It's all uphill from here. How skimo improves physical and mental health

On any winter day at Whitefish Mountain Resort, it’s common to see a handful of people making the trek up the mountain. While a community of locals enjoy uphill travel, particularly its suffer for fun aspect, most people find it unfathomable. 

Some uphill enthusiasts enter ski mountaineering, or skimo, races that require skinning uphill, boot packing and skiing downhill. The term skinning comes from the nylon material on the bottom of the skis that grip the snow, allowing the skier to travel uphill without sliding. 

When high school art teacher, Claire Kniveton, and her husband, Burket, arrived in Whitefish in 2011 and began skinning the Big Mountain, they found it was a great way to meet people.