XXV Olympic Winter Games, Milan Cortina 2026 (More Again)

Ski mountaineering is the only new Winter Olympics sport, and the first medals are being hashed out today. 

Wikipedia casts ski mountaineering as another offshoot of the military-patrol tree which also yielded the biathlon branch. (All-time medals leaders in military patrol, which was officially competed only once, at Chamonix 1924: 1, Switzerland 1 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze; 2 Finland 0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze; 3, France 0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze.)

At least in the events they are showing on USA Network this morning, this is a three-minute deal of skiing uphill and then downhill. You start out in front of a big grandstand of fans like they throw up at a fancy country club for a golf major. First, you navigate the "diamond section" by filing into one of two lanes through a maze of obstacles. Then you go up some stairs, and then you go down a twisty, rampy path back down toward the grandstand. The whole deal has the feel of something that rich kids would figure out on the fly for one last competitive rush after their moms texted them to get back to the clubhouse for $40 chicken strips (i.e. Bro, you've gotta go through the landscaping on the way up and tag the fountain at the top, and you've got to do at least one jump on the way down ... Ready! ... Go!).

I don't envy the TV people who are tasked with both introducing me to a curious sport like this and emotionally investing me in the competitive landscape basically all in the same breath. There has been a good bit of talk about the precision required in equipment changes, even when heart rates are very elevated, and just how treacherous the course really is ("It never looks as steep as it actually is!"). It doesn't help NBC, of course, that Team USA isn't much a medal threat in today's events. But rest assured, they said, that the American dude is actually more of a distance guy, which better positions him for some other, presumably longer event Saturday. The juice they are really trying to squeeze is ski-mountaineering juggernaut Spain, which has won only five Winter Olympics all time, none at Milan Cortina and only one gold ever, at Sapporo 1972.

For me, though, the star of today's show is the snow. It is thick and beautiful over Bormio this (my) morning (their afternoon). Milan Cortina 2026 is down to three days and change of competition. I've enjoyed so much of it so far, and I'm going to enjoy every last second of it that I can--ski mountaineering and whatever else--through Sunday night. 

Spoiler alerts in the comments ...