A new sport is officially making its Winter Olympics debut today.
The first-ever Olympic ski mountaineering (also referred to as SkiMo) competition will take place today, Feb. 18, in the mountains of Bormio, Italy.
In Olympic SkiMo, competitors will participate in sprint races. Each skier will climb up part of the course on skis, continue their climb on foot, and then skiing down the mountain. The fastest time wins.
The sport has roots in the Italian Alps and two Italian competitors today, Giulia Murada and Michele Boscacci, are the children of decorated ski mountaineers who, together, won the team race at the first SkiMo world championships in 2002.
“It’s kind of where ski mountaineering racing came to life,” Michela Martinelli, sport manager of ski mountaineering for Milano Cortina, said of the region surrounding Bormio, where the SkiMo course is.
What is ski mountaineering?
In short, ski mountaineering is climbing a mountain in skis, taking those skis off, continuing to climb the mountain on foot, then reattaching skis and skiing back down the mountain.
Ski mountaineering Olympic schedule
- Men and Women’s Sprints (Heats): Feb. 19, 3:45 a.m. ET (USA Network)
- Men and Women’s Sprints (Finals): Feb. 19, 6:55 a.m. ET (USA Network)*
- Mixed team relay: Feb. 21, 7:30 a.m. ET (USA Network)*
*medals awarded
How to watch ski mountaineering at the Olympics for free
If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the Olympics for free.
DIRECTV is our favorite service for watching TV live for free — it has a five-day free trial and there are a ton of options for plans that include USA Network (and every other channel you’ll need for the Olympics), starting at $49.99/month.
You can also catch every minute of the Olympics with a subscription to Peacock, which starts at $10.99/month.
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS
Ski moutaineering start lists
Women’s sprints
Heat 1
- Rebeka Cully (SVK)
- Caroline Ulrich (SUI)
- Emily Harrop (FRA)
- Tatjana Paller (GER)
- Ida Waldal (NOR)
- Anna Gibson (USA)
Heat 2
- Alba de Silvestro (ITA)
- Marianna Jagercikova (SVK)
- Marianne Fatton (SUI)
- Margot Ravinel (FRA)
- Johanna Hiemer (AUT)
- Lara Hamilton (AUS)
Heat 3
- Yuzhen Cidan (CHN)
- Maria Costa Diez (ESP)
- Ana Alonso Rodriguez (ESP)
- Guilia Mirada (ITA)
- Iwona Januszyk (POL)
- Helena Euringer (GER)
Men’s sprints
Heat 1
- Luer Bu (CHN)
- Pablo Giner Dalmasso (FRA)
- Oriol Cardona Coll (ESP)
- Ot Ferrer Martinez (ESP)
- Paul Verbnjak (AUT)
- Michele Boscacci (ITA)
Heat 2
- Cameron Smith (USA)
- Nikita Filippov (AIN)
- Jon Kistler (SUI)
- Maximilien Drion du Chapois (BEL)
- Trym Dalset Lodoen (NOR)
- Phillip Bellingham (AUS)
Heat 3
- Jan Elankowski (POL)
- Hans-Inge Klette (NOR)
- Arno Lietha (SUI)
- Thibault Anselmet (FRA)
- Finn Hoesch (GER)
- Jakub Siarnik (SVK)
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This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.
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