A long way to the top

Picked for the sport from a remote township in Konpo'gyada county in Nyingchi city, Xizang, Yuzhen Lamu was hesitant at her first training session in 2019. She said she felt "trapped" with skis strapped to her feet and was intimidated by the steep slopes at the tryout camp.

The 20-year-old, who spent her childhood chasing her siblings in the snowy woods surrounding their village, confessed that in the early stages the rigorous challenges of skimo were not fun. "When I started to learn skiing, it felt a bit boring, and pretty exhausting when I wasn't able to ski well enough," said Yuzhen Lamu, who began her junior sports training in 2016 as a distance runner at Nyingchi's school for amateur sports.

"As much as I loved snow when I was little, I was almost sad whenever I saw it snowing again (at the beginning of skimo training).

"Yet, I was always a stubborn kid who never gave up. Gradually, I improved a lot in my skiing skills, and mental and physical strength. I began to enjoy the sport, particularly the exhilarating thrill of skiing downhill after overcoming the difficult climbs," she said.

Cidan Yuzhen was also drafted from track and field in October 2020. Then aged 13, she was a junior race walker training at a sports school in her hometown of Shannan, a city at an average altitude of 3,700 meters, located south of the autonomous region's capital, Lhasa.

Knowing nothing about skimo, she gave it a try at the training camp. She was selected from over 200 children who tried out, and eventually waved goodbye to the farmland, cattle, forests and creeks in her valley home.

She was sometimes homesick during training or competitions, but she overcame the setbacks. The ambitious young skier now says she never regretted her bold move to pursue a sports career.

"It was hard at the beginning, and I only told my parents the good news, keeping the bad stuff such as injuries from them," she said.

"After all, it was my choice, they respected it, and I didn't want them to feel worried," said Cidan Yuzhen, who claimed two U18 titles in individual and vertical events at the 2023 World Championships in Spain.