Some students dream of coaching an Olympic athlete. Wren Pyle ‘23 is already on it.

She’s trained competitively, basically since she could walk, starting with swimming, then moving to cycling, ultrarunning, and - what’s a non-skiing endurance athlete to do when winter sets in? – ski mountaineering. She coaches club swimming when she’s not studying. And she’s training a 2026 Winter Olympic hopeful: herself.

Coming to the University of Vermont from Littleton, Colorado, Pyle discovered competitive ski mountaineering - aka Skimo - because she wasn’t sure what else to do when the crisp autumn days gave way to winter storms. At home, she could train “pretty much year-round,” she says. In the New England slush, not so much. She did some research and found that when conditions turn colder several ultrarunners she admires take on the challenge of racing up and down mountains on skis.

“’I figured I would give it a try,” she said.

Figuring it out

Pyle spent her summer earnings on equipment, including special alpine skis, boots with a heel interface that can be freed for ascents and fixed during descents, and “skins” that stick to the skis and grip the snow to help move uphill without sliding back down. While scanning social media for used gear and fellow mountaineers, she met a Skimo race director who connected her with a discounted student pass and a carpool. Soon she was on the mountain in Middlebury.

Her first race was a challenge.

“I was super fit, but I didn't know how to ski downhill; and the ascent is harder than just walking uphill. There's a lot of technique to it. You're taking your skins on and off; your skis on and off, and I didn't know how to do any of that the first time,” she recalls. “But I was hooked. And by the end of the season, I'd figured it out.”

Unassuming and calm, Pyle has a gift for understatement. Fewer than four years after discovering the sport, she’s earned her place among 24 athletes named to The United States Ski Mountaineering Association (USA Skimo) 2021-2022 National Team. She took the 2022 U23 Women’s Sprint title at the USA Skimo National Championships in Vail, Colorado in February.

Skimo race division categories are set by age and gender in three disciplines: individual, sprint, and vertical. Two of these – the individual and sprint competitions - will be featured for the first time in the 2026 Winter Olympics. Pyle’s strongest event  - the sprint – involves a ¾ mile lap that starts with skinning uphill for about 150 feet, stepping out of the skis and strapping them to a backpack, running the remainder of the hill, skinning another 30 seconds or so, and then putting the skis back on to ski down. All in less than eight minutes.

Chasing that race pace

“I just really like training. I like moving. I like moving in the mountains and moving quickly,” she says. “And racing is the fastest you can move. You're wearing the lightest possible equipment; you're carrying the least amount of things. And you're tapering and you're preparing to peak for this one event.”

Her drive toward improved athletic performance is the reason she’s pursuing a degree in exercise science. Post-graduation, she intends to combine her endurance training experience with an understanding of physiology and exercise psychology to work with athletes to improve performance at the competitive collegiate level – ideally, in swimming.

“I like to win. And I like working with athletes that want to win,” Pyle says.

Coaching the coach

Coaching herself has improved communication with the athletes she trains as an assistant club swim coach, said Pyle. The experience, together with her academic background, helps her to combine empathy with science when working with her swimmers.

“You learn how to coach at a much deeper level,” Pyle says. “I can tell them ‘we're tapering, and I know you're tired but we're backing off on our volume, we're increasing our intensity so that you can be rested and ready for this - and just because we're only doing 2000 yards today, doesn't mean you can just swim it easy. You need to do the hard work and you need to go fast.' ’’

Kit Vreeland, professor of rehabilitation and movement science and a fellow endurance racer, has witnessed Pyle's application of biomechanical concepts learned in class to her training, including an analysis of optimal pole length for the Skimo athlete.

"It has been a pleasure to see her relate to the passion of athletes becoming better by pushing physical and mental limits," Vreeland said.

Skiing uphill with friends

When it comes down to it, Pyle says her favorite thing to do is get out on the mountain or the road with her friends.

“Those are the days that help fuel the fire for all the soul-crushing days by yourself,” she says.

“Being able to do silly things like ski uphill mountains or ride your bikes crazy amounts of miles at some point is disciplined hardcore training, but then at others it's just -  it's just me and my friends riding bikes.”

Bigger mountains

Spring brings cycling season, which Pyle plans to kick off with a “double century” 200-mile ride – with a friend! – followed by an “Everest,” which involves ascending 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) by repeating a 163-meter climb 54 times. The culmination of Pyle’s summer training plan is the Jay Peak 53.1k Ultra (33 Miler) race in September, after which she’ll rest briefly before starting Skimo training again.

Winter 2022 is a world championship season, and Pyle intends to train 30 hours per week to prepare. The 2026 Winter Olympic competition “is always in the back of your head,” she says. “My primary motive is to try to be useful to the team and help the team qualify. I'll try my best and that will come down to the team.”

For now, she’s giving it her all - because she’s got even bigger future plans.

“In the long term I want to play in the big mountains - the Himalayas, Rainier - but you have to be really fit and good at what you do,” she says. “When I'm too old to compete then I will be ready to move on to bigger things. Bigger mountains.”