The Korea Alpine Federation announced that it will hold the ’2025 ISMF Asian Cup Mountain Skiing Competition and the 22nd Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Governor’s Nationwide Mountain Skiing Competition' at MoNa Yongpyong in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, from the 15th to the 16th.
This competition is hosted by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF), the Asian Ski Mountaineering Federation, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, and the Korea Alpine Federation, organized by the Korea Ski Mountaineering Association, officially sponsored by MoNa Yongpyong, and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, the Korean Sports Council, and the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Sports Council, with sponsorship from Trango, Mirzon Molactive Research Institute, Mystery Wall, and Scarpa.
The competition will be divided into sprint, vertical, and individual events, with categories for men’s and women’s senior, U23 (under 23), U20 (under 20), and institutional sectors. More than 150 domestic and international athletes from Japan, China, Kazakhstan, Iran, and Pakistan will participate, including South Korea’s national representatives Jeong Yeji, Kim Mi-jin, Jung Jae won, Gu Kyo-jeong, and Oh Young-hwan, who competed in the recent Harbin Winter Asian Games.
Ski mountaineering is an environmentally friendly sport that uses skis to ascend and descend without the use of lifts on snow-covered mountainous terrain. The sprint event consists of a racing track structured with one ascent (uphill), an ascent (kick turn), walking, and a descent over a terrain of about 70 meters in altitude. The vertical event ranks participants based on who reaches the single uphill racing section fastest after starting simultaneously from the start line. Additionally, unlike last year, an individual event will take place, which features a long course that includes diverse terrain targeted at institutional sectors.
On the first day of the competition, the 15th, the individual event for participants will occur following the opening ceremony and vertical race, while the final day, the 16th, will feature the sprint event and the awards ceremony and closing ceremony.
Cho Jwa-jin, president of the Korea Alpine Federation, said, “Following the adoption of the ski mountaineering event as an official event in the Harbin Winter Asian Games, it has also been adopted as an official event in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. As this competition will be held domestically for over 20 years, we hope for your keen interest.”
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