Buffs Kick Off 2026 Ski Season In Lake Placid

Sunday, January 4

Lake Placid, N.Y.

8 AM Women / 11 AM Men

Colorado

10K Classic (I) at Mt. Van Hovenberg

Tilde Baangman posing in CU's new race suits ahead of the 2026 season.

Photo by: Ashton Scott

January 02, 2026 | Skiing

Donate To Ski Team Live Timing

By: Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – The Colorado Buffaloes Ski Team opens the 2026 Nordic season this week with four races at Mt. Van Hovenberg as part of the U.S. Cross Country Skiing National Championships. The meet serves as the U.S. national championship, not the NCAA Championship, but three of the four races will count toward NCAA Championship qualification. Two of those races will also be scored as part of a generic, Nordic-only Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) Invitational.

The Buffaloes open the season Sunday, Jan. 4, with the men's and women's 10-kilometer classic races, which will count for both NCAA qualification and the RMISA Invitational. On Thursday, Jan. 8, the men's and women's 20K freestyle races will serve as an RMISA Nordic Qualifier, counting toward NCAA qualification but not the RMISA Invitational standings. The RMISA Invitational scoring will conclude Friday, Jan. 9, with the men's and women's classic sprint races, a race that is not considered a US Championship race, but is a US Super Tour race. The remaining event, a men's and women's freestyle sprint race on Tuesday, Jan. 6, will not count toward RMISA Invitational points.

The Buffs will be a little short-handed in Lake Placid as several athletes are competing internationally. Jakob Moch will miss the first two races while competing in Val di Fiemme, Italy, as part of the Tour de Ski. Astri Lunde will miss the entire Lake Placid meet while racing at the Norwegian National Championships, while Hugo Hinckfuss is taking the season off to focus on an Olympic run. Johannes Flaaten and Sophie Spalding are also sidelined, and both remained in Boulder recovering from illness.

On the women's side, Colorado will be represented by Tilde Baangman, Elena Grissom, and Utah transfers Selma Nevin and Nina Schamberger.

Baangman enters her final collegiate season looking to close her career on a high note. After spending her first two seasons at Montana State, she delivered a standout junior campaign in her first year with the Buffs, posting five runner-up finishes and six total podiums despite battling injuries throughout much of the season.

Grissom also looks poised for a strong finish to her collegiate career, having produced several standout results early in the season leading into Lake Placid.

Nevin and Schamberger are Colorado's two portal additions from Utah. Nevin, a sophomore, recorded five top-five finishes and one podium a year ago, while Schamberger has earned a pair of top-five finishes during her collegiate career now entering her junior season.

On the men's side, Colorado will open the meet with William Bentley, Trey Jones, Storm Pedersen, and Luka Riley. Moch is expected to join the squad midway through the Lake Placid races.

Pedersen will make his collegiate debut and look to contend for high placements early in the season, while Riley emerged as a consistent top-10 threat late last year after missing much of the previous season. Jones has already flashed his potential with a podium finish as a true freshman and has traditionally performed well at U.S. Championships. Bentley adds valuable depth and experience, especially with multiple Buffs unavailable at the start of the season.

Racing will begin about 10 a.m. ET/8 a.m. MT each day. There's no video or TV coverage of the meet but live timing can be found at www.bullettiming.com.