DENVER – University of Denver skiing opens the 2026 collegiate season after the New Year with the RMISA Invitational in Lake Placid, New York, and the campaign culminates with two postseason meets out west in Bozeman, Montana.
 
Denver is set for 29 events across seven meets and individual qualifiers this season, with the Pioneers hosting the annual DU Invitational from Jan. 12-14 and Feb. 7-8. Denver and Colorado will share hosting responsibilities for the alpine portion in mid-January, with the slalom events held at Loveland Ski Area on Jan. 14-15 and giant slalom at Eldora Mountain Resort on Jan. 12-13. Officially, the DU Invite will feature GS at Eldora on Jan. 12 and slalom at Loveland on Jan. 14, while CU's meet includes the Eldora race on Jan. 13 and the Loveland event on Jan. 15.
 
The Nordic portion of the Denver Invitational returns to the Vail Valley on Feb. 7-8 at Maloit Park in Minturn and starts with the 10-kilometer classic mass start before concluding with the 7.5K freestyle interval start. The Nordic squad will continue racing in its home state the following week in Steamboat Springs as the Colorado Invitational wraps up with the 20K freestyle mass start and 7.5K classic interval at Howelsen Hill Ski Area.
 
DU begins the 2026 Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association season with the Nordic-only RMISA Invitational at the U.S. Cross Country National Championships at Mt. Van Hovenberg in Lake Placid. The 10K classic on Jan. 4 and classic sprints on Jan. 9 will serve as the meet, while the 20K freestyle on Jan. 7 will act as an extra Nordic qualifier.
 
Overall, the RMISA schedule will feature four additional qualifier races to help alpine athletes earn a spot for the national championships. In addition to hosting the Alpine-only Nevada Invitational at Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe with slalom on Feb 1 and giant slalom on Feb. 3, the Wolfpack program will also host additional qualifying events on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. The other two alpine qualifiers feature a giant slalom in Utah on Feb. 23 and slalom in Montana on Feb. 28.
 
The Utah Invitational begins on Jan. 24-25 with the 7.5K freestyle interval start and 15K classic mass start at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway. The Utes-hosted meet wraps up with alpine races at Utah Olympic Park in Park City on Feb. 22-24.
 
Montana State University is hosting both this year's RMISA Championships and NCAA Championships in Bozeman, with alpine events at Bridger Bowl Ski Area and the Nordic races at Crosscut Mountain Sports Center. The conference championship starts with giant slalom on Feb. 26 before both alpine and Nordic race on the same day on Feb. 27 with slalom and the 20K freestyle mass start. The RMISA Championships conclude on Feb. 28 with the 7.5K classic interval start.
 
The Pioneers return to Montana less than two weeks later as they aim to add to their NCAA-record 24 national titles. The national championships begin with the alpine giant slalom on March 11 and Nordic gets its final races going on March 12 with the 7.5K classic. Alpine wraps up nationals with slalom on March 13 and an NCAA champion will be crowned on March 14 following the Nordic 20K freestyle mass start.
 
Montana State last hosted the NCAA Championships in 2020, but the event was cancelled after the second day due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that abrupt end, the Pios still won three individual national titles with Storm Klomhaus and Tobias Kogler picking up women's and men's alpine giant slalom championships and Eveliina Piippo winning the women's Nordic 5K freestyle.

DENVER SKIING 2026 SCHEDULE 

RMISA INVITATIONAL at U.S. CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (Nordic Only)
Date	Discipline	Location	Venue
Jan. 4	10K Classic (I)	Lake Placid, N.Y.	Mt. Van Hovenberg
Jan. 9	Classic Sprints	Lake Placid, N.Y.	Mt. Van Hovenberg
RMISA NORDIC QUALIFIER
Date	Discipline	Location	Venue
Jan. 7	20K Freestyle (M)	Lake Placid, N.Y.	Mt. Van Hovenberg
DENVER INVITATIONAL
Date	Discipline	Location	Venue
Jan. 12	Giant Slalom	Nederland, Colo.	Eldora Mountain Resort
Jan. 14	Slalom	Clear Creek County, Colo.	Loveland Ski Area
Feb. 7	10K Classic (M)	Minturn, Colo.	Maloit Park
Feb. 8	7.5K Freestyle (I)	Minturn, Colo.	Maloit Park
COLORADO INVITATIONAL
Date	Discipline	Location	Venue
Jan. 13	Giant Slalom	Nederland, Colo.	Eldora Mountain Resort
Jan. 15	Slalom	Clear Creek County, Colo.	Loveland Ski Area
Feb. 13	20K Freestyle (M)	Steamboat Springs, Colo.	Howelsen Hill
Feb. 14	7.5K Classic (I)	Steamboat Springs, Colo.	Howelsen Hill
UTAH INVITATIONAL
Date	Discipline	Location	Venue
Jan. 24	7.5K Freestyle (I)	Midway, Utah	Soldier Hollow Nordic Center
Jan. 25	15K Classic (M)	Midway, Utah	Soldier Hollow Nordic Center
Feb. 22	Giant Slalom	Park City, Utah	Utah Olympic Park
Feb. 24	Slalom	Park City, Utah	Utah Olympic Park
NEVADA INVITATIONAL (Alpine Only)
Date	Discipline	Location	Venue
Feb. 1	Slalom	Reno, Nev.	Mount Rose Ski Tahoe
Feb. 3	Giant Slalom	Reno, Nev.	Mount Rose Ski Tahoe
RMISA ALPINE QUALIFIERS
Date	Discipline	Location	Venue
Jan. 31	Slalom	Reno, Nev.	Mount Rose Ski Tahoe
Feb. 2	Giant Slalom	Reno, Nev.	Mount Rose Ski Tahoe
Feb. 23	Giant Slalom	Park City, Utah	Utah Olympic Park
Feb. 28	Slalom	Bozeman, Mont.	Bridger Bowl Ski Area
RMISA CHAMPIONSHIP (Montana State Host)
Date	Discipline	Location	Venue
Feb. 26	Giant Slalom	Bozeman, Mont.	Bridger Bowl Ski Area
Feb. 27	20K Freestyle (M)	Bozeman, Mont.	Crosscut Mountain Sports Center
Feb. 27	Slalom	Bozeman, Mont.	Bridger Bowl Ski Area
Feb. 28	7.5K Classic (I)	Bozeman, Mont.	Crosscut Mountain Sports Center
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP (Montana State Host)
Date	Discipline	Location	Venue
March 11	Giant Slalom	Bozeman, Mont.	Bridger Bowl Ski Area
March 12	7.5K Classic (I)	Bozeman, Mont.	Crosscut Mountain. Sports Center
March 13	Slalom	Bozeman, Mont.	Bridger Bowl Ski Area
March 14	20K Freestyle (M)	Bozeman, Mont.	Crosscut Mountain Sports Center

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