyond the established ski areas. The Colorado Mountain Club, founded in Denver in 1912, helped establish a culture of organized mountain exploration and outdoor education. Its early members organized trips throughout the state, helping introduce more people to Colorado's high country. Skiing and snowshoeing became growing extensions of that early interest in winter mountaineering. Some of Colorado's early ski history happened right in our backyard. Fern Lake Lodge, in Rocky Mountain National Park near our Estes Park Center, was hosting backcountry skiers as early as 1916, making it one of the state's earliest mountain basecamps for winter exploration. Getting there took planning, serious endurance, and the ability to travel through deep winter snow.
The 10th Mountain Division and Colorado's Mountaineering Legacy
Few chapters in Colorado's outdoor history in the Rockies are as influential as the 10th Mountain Division. During World War II, the United States Army established a specialized mountain warfare division trained to operate in rugged, snowy terrain. Its soldiers learned skiing, mountaineering, cold-weather survival, and military tactics. Camp Hale, located between Leadville and Red Cliff, became the division's primary Colorado training location. The soldiers trained in some of the same mountain environments that would later become destinations for recreational skiers and mountaineers. Their experience extended beyond skiing downhill. They learned how to climb, navigate, travel across difficult terrain, and operate in challenging winter conditions. After the war, many veterans returned to Colorado and helped shape the state's outdoor recreation industry. Some became ski-area developers, instructors, equipment innovators, and mountain guides. Their influence helped expand skiing across the state and contributed to the development of Colorado's modern mountain culture. The division's legacy also connects directly to Colorado's backcountry hut system, which would become an important part of ski mountaineering in the state.
The Birth of Colorado's Backcountry Hut Culture
For ski mountaineers, a good mountain adventure does not always end at the summit. Sometimes the journey involves spending several days traveling between remote mountain cabins, waking up surrounded by snow, and heading out for another day of exploration. Colorado's backcountry hut culture began taking shape in the late 1940s. One of the earliest examples was an old miner's cabin near Castle Creek outside Aspen. Billie Tagert and his friends repaired the cabin so they could use it as a basecamp for ski mountaineering trips. Carrying camping equipment through the mountains made long ski tours difficult, and having a place to stay made extended adventures more practical. The idea grew into the Alfred A. Braun Hut System, recognized as Colorado's first ski-oriented hut system. The concept eventually expanded into a network of backcountry huts throughout the state, allowing skiers to travel between remote mountain locations without carrying all their camping equipment. The modern 10th Mountain Division Hut Association continues much of that tradition forward today. Its huts provide access to some of Colorado's most memorable backcountry experiences, from multi-day ski tours to winter mountaineering trips.
Colorado Helps Shape Modern Ski Mountaineering
Colorado's influence on ski mountaineering continued as the sport evolved from informal backcountry adventures into organized competition. By the early 2000s, a growing community of Colorado skiers was experimenting with ski mountaineering races. These events combined uphill endurance with technical descents, challenging competitors to move efficiently through difficult mountain terrain. One important person in that growth was Pete Swenson, a Colorado skier who helped organize early competitions and establish a more formal racing scene. Around 2007, the Heathen Challenge at Sunlight Mountain Resort in Glenwood Springs became an events that helped define Colorado's emerging skimo culture. The early races were not always polished productions. Courses were designed around the mountain's most challenging terrain, and competitors faced steep climbs, bootpacks, technical descents, and demanding transitions. The Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup eventually developed into a series that helped bring more attention to the sport. Colorado became one of the country's most active centers for competitive ski mountaineering, with strong communities around Crested Butte and the Roaring Fork Valley. The sport's appeal extended beyond elite competition, with resort-based uphill events and longer backcountry races attracting recreational athletes as well.
Ski Mountaineering Reaches the Olympic Stage
One of the biggest milestones in the sport's history arrived in 2026, when ski mountaineering made its Olympic debut at the Winter Games in Milano Cortina. The Olympic competition introduced a wider audience to skimo through short, high-intensity races featuring steep climbs, equipment transitions, and downhill sections. The format is considerably faster and more structured than a traditional backcountry ski mountaineering expedition, but it showcased many of the same fundamental skills. The Olympic debut represented a significant change for a sport that spent much of its history in a relatively small community of dedicated mountain enthusiasts. Colorado's long-standing skimo scene helped build the foundation for the sport's growth in the United States and will continue as the sport grows.
Experience Colorado's Winter Mountains
Ski mountaineering represents one of the more demanding ways to experience Colorado's mountains, but you do not have to climb a 14,000-foot peak to enjoy the winter outdoors. Snow Mountain Ranch offers a more approachable way to explore the snowy landscape. Located in Grand County near Winter Park and Granby, the ranch provides access to a large network of Nordic trails, snowshoe routes, and mountain terrain. The Nordic Center features approximately 82.5 kilometers of groomed trails for cross-country skiing, along with snowshoeing opportunities and equipment rentals. Visitors can experience the quiet forests and open meadows that make winter travel in the Rockies so memorable, without needing specialized mountaineering equipment or technical backcountry experience. Those interested in more challenging mountain adventures can also explore the history and offerings of Colorado's backcountry hut systems and local ski mountaineering communities. Proper training, avalanche education, and knowledge of mountain conditions are essential before venturing into uncontrolled backcountry terrain.
A Colorado Tradition That Keeps Climbing
From early mountain travelers using wooden skis to cross snowy passes to modern athletes racing uphill at full speed, ski mountaineering has become an important part of Colorado's outdoor identity. The state's mountains, winter conditions, and adventurous communities helped shape the sport into what it is today. Its Olympic debut in 2026 brought new attention to a tradition that Colorado backcountry enthusiasts have been building for generations. Whether you're interested in following the history of ski mountaineering, exploring a Nordic trail, or simply enjoying the first snowfall of the season, Colorado offers plenty of ways to experience the mountains in winter.
Whether you're interested in following the history of ski mountaineering, exploring a Nordic trail, or simply enjoying the first snowfall of the season, Colorado offers plenty of ways to experience the mountains in winter.
Sources:
https://www.cmc.org/about/who-we-are/history
https://huts.org/history-of-the-huts/
https://history.denverlibrary.org/research/western-history/10th-mountain-division-resource-center
https://coloradosun.com/2026/04/15/colorado-ski-mountaineering-skimo/