About

Skimo School is a resource for skimo racers looking to improve their training and racing. Whether preparing for your first skimo race or your 50th, Skimo School provides clear, practical guidance on how to train and compete effectively.

The site covers everything from training principles and race tactics to technical skills. It's designed for athletes who want to approach skimo with a modern, structured system that maximizes performance while avoiding wasted effort.

Who's behind Skimo School?

I'm Scott Semple, the creator of Skimo School. I raced for six years, qualified for the Canadian National Team three times, and competed at the ISMF World Championships. Before that, I spent 14 years as an ice and alpine climber, sponsored for five by Black Diamond, SCARPA, Clif Bar, and others.

After racing, I coached at Uphill Athlete, working with climbers, skimo racers, and mountain runners and facilitating many personal bests. My goal with Skimo School is to take what I've learned—through reading, training, coaching, and much trial and error—and make it accessible to anyone who wants to improve at mountain sports, particularly skimo.

Beyond skimo, I'm working on a broader endurance framework called Arrowhead Endurance: A Modern Method for Mountain Athletes. The goal is to help mountain athletes train smarter and maximize their potential across disciplines.

Stay in touch.

Here's how to stay up to date with Skimo School:

• Subscribe by email – Get updates delivered straight to your inbox.
• Follow via RSS – Add "rss" to the URL of any main section or topic (e.g., /training/rss, /blog/rss, /newsletter/rss, /lessons-from/rss).
• Contact – Have a question or feedback? Reach out via the contact page.

1. "Ski mountaineering racing" is too much of a mouthful, so racers shortened it to "skimo." So "skimo" means racing, but not ski mountaineering in general.