The International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) SKIMO World Cup returned to the United States for the first time in twenty years this past weekend, with Solitude Mountain Resort serving as the host venue. This event marked the first ISMF World Cup held on American snow under the federation’s modern governance structure, and carried added weight as the final Olympic qualifying race ahead of ski mountaineering’s debut at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. Team USA rose to the occasion: Cam Smith and Anna Gibson delivered a historic victory, winning the nation’s first-ever World Cup gold in the mixed relay.
The U.S. previously held World Cup-level skimo racing at Solitude in 2004 and 2005, when the Wasatch Powder Keg hosted international competitors under earlier formats and rule sets. This year’s return signaled not only an important milestone for the sport of Skimo in the United States but also a breakthrough moment for American skimo athletes.
Mixed Relay—How it works
A mixed relay team consists of one woman and one man. The race consists of four laps on a sprint course. Each athlete alternates laps, with each teammate completing 2 laps. Each lap includes two ascents and two descents, plus a required boot-pack segment midway through the second ascent, where racers carry their skis on their backpacks for a portion of the climb. At the end of each lap, the finishing athlete enters a designated handover zone, touches any part of their teammate’s body, and then the next athlete begins their lap. Teams advanced to either the A or B finals based on a single, qualifying lap from each individual athlete. The A final included 12 teams, including Team USA’s Cam Smith and Anna Gibson, and Team Canada’s Aaron Robson and Emma Cook-Clarke.
In the A final, Gibson handed off to Smith after her first lap in 4th place, 13.3 seconds back. Cam made a strong move halfway through the second lap and moved into 1st place before handing it back to Gibson with a 9-second lead over 2nd place. Gibson put on the afterburners and added 30 more seconds to their lead before the final handoff to Smith. Smith continued to extend the gap back to 2nd on the final lap, finishing 51.02 seconds ahead of Italy in second, with Canada 7th at 1:31.7 back.
Results:
- USA 32:17.06
- Italy +51.02
- Germany +1:08.6
7. Canada +1:31.7
Cam Smith: A Veteran Leader at the Front of U.S. Skimo
Smith is one of the standout members of USA Skimo’s national team and has become one of the country’s most decorated ski-mountaineers. An 11-time U.S. National Champion and five-time North American Champion, Smith also holds course records at major domestic races, including The Grand Traverse and Power of Four. In 2022, he made history as the first North American man to reach the podium in an international World Cup event, finishing third in the vertical race in Andorra. With skimo set to debut in Milan-Cortina, Smith remains one of the United States’ strongest medal contenders, pairing exceptional endurance with elite technical skill.
Anna Gibson: A Rising Multi-Sport Talent
Anna Gibson brings a rare blend of cross-country skiing, collegiate track, and elite mountain running to her emerging skimo career. Raised in Teton Village, Wyoming, she grew up moving through the mountains and won a U.S. Junior National title in cross-country skiing in 2017. At the University of Washington, she helped her team set an NCAA record in the Distance Medley Relay.
In 2025, Gibson broke out internationally at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Spain, earning bronze in the Uphill 6 km (a brutal 3,000-foot climb over roughly four miles) and contributing to the U.S. women’s silver medal in the Classic 14 km. She entered the U.S. Olympic-qualification pool for ski mountaineering later that year, bringing her exceptional climbing engine and racing versatility to the discipline.
A Historic Win and an Olympic Ticket
Smith and Gibson’s mixed-relay victory at Solitude was more than a national first: it secured the United States a quota spot for the mixed-relay event at the 2026 Olympics. With only one North American continental quota available for the relay, the Solitude race doubled as a high-stakes showdown between the United States and Canada. Entering the weekend, the U.S. trailed Canada on the Olympic Mixed Relay Ranking List by a single position. Whichever nation finished ahead in Solitude would likely take the lone Continental quota—one man and one woman—for Milan-Cortina.
With the United States now holding an Olympic quota for one man and one woman in ski mountaineering, the final team selection will follow USA Skimo’s official criteria, which prioritize results from World Cup races, World Championships, and the 2025 U.S. National Championships. Athletes must have competed in at least one World Cup during the qualification period and meet all USOPC eligibility standards. Based on recent performances, Cam Smith is the strongest favorite on the men’s side, given his national titles, international results, and his role in securing the Olympic quota. On the women’s side, the leading candidates include Anna Gibson, whose breakout mixed-relay win at Solitude delivered the historic U.S. win and clinched the quota, and Hali Hafeman or Jessie Young, both of whom remain competitive within the national team rankings. Ultimately, USA Skimo will select the male and female athletes who demonstrate the best combination of international competitiveness and relay potential, aiming to field the strongest possible mixed-relay team for the sport’s Olympic debut.
Skimo’s Olympic Debut
Ski mountaineering will appear for the first time in Olympic history at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games, marking the first addition of a new winter sport in decades. The Olympic program features three events:
- Men’s Sprint
- Women’s Sprint
- Mixed-Relay
Only 36 athletes will compete—18 men and 18 women—with each National Olympic Committee permitted to field a maximum of two men and two women. With the Solitude result in hand, Team USA has officially earned its place in this historic debut.
While Skimo is the only new sport being introduced in Milano-Cortina, several new disciplines within existing sports, including Women’s Large Hill Ski Jumping, Women’s Luge Doubles, Skeleton Mixed Team, and Freestyle Skiing Dual Moguls (both men’s & women’s), will be included.
You can watch the livestream of both days of Skimo racing at Solitude Resort on the ISMF YouTube page. Here are links to the Mixed Relay and Sprint event replays. If you don’t have time to watch the racing in its entirety, the mixed relay finals start at the 1:11:30 mark, the women’s sprint at the 2:03:30, and the men’s at the 2:20:30.
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