Hey guys,

my name is Jakub, but I'm more often called Kubo or Šiaro. I was born on November 14, 1994 in Liptovsky Mikulas, northern Slovakia.

Sport beginnings

I come from the Liptov region, surrounded by the Tatra Mountains. Movement has been a part of my daily routine since I was a little boy, but I started training in an organized way only when I was 11 years old. I replaced my art lessons with downhill skiing. The space between the goals was too cramped for me and I decided to try cross-country skiing. I thus continued a family tradition and took advantage of my endurance predispositions. I did cross-country skiing until I was 17 years old and managed to win, for example, the Slovak Junior Cup.

Beginnings with skimo

I used to extend my season on the snow every year with cross-country skiing trips to the valleys of the Western Tatras. I applied a thick layer of liquid klister (grip wax for wet conditions) and climbed up, where I took it off before descending. I still remember it with a smile. Later, with the help of a friend, I got some skimo gear. When the conditions for cross-country ski training deteriorated, I had a replacement at hand. In between my cross-country season, I occasionally took part in "ski slope" skimo races. My first one was in 2012 at Malino Brdo. I did well in the Open category and later in the juniors and never missed the podium.

National team

The winter of 2014 was very poor for snow. That's why I immersed myself more in skimo and at the end of the winter I got my first chance to compete at the World Cup. I made a bold start and for the first two minutes I pulled the entire junior starting field. The top three then were Oriol Cardona, Frederico Nicolini and Remi Bonnet - all current world champions. Since then, skimo has been my sporting priority and every year I am part of the Slovak national team. I have improved more or less every year and I have had several individual placements attacking the TOP 10 level.

What next - Olympic dream

I think that my physical performance has brought me closer to the level I have been striving for for years. The challenge for me remains improving the small details that mean being able to keep up with the best. The inclusion of ski mountaineering among the disciplines of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics gives me the opportunity to do the sport more professionally and I understandably want to do everything I can to make sure that I am not absent from the Games. In addition to competition activities, I try to pass on the experience, whether to young people in Slovak Skimountaineering Association activities or in skimo courses, where we teach especially beginners to learn the principles of efficient movement on skimo skis.

Thank you for your support to all those who have contributed or are actively contributing to enabling me to continue to progress.