Smith clinches historic spot at 2026 Winter Olympics

An Olympic berth and a place in ski mountaineering history were on the line last week when Western Colorado University graduate Cam Smith and teammate Anna Gibson took gold in the mixed relay at the ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Cup on Dec. 6 at Solitude Mountain Resort.

Not only did the duo secure their spot in the sport’s debut at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, but they also did it in their first World Cup event. In a race that took just over half an hour, their closest competition was nearly a minute behind.

“Unprecedented to see the USA winning in a final,” a TV commentator said. “This is so exciting.”

The mixed relay required each team member to complete two laps of the course, including two sections of climbing, downhill slalom-style skiing and a short boot pack on each lap.

Going into the race, Smith and Gibson were ranked 13th, with only the top 12 teams going to the Olympics. However, in the qualifying round, Smith finished at the top of the men’s field, with Gibson, an internationally ranked trail runner competing in her first skimo World Cup, coming in third. That drew attention heading into Saturday’s race.

Up against teams from 12 other countries, Gibson found herself in a tight group leaving the gate and managed to finish her first two climbs in sixth place. Strong transitions between skins and skis allowed her to make the handoff in fourth place.

After the exchange, Smith, a resident of Crested Butte, quickly pushed past the Canadian team into third place. On his second climb, he saw an opportunity to challenge the leaders. He took a commanding lead in the boot pack and never looked back. At the next handoff, Gibson was 30 seconds ahead of the pack.

“Once Anna handed it off to me in the lead, I knew that we were the best team that day and we were going to take the win,” Smith said. “But anytime you're thinking about the result of something, it takes you out of the present and can distract you from executing. So I tried to stay laser-focused on executing my last lap. It definitely got harder to do that as the finish line got closer and the crowd got louder.”

When Smith crossed the finish line with a time of 32:17, the team’s lead had grown to more than 51 seconds.

“Going into this race, we were ranked 13th, and the top 12 nations would qualify for the Olympics,” Smith said. “So the narrative has been pretty clear that just making it to the games would be a huge win for our team, then once we got there, we could fight for 10th, 11th or 12th and just celebrate that we were part of the first Olympic skimo event.

“But now, with us vaulting from 13th to winning our first World Cup, we can dream much bigger dreams. This put the rest of the world on notice, and we're absolutely going there to fight for medals.”

Smith’s road to the Olympics started in the Gunnison Valley. Growing up in Illinois, he started ski mountaineering after joining his older sister at Western. Together, they signed up to compete in the 40-mile Grand Traverse skimo race from Crested Butte to Aspen.

According to Kevin Geisen, director of campus recreation at Western, Smith was a mountain sports guru during his time at the university, competing in trail running, mountain biking, Nordic skiing and skimo.

Since then, he has steadily built an impressive résumé, with 11 U.S. Ski Mountaineering national championships and five North American Ski Mountaineering championships to his name.

“It's awesome to reflect on how this all came from the mountain sports program. I showed up as an 18-year-old freshman from the Midwest, barely knowing how to ski. Having mountain sports being open to anyone of any ability gave me the chance to figure all this stuff out and was truly the beginning of my career,” Smith said. “The coaches and my teammates took the time to support some enthusiastic kid who had no idea what he was doing. Now those teammates are still my best friends, and the racing for fun turned into an Olympic dream come true. So I'm grateful for the Western community welcoming me with open arms and setting me up to dream big in life.”