Three Medals for Klara Velepec in Norway

Three Medals for Klara Velepec in Norway | ski touring at the Olympic Games

The most successful Slovenian competitive ski touring athlete of 2025, Klara Velepec, won as many as three medals in the under-20 category at the second race of the 2026 Youth World Cup in Surnadal, Norway, between February 12 and 15 - gold in sprint, which is her first victory in this Olympic discipline, also gold in vertical, and silver in individual. Slovenia does not have representatives at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, where competitive ski touring will be on the program for the first time on February 19 and 21. We briefly present the basics of competitive ski touring and established terminology, which can help you in media reporting.

Competitive ski tourer Klara Velepec continues - and even upgrades - her excellent performances in international youth competition under 20 this year. The 2025 Youth World Champion in vertical started the 2026 World Cup season with bronze in this discipline on February 7 in Germany, a week later, on February 14, she convincingly won the gold medal in Norway, where second was American Helen Desmond, and third Swiss Robine Ruth Bert Deseyn. Velepec won a total of three medals in northern Europe. At the second race of the Youth World Cup in Norwegian Surnadal, in addition to victory in vertical, she celebrated her first career victory in sprint, which will be a premier Olympic discipline this year; there she defeated second-placed Italian Silvia Boscacci and third American Helen Desmond. To end the competition in Norway, she added a silver medal to two golds in the royal discipline - individual, where she had to acknowledge superiority to Italian Silvia Boscacci, and third place went to American Carson Leys.



"I am very satisfied with the second stop of the World Cup. The Norwegian air really suits me, as two years ago I also won three medals in Norway. This time, I upgraded the nobility of the metals. I proved and confirmed my quality to myself again and showed that I can be at the very top in all disciplines, which I missed a lot last year," said the proud 19-year-old from Radovljica, Velepec, who evaluated the competitively intense days: "I started the competition week with the sprint, with which I had unsettled accounts from the previous stop. The course really suited me, steep and short, so after the qualifications I felt that I could really be strong and fast. The day off benefited me, as the sprints thoroughly exhausted me. The vertical succeeded as I imagined. From the start, I felt good, so I quickly made a difference that I maintained until the finish. The day after the vertical, the last test followed - the individual race, with which I am not yet friends. Nevertheless, I am very satisfied with my performance, as three races in four days are a big bite for me, and both head and body were already very tired at the Sunday start."

Slovenia does not have representatives at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, where competitive ski touring will experience the long-awaited Olympic debut. For the Olympic ticket, members of the Slovenian national team in competitive ski touring competed last year under the leadership of selector Robert Pritržnik: in addition to Klara Velepec, also Ana Čufer, Rea Kolbl, Maj Pritržnik, Luka Kovačič, and Klemen Španring. The national teams from France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Austria, China, Poland, USA, Australia, Belgium, and Russia qualified for the Olympics.



The venue will be Bormio, where a total of 36 best competitive ski tourers - 18 men and 18 women - will compete for the first Olympic medals in this sport. The premiere is reserved for the most attractive discipline - the explosive sprint race, scheduled for Thursday, February 19, when competitors will compete on standardized courses, first in elimination fights and finally in the final. On Saturday, February 21, the strategic mixed relay race follows, an Olympic discipline composed of two verticals (one also has a foot section) and two giant slalom descents.

Because there have been some media publications in recent days using incorrect terminology, let's briefly present the basics of competitive ski touring and established terminology.



In Slovenian, the term for skimo or ski mountaineering is competitive ski touring (not alpine skiing or winter mountaineering). It operates under the auspices of the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF), and in our country, the Alpine Association of Slovenia.



Equipment for competitive ski touring differs significantly from equipment for alpine skiing. Competitive ski tourers use very light skis, on the underside of which they have special removable skins - this is a sticky strip of synthetic fabric similar to animal skin, which is stuck to the sliding surface and improves grip during ascent, and removed during descent to ski down as quickly as possible. The competition boots are also very light, attached with special bindings that unlock at the heel during ascent and lock during descent. Athletes also need poles, a helmet, and a backpack, to which they attach skis during foot ascent.



The men's and women's sprint will start at an altitude of 1215 meters. Competitors await a diamond-shaped course, starting with approx. 70-meter ascent on skis to the point where they must remove the skis and attach them to the backpack, from there they ascend on foot up steep 10-meter stairs, then put on skis again for the final ascent. At the highest point, they remove the skins from the skis, change the binding setting, followed by a 70-meter descent on a course with turns in snow gullies - also with jumps or bumps - to the finish line.



The mixed relay takes place in the first lap on the same course as the sprint, the second lap parallel on another course. It includes two ascents and a foot section with skis attached to the backpack, and two giant slalom descents. The female competitor starts first, when she arrives at the finish, she must in the exchange area attach skins to the skis, only then can she pass the relay by touching her teammate. After the exchange, the male competitor starts, then they alternate once more, so each completes the course twice, always with an intermediate exchange. Also after the fourth lap, the male competitor must attach skins at the finish, only then can both run to the finish.