"Your engagement as 'ski masters' helps to boost certain capacities, for example steadfastness in pursing aims, respect for the rules, tenacity in confronting and surmounting difficulties," the pope said at the Vatican City.
"In all sporting activities, a person understands better that their body should not be considered an object ... but that it allows them to express themselves and establish relations with others.
"In this way, the balance between the physical and spiritual dimensions leads one not to idolise the body but to respect it."
Benedict said another advantage of skiing is that it is done in the mountains.
This is "an environment that in a special way makes us feel small, returns us to our true dimension as creatures, makes us capable of asking ourselves about the significance of creation, lifting our eyes to the top, opening ourselves up to the Creator".
The visiting skiers included Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who is passionate about the sport.
