diff --git a/src/stores/room-list-v3/RoomListStoreV3.ts b/src/stores/room-list-v3/RoomListStoreV3.ts
index 41095f96f7..69d54988e3 100644
--- a/src/stores/room-list-v3/RoomListStoreV3.ts
+++ b/src/stores/room-list-v3/RoomListStoreV3.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import { LISTS_UPDATE_EVENT } from "../room-list/RoomListStore";
 import { AllRoomsFilter } from "./filters/AllRoomsFilter";
 import { FavouriteFilter } from "./filters/FavouriteFilter";
 import { RecencySorter } from "./sorters/RecencySorter";
+import { RoomSkipList } from "./RoomSkipList";
 
 export class RoomListStoreV3Class extends AsyncStoreWithClient<EmptyObject> {
     /**
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@ export class RoomListStoreV3Class extends AsyncStoreWithClient<EmptyObject> {
      */
     private rooms: Room[] = [];
 
+    private roomSkipList?: RoomSkipList;
+
     private readonly msc3946ProcessDynamicPredecessor: boolean;
 
     /**
@@ -114,6 +117,12 @@ export class RoomListStoreV3Class extends AsyncStoreWithClient<EmptyObject> {
         rooms = rooms.filter((r) => VisibilityProvider.instance.isRoomVisible(r));
         return rooms;
     }
+
+    public createSkipList(): void {
+        const rooms = this.fetchRoomsFromSdk();
+        this.roomSkipList = new RoomSkipList();
+        this.roomSkipList.create(rooms!);
+    }
 }
 
 export default class RoomListStoreV3 {
diff --git a/src/stores/room-list-v3/RoomSkipList.ts b/src/stores/room-list-v3/RoomSkipList.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5984c52b77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/stores/room-list-v3/RoomSkipList.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2025 New Vector Ltd.
+
+SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR GPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
+Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
+*/
+
+import type { Room } from "matrix-js-sdk/src/matrix";
+import { getLastTs, sortRooms } from "../room-list/algorithms/tag-sorting/RecentAlgorithm";
+import { MatrixClientPeg } from "../../MatrixClientPeg";
+
+// See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_list
+
+export class RecencySorter {
+    public sort(rooms: Room[]): Room[] {
+        return sortRooms(rooms);
+    }
+
+    public comparator(roomA: Room, roomB: Room): number {
+        let myUserId = "";
+        if (MatrixClientPeg.get()) {
+            myUserId = MatrixClientPeg.get()!.getSafeUserId();
+        }
+        const roomALastTs = getLastTs(roomA, myUserId);
+        const roomBLastTs = getLastTs(roomB, myUserId);
+
+        return roomBLastTs - roomALastTs;
+    }
+}
+
+export class RoomSkipList {
+    private readonly sentinels: Sentinel[] = [];
+    private readonly roomNodeMap: Map<string, RoomNode> = new Map();
+    private sorter: RecencySorter = new RecencySorter();
+
+    public create(rooms: Room[]): void {
+        if (rooms.length === 0) {
+            // No rooms, just create an empty level
+            this.sentinels[0] = new Sentinel(0);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // 1. First sort the rooms and create a base sorted linked list
+        const sortedRoomNodes = this.sorter.sort(rooms).map((room) => new RoomNode(room));
+        let sentinel = new Sentinel(0);
+        for (const node of sortedRoomNodes) {
+            sentinel.setNext(node);
+            this.roomNodeMap.set(node.room.roomId, node);
+        }
+
+        // 2. Create the rest of the sub linked lists
+        do {
+            this.sentinels[sentinel.level] = sentinel;
+            sentinel = sentinel.generateNextLevel();
+            // todo: set max level
+        } while (sentinel.size > 1);
+    }
+
+    public removeRoom(room: Room): void {
+        const existingNode = this.roomNodeMap.get(room.roomId);
+        if (existingNode) {
+            for (const sentinel of this.sentinels) {
+                sentinel.removeNode(existingNode);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    public addRoom(room: Room): void {
+        // First, let's delete this room from the skip list
+        this.removeRoom(room);
+        const newNode = new RoomNode(room);
+
+        // Start on the highest level, account for empty levels
+        let sentinel = this.sentinels[0];
+        for (let i = this.sentinels.length - 1; i >= 0; --i) {
+            if (this.sentinels[i].size) {
+                sentinel = this.sentinels[i];
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        const current = sentinel.head;
+        for (let i = sentinel.level; i >= 0; --i) {
+            let nextNode = current?.next[i];
+            while (this.sorter.comparator(room, nextNode.room) > 0) {}
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+export class Sentinel {
+    private current?: RoomNode;
+    public head?: RoomNode;
+    public size: number = 0;
+
+    public constructor(public readonly level: number) {}
+
+    public setNext(node: RoomNode): void {
+        if (!this.head) this.head = node;
+        if (!this.current) {
+            this.current = node;
+        } else {
+            node.previous[this.level] = this.current;
+            this.current.next[this.level] = node;
+            this.current = node;
+        }
+        this.size++;
+    }
+
+    public generateNextLevel(): Sentinel {
+        const nextLevelSentinel = new Sentinel(this.level + 1);
+        let current = this.head;
+        while (current) {
+            if (this.shouldPromote()) {
+                nextLevelSentinel.setNext(current);
+            }
+            current = current.next[this.level];
+        }
+        return nextLevelSentinel;
+    }
+
+    public removeNode(node: RoomNode): void {
+        // Let's first see if this node is even in this level
+        const nodeInThisLevel = this.head === node || node.previous[this.level];
+        if (!nodeInThisLevel) {
+            // This node is not in this sentinel level, so nothing to do.
+            return;
+        }
+        const prev = node.previous[this.level];
+        if (prev) {
+            prev.next[this.level] = node.next[this.level];
+        } else {
+            // This node was the head since it has no back links!
+            // so update the head.
+            this.head = node.next[this.level];
+        }
+        this.size--;
+    }
+
+    private shouldPromote(): boolean {
+        return Math.random() < 0.5;
+    }
+}
+
+export class RoomNode {
+    public constructor(public readonly room: Room) {}
+
+    public next: RoomNode[] = [];
+    public previous: RoomNode[] = [];
+}
diff --git a/src/stores/room-list/algorithms/tag-sorting/RecentAlgorithm.ts b/src/stores/room-list/algorithms/tag-sorting/RecentAlgorithm.ts
index 78afecc0e6..e84f538993 100644
--- a/src/stores/room-list/algorithms/tag-sorting/RecentAlgorithm.ts
+++ b/src/stores/room-list/algorithms/tag-sorting/RecentAlgorithm.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ export const sortRooms = (rooms: Room[]): Room[] => {
     });
 };
 
-const getLastTs = (r: Room, userId: string): number => {
+export const getLastTs = (r: Room, userId: string): number => {
     const mainTimelineLastTs = ((): number => {
         // Apparently we can have rooms without timelines, at least under testing
         // environments. Just return MAX_INT when this happens.