The 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina will feature more medals than previous years, thanks to eight new events. The most notable addition is ski mountaineering — or “skimo” — an entirely new Olympic sport.
Skimo is a test of endurance where athletes climb up steep mountains on skis and then race back down. It combines the physical challenge of mountain climbing with the technical speed of skiing. With three gold medals on the line, it’s he biggest change to the Winter Olympics lineup in years. Here’s everything you need to know about skimo and how, when, and where to watch.
Meet skimo, the new Olympic sport
As you might have guessed from the name, skimo is a new skiing event. Unlike other ski races, this one involves going both uphill and downhill, combining the endurance of Nordic skiing with the daring of alpine racing, with a pinch of NASCAR pit crew feeling at the top, as competitors transition from climbing to skiing down.
A skimo race begins at the bottom of the hill. Skiers start with carpet-like strips called “skins” on the bottom of their skis, which help them grip the snow as they race uphill. As if cross-country skiing wasn’t enough of an aerobic test of pain tolerance, let’s make it harder and race uphill!
As racers near the top of the skimo course, there will be a section too steep for skis, so racers will hop out of their skis, throw them on their back and hike up the hill in their boots. This exhausting section is called “boot packing.”
Finally, at the top, racers will jump back into their skis, strip off the skins with shocking efficiency and then race down the hill through a series of gates to the finish line. This downhill section will look like a giant slalom race, for those familiar with alpine ski racing.
Before you race down, you must skin and hike up.
What are the three skimo events?
There are men’s and women’s sprint events, as well as a mixed relay.
The sprint events will be completed faster than you would ever expect. Racers will climb roughly 230 feet to the top over the two uphill sections and then race down to the finish line in under three minutes.
The mixed relay will feature teams of one man and one woman. Each racer will go through the course twice, with the woman racing the first and third legs and the man racing the second and final legs. Since skimo racers use ski poles, there is no baton passing in a skimo relay — a simple tag is all that is required to pass the race to your teammate. The team with the fastest cumulative time wins.
The mixed relay course is longer than the sprint races and, in a twist, features a bootpack section on the second ascent but not the first. The total time for the mixed relay race is expected to be around 30 minutes.
When are the skimo events at the 2026 Olympics?
The men’s and women’s sprint events take place on Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio. All the skimo sprints will take place on this one day, from the first heats to the gold medal final in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
Each field consists of 18 competitors who race in three heats of six. The top three from each heat, plus the three fastest who didn’t automatically qualify, advance to the semifinals. The two fastest from each semifinal, along with the two next-best times, create a field of six for the skimo final.
There are no preliminary heats for the mixed relay event, just a final, consisting of 12 to 18 teams. The men’s and women’s mixed relay finals will be run on Saturday, Feb. 21.
Cam Smith will partner with Anna Gibson for Team USA in the mixed relay skimo competition.
Which countries are the best at skimo?
Ski mountaineering started in the Alps, so it won’t surprise you when I tell you that France, Italy and Switzerland have historically dominated the skimo scene. At last year’s Ski Mountaineering World Championships, France won nine medals (four gold), Switzerland won seven (three gold) and Italy was third in total medals with four.
The current men’s world champion is Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll. He’s the gold medal favorite in Milan Cortina for the men’s sprint. Emily Harrop from France is the favorite for the women’s sprint.
Who’s on the US skimo team?
Anna Gibson and Cam Smith will represent Team USA in the mixed relay race. They became the first American team ever to win a mixed relay World Cup event. Their win at Solitude, Utah, was not only historic on a national level but also qualified them for the Olympics.
Gibson is a 26-year-old from Jackson, Wyoming, with a background in trail running and Nordic skiing. Hailing from Rockford, Illinois, Smith is 30 years old and the closest the US has to a skimo veteran. He’s an 11-time US Ski Mountaineering national champion and a five-time North American Ski Mountaineering champion.
