Ski mountaineer Lara Hamilton is making her debut at the Winter Olympics
For the first time in history, ski mountaineering (SkiMo) will feature as an event in the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina, Italy, and Lara Hamilton can’t wait. The athlete who hails from Castlecrag says that while the sport isn’t new, it has taken a while to include it in a way that makes it appealing for both the spectators and the media. “The country has to bid for it and Italy really wanted it as the host country,” she explains.
Lara, 27, adds that while SkiMo has many different disciplines, these Olympics will feature the sprint and the mixed relay. “These are the disciplines that I find more enjoyable, so I’m pretty excited to see what happens there,” she adds.
The sprint races are heat-based with six competitors, normally taking 3.5 minutes. Athletes tackle a tight up-hill circuit, which requires them to use various techniques like kick-turns and ski mountaineering features. They ascend some sections with lightweight back-country skis on, and another section with skis off and attached to their backpacks. They then climb further on skis before they remove their skins (fabric strips on the base of the skis) and switch into downhill ski mode to the finish line.
The mixed relay is a team event which is completed in male/female pairs completing a circuit across ascents and descents. “I like how there’s so many components. I’m never bored and it keeps me really entertained – I’m using my brain!” Lara says.
The athlete grew up taking regular weekend trips to Perisher with her family, where her father James, a former World Cup Nordic skier shared his passion. Lara started competing in ski events while at school, and also loved trail running. “The whole chapter of my life post-school was running and using Nordic skiing for fitness,” she explains. “Then I discovered back-country skiing.”
It was while attending college in the USA, completing a masters degree in cross country and track running, that she ‘started doing avalanche and rescue courses,’ and got really into the sport.
Lara has made many sacrifices to get to the Olympics and is currently based in France. “To cut costs I don’t own a car,” she says. “And a lot of the time it’s isolating. We don’t have an official training group for mountaineering in Australia. We have a team, but everyone lives everywhere, so it’s up to you.”
Having studied opera at the Conservatorium of Music prior to heading to the USA, Lara has a passion for music, something she can take with her anywhere – with DJing another of her passions. “DJing is a way for me to keep music in my life while prioritising sport. I have decks here in France and if I DJ locally I just plug into the bar’s sound system.”
Lara’s Olympic event will take place in Bormio, Valtellina. “I am looking forward to it. I think it will change the way I go about life as an athlete,” she says. “This is probably the highest pressure event, and I think (by) carrying that experience with me throughout life in other scenarios where I might feel pressure, I can always think back and go, ‘It can’t be more (difficult) than that.’”
At the time of writing the Australian SkiMo team was yet to be officially announced, but Lara was expected to make the Olympic team.
