McCann scaling new heights in SkiMo

For many casual observers, their first taste of Ski Mountaineering, or SkiMo as it is affectionately known, came through watching Phil Bellingham and Lara Hamilton compete at Milano Cortina 2026.

And while its Olympic debut opened the eyes of many, we only took a short glimpse into one form of the increasingly popular sport. While the ascent, bootpack and downhill sections are common across all forms of SkiMo racing, the Sprint event in Bormio was a far cry from the longer, endurance-focused races that dominate the European calendar.

It is not uncommon for endurance athletes to try their hand at SkiMo, so it is little surprise that one of Australia’s most promising young biathletes and cross-country skiers has turned to the sport and is already making waves after just a couple of seasons.

Shortly after representing Australia in biathlon at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Korea, Ava McCann was invited to take part in the ISMF-IOC Olympic Solidarity Camp in Spain where the SkiMo bug bit hard. She attended another youth development camp in Chile late in September 2024 and by December was lining up for her first World Cup race.

Fast forward 15 months and McCann’s rise has been as steep as the ascents she scales across the mountains of Europe.

In France, home to one of the most passionate SkiMo communities anywhere in the world, the 19-year-old recently took out the U20 French National Championship at La Grand Trace, the longest-standing event on the country’s SkiMo calendar.

However McCann’s victory did not come over a three or four minute Sprint course like many became familiar with at the Olympics; this Individual Race was a 90 minute marathon where having the right equipment is not only important, it is essential to even compete.

Unlike the sprint version, La Grand Trace required competitors to carry a rope, harness, crampons, shovel and even an avalanche transponder in a long list of mandatory safety equipment required to even step onto the start line.

McCann was using much of the equipment for the first time, making for a difficult race on the toughest course she’s ever faced. Yet her victory is a sign of the potential the teenager is beginning to realise.

“Obviously using the mountaineering equipment was new for me, but I was also unprepared for the downhills, as the snow conditions off-piste are so different to the sprint downhills for which I had been training,” she said. “Some downhill sections felt like they went for about 10 minutes, with some parts so steep and icy that they could only be side-slipped… I was lucky I had sharp edges!

“The snow had melted into a cover of ice and the entire race except the last 200m was completely off-piste.

“I faceplanted on the first downhill, cut my face and landed on my pole, which broke. Luckily a coach handed me some huge heavy ones with which I managed to finish the last three-quarters of the race!”

Despite the ordeals she faced throughout the race, McCann also took in the majesty of the course while being sure not to incur any additional time for misusing equipment. 

“The bootpack section is so steep and icy that you have to use a rope, harness and crampons,” she said. “This section was super cool because it goes through a cave! There are time penalties if you don’t use the crampons or rope properly.

“Now I feel like I have done my first ‘real’ SkiMo race, and I understand what people mean when they compare real ski mountaineering and Olympic SkiMo. It makes the Olympics seem so tame!” 

McCann followed her French nationals victory with another impressive result at the Millet Ski Touring Finale in Courchevel where she finished fifth overall and was the top under 20 female in the vertical race.

At the end of this month McCann will compete at the ISMF Youth World Championships in Puy-Saint-Vincent, France, where she has set herself the lofty target of becoming Australia’s first medallist in a major international SkiMo event.

Having also been victorious in the first-ever SkiMo event at Perisher held last year, McCann is confident the sport can take hold of an even bigger audience in Australia and would love to see more events on the domestic calendar.

“It would be great if we could set up some races like this in Australia,” said McCann. “I know we have the terrain for it in the Hotham back country, for example.”

If her rapid rise continues, McCann may soon be helping lead the sport’s charge back home.