The University of Utah will host the 2026 National Collegiate Skiing Championships from March 11 to March 14, following a venue change due to insufficient snowfall in Montana. The event will feature alpine races at Park City’s Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center and Nordic competitions at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway.
The championships are significant as they bring together top collegiate skiers from across the country, with Utah among seven schools qualifying a full squad of 12 athletes. The Utes have a strong history in the sport, having won 17 team national championships, including four of the last five NCAA titles. Their total of 16 NCAA-sanctioned championships ranks third all-time behind Denver and Colorado.
Competition begins Wednesday with the giant slalom, followed by a classic interval start on Thursday, slalom on Friday, and concludes with a freestyle mass start on Saturday. The opening GS race is scheduled for an earlier start at 8:45 a.m., while other events begin at 9 a.m. Mountain Time.
Sophomore Johs Braathen Herland leads Utah’s alpine roster as the defending men’s giant slalom champion and this season’s conference MVP in men’s slalom. Herland has achieved ten podium finishes and six wins this year, including four consecutive victories in slalom—making him the first Utah skier since at least 2019 to win the first four alpine races of an RMISA season.
On the Nordic side, Erica Lavén stands out as RMISA MVP in women’s classic after winning seven out of eight starts this season—all five classic races included—and recently securing a West Region individual title. Lavén also claimed victory during the Utah Invitational’s home snow event and was last year’s NCAA Individual Champion in the women’s 7.5K classic.
This marks the eighth time Utah has hosted the NCAA Skiing Championships and its first since 2022. Previous years include events held in Utah in 1957, ’63, ’81, ’91, 2000, and ’14.
Fans can follow updates about the team on social media @utahskiteam or download information through the Utah 360 app.
