Women of Winter | Kate, Anna & Innika - The Aussie Women of SkiMo

The Australian SkiMo Team has gone from strength to strength over the past six months, from Snow Australia being officially recognised as a National Federation member of the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) to our team placing 15th in the ISMF All Nations World Cup Rankings out of 29 nations in our first year of competition.

Three-time Olympian Phil Bellingham competed in both cross country and SkiMo this season, leading the Aussie charge with a spectacular season at the ISMF World Cup before heading to Spain for the World Championships, where he placed 46th in the sprint, 49th in the vertical and 51st in the individual.

Kate Zander, Anna Trnka and Innika De Rosa also donned the green and gold during the World Cup season and have set the foundation for our female athletes as the sport of Ski Mountaineering grows in Australia.

This year, Zander competed at the Marmotta Trophy in Italy during the ISMF World Cup and the ISMF World Championships in Boi Taull, Spain.

Having previously competed on the US SkiMo Team, Kate said, "I am honoured and delighted to be the first Australian Ski Mountaineering athlete representing my home country and winter sports in the southern hemisphere. I feel like this does nothing but grow the sport on a world level. Everyone I've talked to in the States, where I live, work and train, are excited as well."

Joining Phil from the Australian Cross Country team is Anna Trnka, who, after several years competing internationally in cross country, has also taken hold of a new sport and new opportunity. "It was really exciting to have the opportunity to race at the World Cup and compete with the best in the world," she said. "For me, my focus was on gaining some racing experience and establishing a baseline of where I am now."

During her preparation, Anna did some fantastic ski touring training in the beautiful Austrian Mountains before competing in the Sprint and Vertical Race during the Schladming stage of the World Cup.

Her time competing in the Cross Country World Championships gave her stable footing with these bigger events, but she noted that "SkiMo is a much smaller sport, and there is definitely a community vibe. It was nice, everyone from the organisers to the other athletes was really helpful and welcoming. It was great to connect with other athletes and teams".

Capping off the Australian representation during the World Cup Season in Tromso was Innika De Rosa. Innika lives and works in Tromso, Norway, so is uniquely placed to train and race in some of the most rugged mountains Europe offers.

"Where I live (well inside the Arctic Circle in Norway) we have no ski resorts and really wild weather," said Innika. "Training and learning to ski downhill on all different kinds of snow has been challenging! There’s also a lot that can go wrong in competitions, particularly the sprint discipline, so learning to accept that sometimes your gear will break or you will get unlucky and drop something is all a part of the game. But it’s also what makes it super fun".

Having competed in several mountain running events, Innika was still blown away at the level of seriousness on display by the other athlete saying, "Everyone is friends before and after the race, but during the race, you really see on the competitors how much each title means. In local competitions, we often encourage each other and yell at each other to keep pushing during the race".

As the Australian SkiMo team grows, Olympic representation and growth within the sport remain top priorities for Kate, Anna and Innika.

With the Southern Hemisphere winter season only a few weeks away, we aim to identify future athletes and continue cultivating the SkiMo community here in Australia. As an Australian SkiMo event draws near, we want to hear from the backcountry snow community if other prospective athletes want to try their hand at ski mountaineering.