Gene, a question; more than carrying the additional weight up the hill,
isn't the issue oxygenating the additional muscle mass that larger
athlete has to deal with in the hills? I remember seeing a chart
somewhere that really broke it down. It seems that it is a mathematical
certainty that the smaller athlete will prevail in the hills. Have you
heard this thesis?

In animals in general, the bigger you are the more of your strength you
need just to "hold yourself up" and move your mass.

As an animal increases in linear size, the volume and therefore mass
increase as the cube, whereas muscle strength (directly related to
cross-sectional area of muscle) increases as the square of the linear
size. This is why elephants need such large legs, and don't look like
directly scaled-up mice.

So typically, a "smaller" skiier is usually going to have a better power
to weight ratio, and for a given energy expenditure will produce more
forward motion up the hill and use less energy simply fighting gravity's
pull on their mass back down the hill.

Whether that translates into any significant difference in real life is
another matter.

Cheers,
Chris