Whitewater celebrated ski mountaineering’s coming Olympics debut with the first Ymir Climber last weekend.
The event included two categories, an individual race that took skiers up and down multiple routes, and a vertical sprint up the newly cut Queen’s Quad lift line.
The vertical races Saturday were won in the competitive division by Jessie McAuley (23 minutes 42 seconds) on the men’s side while Katarina Kuba took the women’s race in 30:41. Karl Severa (32:26) and Annalise Van Ham (39:00) were the competitive masters winners.
The adult recreational category winners included Chris Peters (men, 38:16), Jennifer Paterson (women, 37:54), Andrew Kyle (masters men, 39:50) and Sharisse Kyle (masters women 42:35).
In the individual events Sunday, McAuley (1:40:37) and Alison Walford (2:12:16) won the men’s and women’s competitive races, respectively, while Jamie Everett (3:35:45) and Van Ham (3:10:24) took the men’s and women’s masters races.
On the recreation side, David Krug (1:57:46) and Paterson (2:16:00) finished first in the men’s and women’s races, while Andrew Kyle (1:58:54) and Sharisse Kyle (2:18:05) won the men’s and women’s masters events.
Ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut at the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina, Italy.
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Skiers gather after taking part in the Ymir Climber. Photo courtesy Whitewater Ski Resort
