America's Olympic SkiMo Hopes Are Riding on 20-Year-Old Griffin Briley

Acclimating and preparing meticulously for ski mountaineering’s Olympic debut at Milan-Cortina 2026, American Griffin Briley recently benefited from a valuable pre-season training camp, exploring vast terrain around the Italian Dolomites and Stelvio Pass. The future Olympic venue in Bormio lies below.

“We had a really productive trip to Italy – we spent four days at the Stelvio Pass, practicing downhill, doing laps, and working on technique with a coach,” Briley tells POWDER in an interview from his home in Park City, Utah. “We also went to San Martino where we did lots of dryland training, running, roller skiing, and ran a straight-up trail race called the Rosetta Verticale, which climbs to above 2,700 meters. We trained with the Italian team and other Skimo athletes, so racing against them was cool.

“Looking forward to hopefully being in Bormio, although we don’t have our quota spot just yet, but it would be fantastic if some U.S. athletes could go,” Briley said. 

A crucial Olympic qualification race is scheduled for December 6-7, 2025, at Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah. The International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) World Cup race kicks off the season. Briley, one of Skimo’s rising young talents, will reap the advantage of competing on familiar snow. 

The 20-year-old from Park City, who began competitive Skimo racing in his early teens, is a four-time world junior champion. He notes that training at home has also been productive, despite a lack of early-season snow.

“Been running, cycling, and roller skiing a lot in Park City, and finally getting on skis as Utah hasn’t received a lot of snow,” Briley informs. “Preparing for the first World Cup at Solitude.”

Briley’s Olympic aspirations were sparked at a young age, having witnessed the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games, an inspiring hometown event at which his parents served as volunteers.

Keep reading for more about Griffin Briley and ski mountaineering’s upcoming introduction at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

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Briley’s Goal To Qualify for Milan-Cortina on Home Soil

As excitement builds toward February’s Olympics, Briley and his fellow ski mountaineering Olympic hopefuls will convene for this season’s opening ISMF World Cup races at Solitude Mountain Resort in Utah, December 6-7. The event will mark the start of a truly special and game-changing season. Nerves and tension will be amped up as the races also serve as the final Olympic qualifier for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games.

“It’s going to be an incredible way to kick off the season; the first ISMF World Cup in the United States, which is a huge step for the sport,” Briley says. “It’s incredible to have this happening here near home.”

North American rivals U.S. and Canada will be battling for a coveted Olympic quota spot. Briley and his equally talented, but substantially more experienced teammate Cam Smith, will lead Team USA’s charge.  

“It’s been fun to go back-and-forth in the rankings with Canada,” Briley says. 

“We’re all super great friends, so at the end of the day the competition is just part of the process, but, yeah, it’s cool to race against them.”

Timely success over their Canadian rivals will enable Briley and U.S. teammates to punch a ticket to Italy, as the determined Utah athlete strives to become part of Skimo history, as one of the sport’s first class of Olympians.

A Skimo Sprinting Primer

In Skimo sprint racing, athletes battle shoulder-to-shoulder across three distinct phases—climbing uphill through obstacles with skins fastened to their skis, boot-packing up steps and inclines, and finally, after clicking their heels into two-mode bindings, a full-on downhill charge to the finish. 

Competitors race alongside one another in a series of elimination heats, fighting to stay alive until the medal-deciding finale. A longer two-person mixed gender relay will conclude the Milan-Cortina Olympic program.

“It is exciting to be part of this evolution of the Olympic disciplines with more specialization, making the level much higher,” Briley said. “In the sprint discipline, there’s so much technical skill packed into a short time space, meaning that anything can happen.

“The sprints are really fun, even though it was something that I had to grow into and learn to love, which I do now,” Briley says. “It covers a lot of parts of Skimo and is really a compressed version of the sport.”

Briley shares a few sprint tactics, which he believes are the formula to propel him to the front of the pack. “You have to be aggressive – be the first one to make a move when the time is right,” he says. “Make one mistake, and you’ll probably be eliminated.”

Ski Mountaineering’s Olympic Debut Awaits

Fast, frenzied, and unpredictable, ski mountaineering should captivate new audiences at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. 

The Olympic sprints (men and women) and mixed team relay formats are certainly not representative of the sport’s traditions throughout the European Alps. However, the events are fast-paced, fan-friendly, and streamlined to showcase compelling action as an introduction to a mass audience.

Briley is stoked for the world to witness competitive Skimo for the first time in February 2026. The drama will unfold on an obstacle-filled, roughly 700-meter racecourse with 70 meters of vertical ascent in Bormio, where athletes were tested during a World Cup event last winter.

“The Olympics have brought a lot of attention to this amazing sport, and even though some people pushed back with only two disciplines being showcased in the Olympics, I think it is a good way to elevate the overall level of the sport and also challenge ourselves,” Briley says. “We’ll get to put our feet on the ground and show how amazng this sport is with lots more potential.”

The Utah skier is aiming to become one of 36 Skimo athletes (18 male, 18 female), representing 12 countries, who will qualify for February’s Olympics.

Ski Mountaineering’s Historic Roots and Epic Races

Ski mountaineering’s classic races, the Trofeo Mezzalama in Italy, first contested in 1933, and the Patrouille des Glaciers in Switzerland, in 1943, are rooted in the Alps. They symbolize the early progression of the sport, following the origins of recreational skiing, and brave mountaineers ascending snowy peaks and traversing high mountain passes prior to ski lifts.

The sport has traditionally been dominated by athletes from Italy, France, and Switzerland. However, Skimo’s popularity has recently grown worldwide, combining outdoor adventure, athleticism, health benefits, immersion in nature, and considering a rise in recreational ski touring, in addition to its newfound Olympic status. The ISMF is currently comprised of 55 national associations and is expanding.

“It’s grown exponentially, racing competitively and recreationally,” Briley notes. “It has been great to see many more people out there in the mountains enjoying it, for fitness and just having a good time. 

“Competitively, the level has grown incredibly ever since the Olympics were introduced with lots of specialization and focus towards those disciplines. Overall, it has raised the level significantly, which has been very cool to see. There’s still tons of room for growth,” predicts the Utah skier.

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