Ski mountaineering will make its official Olympic debut at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, alongside seven other new competitions across existing disciplines.
MILAN, Italy — There will be eight new events to look forward to at the 2026 Winter Olympics, including a brand-new sport never before seen at the Olympic Games.
Ski mountaineering will make its official Olympic debut at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, alongside seven other new competitions across existing disciplines.
Here’s what fans can look forward to at the upcoming Olympics.
What is ski mountaineering?
The sport, often nicknamed “skimo” by fans, is a timed event in which competitors climb a mountain course and then descend on skis.
The sprint race consists of an ascent and descent with three distinct stages in the ascent. Athletes begin the first stage on foot, climbing steps with their skis attached to their backpack. They then attach synthetic skins to the bottom of their skis for the remaining ascent to reach the top, where the skins are removed for the descent to the finish line. The race is held in elimination rounds, leading to a final where medals are awarded. Each heat typically lasts about 3.5 minutes.
The mixed relay features two ascents plus a section on foot with skis on the backpack for each ascent, followed by two descents.
Athletes require specialized equipment for safety and performance. The skis are lighter than downhill skis and feature movable bindings that allow proper joint movement similar to cross-country skiing. Synthetic skins attached to the ski bottoms provide forward gliding while preventing backward sliding and gripping snow during push-off. The skins are removed during descent phases.
It will consist of three medal events: men’s sprint, women’s sprint and mixed relay.
At Milano Cortina 2026, the competitions will take place in Bormio, in the Valtellina.
New events at the 2026 Winter Olympics
The remaining new events come from sports already established in the Olympic program. New medal events will include men’s and women’s dual moguls in freestyle skiing, men’s and women’s doubles in luge (replacing the open doubles event), men’s and women’s team alpine combined, women’s large hill individual in ski jumping, and mixed relay team in skeleton.
In skeleton, the IOC added a third event, the mixed team, to the sports program at the 2026 Winter Olympics in June 2022.
For luge, men’s and women’s doubles in luge (replacing the open doubles event) will create gender-specific competitions where previously there had been an open division.
Freestyle skiing will expand with the addition of dual moguls for both men and women, creating head-to-head competitions in the moguls discipline.
Ski jumping will add a women’s large hill individual event, continuing the expansion of women’s participation in Olympic ski jumping disciplines.
The Games will have the highest percentage of women’s participation in Winter Olympic history, at 47%.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will bring together roughly 2,900 of the world’s best winter athletes. The Games run from Feb. 6-22, 2026, split between venues in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.