The University of Denver ski team will begin its 2026 season on Sunday at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, New York. The Nordic athletes will participate in the RMISA Invitational, which this year is a Nordic-only event held alongside the U.S. Cross Country National Championships from January 4 to January 9.
Individual results from the U.S. Nationals will be used for scoring in the RMISA Invite, with competition starting Sunday with a 10K classic interval start and concluding Friday with classic sprints. On Thursday, skiers will also compete in a 20K freestyle race that serves as an individual RMISA Nordic Qualifier.
During their time in Lake Placid, Denver athletes will take part in additional events including Tuesday’s U.S. National Championship freestyle sprints—a non-NCAA race—and Friday’s classic sprints, which are part of the U.S. Super Tour season but not national championship races.
This week marks the first appearance for six new Pioneers and head coach Eliska Albrigtsen, who joined Denver after leading Alaska Fairbanks for six years. Expected to make their collegiate debuts are freshmen Synne Bollingmo, Estelle Darbellay and Ruby Serrouya on the women’s side; graduate student Sondre Oestervold and freshman Yannick Zellweger for the men; and sophomore Eemil Juntunen, who transferred from Colorado last season.
Returning athletes include seniors Eve-Ondine Duchaufour, Micah Steinberg and Krystof Zatloukal; junior Maja Moland; and sophomores Joe Graziadei and Anna Stewart.
Denver’s men’s squad has won three out of four recent RMISA regular-season championships. The women’s team achieved strong results last year with 31 top-10 finishes across 14 events, contributing to an overall RMISA Nordic regular season title.
Several Pioneers have previously raced at Mt. Van Hoevenberg during both NCAA Championships and FISU World University Games in January 2023.
Following this weekend’s races, Denver’s Nordic group will train for two weeks before competing at the Utah Invitational on January 24-25 at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah. The alpine team begins its collegiate season soon after with competitions at Loveland Ski Area and Aspen Highlands from January 12-15.
Start lists and live results are available at Bullitttiming.com (https://www.bullitttiming.com/).
Fans interested in supporting Denver athletics can donate to the Pioneers Athletic Fund (https://denverpioneers.com/sports/2018/6/13/pioneer-fund.aspx). Additional information about all DU sports is available at DenverPioneers.com (https://denverpioneers.com/), as well as through their social media channels on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DUPioneers), X (formerly Twitter) (https://twitter.com/DU_Pioneers), and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/denverpioneers/).
