Science Friday

Olympic Ski Mountaineering, And Mountain Goat Climbing Feats

February 6, 2026

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  • Ski mountaineering ("skimo") is a new Olympic event combining uphill skiing with skins, uphill running/sprinting, and downhill slalom skiing, demanding high levels of coordination, agility, endurance, and strength. 
  • The origins of mountaineering as a sport in the 18th century were heavily intertwined with scientific research, driven by naturalists like Horace Benedict de Saussure seeking to understand high-altitude environments, contrasting with later 19th-century motivations focused on imperial domination. 
  • Mountain goats possess specialized adaptations, including hooves with a hard keratinous sheath surrounding a soft pad for versatile grip, and a narrow, muscular build, enabling them to navigate extremely steep and precarious terrain, though avalanches account for about one-third of their mortalities. 

Segments

Introduction to Skimo Sport
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(00:00:03)
  • Key Takeaway: Ski mountaineering involves three distinct phases: uphill skiing with skins, a transition to running/sprinting uphill on foot, and a final downhill slalom ski.
  • Summary: The new Olympic event, skimo, combines skiing uphill using traction skins, sprinting uphill in boots, and skiing down a set slalom course. This combination requires significant coordination, agility, endurance, and strength. The sport is a new configuration of the long-standing activity of mountaineering.
History of Mountaineering Origins
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(00:02:26)
  • Key Takeaway: 18th-century mountaineering expeditions were primarily driven by scientific research goals, such as confirming the height of Mont Blanc and testing human survival at high altitudes.
  • Summary: The sport of mountaineering began in the 18th century, motivated by scientific inquiry into mountain heights and physiological responses to elevation. Early climbers like Jacques Balma survived overnight stays in snowfields, disproving fears that snow absorbed all air. Naturalists like Horace Benedict de Saussure used ascents to conduct experiments on temperature, humidity, and personal sensory response at the summit.
Shifting Motivations in Climbing
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(00:05:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Mountaineering motivations shifted from 18th-century scientific exploration to 19th-century imperial ‘planting the flag’ dominance, and now often focus on witnessing and documenting climate change.
  • Summary: By the 1850s, ascents like that of Mount Everest were heavily influenced by imperial politics, symbolizing British domination over India. Today, some climbers view their role as documenting climate change, using their experience in nature as a model for rethinking humanity’s relationship with the natural world. This contrasts with traditional downhill skiing, which often emphasizes individual speed over humility.
Mountain Goat Physical Description
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(00:10:36)
  • Key Takeaway: Mountain goats are large, heavily insulated ungulates, weighing up to 350 pounds, covered in 8-10 inches of white woolly coat allowing survival in temperatures down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Summary: Male mountain goats can weigh over 350 pounds, while females are closer to 200 pounds. Their thick, white, woolly coat provides insulation against extreme cold, sometimes leading early explorers to mistake them for polar bears. Young goats are precocious, quickly developing balance to play in precarious cliffside situations.
Mountain Goat Climbing Adaptations
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(00:13:27)
  • Key Takeaway: Mountain goats utilize specialized hooves featuring a hard keratinous sheath for purchase on cracks and a soft inner pad for gripping wet, slabby surfaces, complemented by strong shoulders and a narrow body.
  • Summary: Their climbing ability stems from their hooves, which combine a hard outer sheath (like fingernail material) for digging into rock and a soft pad for friction on smooth surfaces. They possess strong shoulders and a narrow body shape that aids in navigating narrow ledges. They also exhibit extraordinary balance and gymnastic capacity, sometimes spinning around on hind legs to reverse course on dead-end cliffs.
Avalanche Risks to Mountain Goats
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(00:15:44)
  • Key Takeaway: Avalanches are a major source of mortality for mountain goats, accounting for approximately 35% of all deaths, as their strategy of inhabiting steep terrain to avoid predators exposes them to snow slides.
  • Summary: Predation and malnutrition are key risks, which goats mitigate by using steep terrain, but this habitat choice increases avalanche exposure. Studies revealed that avalanches cause about one-third of mountain goat mortalities. Avalanche conditions can be caused by heavy snow accumulation or by warm surface events creating slick layers beneath new snow.
Memorable Bear and Collar Story
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(00:18:03)
  • Key Takeaway: A black bear scavenged a deceased, radio-collared female mountain goat, removed the collar, put it on itself, and carried the tracking device across glaciers for a year and a half.
  • Summary: Researchers tracked a radio collar after a female mountain goat died from malnutrition in winter. In the spring, a black bear found the carcass, removed the collar, and wore it while wandering. The bear carried the collar across glaciers for 18 months until the device released as scheduled, demonstrating the curiosity of bears.