Ida Waldal began her athletic journey in cross-country skiing before discovering ski mountaineering through her coach. With uphill efforts always being her strength, she quickly felt drawn to the essence of skimo — moving efficiently through the mountains and embracing the sport’s unique combination of endurance, technique, and adventure. Just as important to her was the strong international community that defines ski mountaineering, which further fueled her motivation to pursue the sport at a competitive level.
Her junior career remains one of her proudest chapters so far, marking an important period of development and growth. A defining moment came during her very first skimo race — a World Cup event in Ponte di Legno in 2021 — where she was thrown straight into the highest level of competition and immediately fell in love with the sport.
Ida’s training days are structured and demanding, typically consisting of two sessions. The first is often a quality-focused workout, while the second session is dedicated to recovery, strength training, or building endurance volume. Mentally, she keeps her approach simple: rather than overthinking major competitions, she focuses on embracing the experience and trusting her preparation.
Before dedicating herself fully to skiing, Ida was known as a fast striker on the football field — a fun fact that reflects her competitive nature and athletic versatility. Outside of sport, she enjoys running, spending time in cafés over good coffee, and balancing training with her studies.
Looking ahead, her long-term goal has been the Olympic Games, and she is especially excited to return to racing her favorite disciplines: vertical and individual races. Beyond results, Ida hopes to inspire more Norwegians to discover ski mountaineering, helping the sport grow nationally and encouraging younger athletes to join the skimo community.
She expresses deep gratitude to her team and to the many people around her whose support has helped her reach this level, and she looks forward to continuing the journey both on and off the mountains.
