How Ski Mountaineering’s Hype Man Went From TikTok to NBC

The newest addition to the Winter Olympic Games almost doesn’t seem real.

Ski mountaineering starts with athletes running up the hill in their skis, with grippy “skins” on the bottom so they don’t slide backward. Then, they stash the skis in a backpack to hike even higher. At the top, they put their skis back on, and jump straight up in the air while dramatically ripping off the skins. Whoever can ski to the bottom first wins gold.

The sport is brand-new to some viewers, but others have been following one man’s ski mountaineering journey for years.

Max Valverde first got into “skimo” a few years ago, and he gained a large following on social media while documenting his attempt to make Team USA. Now preparing to join NBC as an analyst for the Winter Olympics, Valverde and his videos have gotten even more traction.

“I feel like a bit of the Skimo Lorax,” Valverde tells Front Office Sports. “Speak for the skis for the skis have no tongues.”

With hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and thousands of likes across platforms, Valverde is hyping the niche sport at the most crucial time in its history. Across several recent clips, he set the stage for Team USA to nab the final Olympic spot over Canada, broke down that historic U.S. win in December, and tactfully described the team’s chances at the Games.

Valverde compares the race to the 100-meter dash, the transitions to Formula One pit stops, and the height of the uphill portion to one and a half times Niagara Falls. Most of the clips end in a hyped-up scream: “Let’s go!!!”

Valverde sounds like a fan because he is one. The 41-year-old former software entrepreneur and father of three moved a few years ago to Park City, Utah, where he fell in love with propelling himself up the mountain early in the morning, and making first tracks on his way back down at sunrise.

Once he heard the sport was heading to the Olympics, Valverde tried to make Team USA and shared his progress on social media. Under the account name Dad Bod Goes Pro, Valverde posted about training in the summer and winter, 30 hours per week. At the 2023 USA Skimo National Championships, his hard work moved him onto the semifinals after earning the 12th-best time in the qualifier, though he did not advance.

After that, Valverde took a different role in the sport and focused on livestreaming races. He hosted the broadcasts, delivered play-by-play, and interviewed the racers. “We had a couple people reach out that were like, ‘My family has never seen me race,’” Valverde says. He also joined the board of USA Skimo.

But the social media videos have generated the widest reach. Valverde’s comment sections are flooded with excitement and bewilderment, while his direct messages are full of curious newbies asking how to get started.

His skill at explaining ski mountaineering to non-enthusiasts caught the attention of two-time Olympic gold-medal-winning alpine skier and NBC analyst Ted Ligety, who knows the skimo fanatic from Park City and made the connection to the network.

Now, Valverde is headed to Stamford, Conn., as an analyst for NBC’s coverage of the Milan Cortina Games.

“We did an audition with Max, and it was immediately apparent that not only was he well-spoken, but he understood how to explain his sport to non-experts,” Rebecca Chatman, VP and coordinating producer of NBC’s Olympic coverage, told FOS in an email. “His videos are terrific and are yet another reason he makes a great analyst.  Max is able to break down key elements of his sport in 20–30 seconds in these videos, which is exactly what he’ll have to do for our coverage.”

Ski mountaineering will take place at the end of the Games, with the women’s and men’s sprints on Feb. 19 and the mixed relay on Feb. 21. The athletes will be a bit cordoned off in Bormio, where the only other event happening is men’s alpine skiing.

Valverde tells FOS that Team USA’s best shot at medaling is in the mixed relay with Cam Smith and Anna Gibson, who has also represented the U.S. in mountain running. The duo earned Team USA’s first gold at a World Cup event and secured their Olympic spot in December (though top teams from France and Spain weren’t participating).

Valverde is ecstatic about the Americans’ opportunity. But regardless of which country secures gold, he says he’s ready for the sport to have its moment, especially after the years he’s spent trying to make sure skimo isn’t seen as “a joke.”

“I just felt like I was somebody who could maybe hedge against that,” he says, “and could maybe do a little bit of work to push it in the other direction—where skimo is cool.”