Ski mountaineering ready for Olympic debut in Italian Alps

(Photo credit: REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth)

BORMIO, Italy -- Ski mountaineering is ready for its Olympic debut, starting with the men's and women's sprint events on Thursday. It does so in a mountain region rich with the sport's history.

HOW IT WORKS

Ski mountaineering, known as SkiMo, is a sport that combines ascending up mountainous terrain and skiing back down. The condensed version, the sprint event,