On this episode of Endurance Unlimited, host Dirk Friel sits down with rising star Cam Smith, professional trail runner and ski mountaineering athlete who’s just qualified for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan Cortina. Together, they dig into the strategy and preparation behind Team USA’s dramatic World Cup victory in Solitude, Utah—which not only put the U.S. a ticket to the Games for Skimo, but also set the stage for what’s next in this fast-evolving sport.
Cam Smith shares his journey from ultra-endurance races to the high-intensity, quick-transition world of ski mountaineering, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the training philosophies, mistakes to avoid, and the unique demands of mixed relay competition. You’ll hear how he leverages both running and skiing to fuel his performance, and get an inside look at how emerging talent like Anna Gibson is shaking up the U.S. team.
Tune in for expert insights on periodization, managing multi-sport training, and the future of skimo in the U.S.—all with the empowering and approachable voice you’ve come to expect from TrainingPeaks. Whether you’re an athlete, coach, or just skimo-curious, you’ll want to stick around for this inspiring and educational episode!
Standout Quotes
On Making History on Home Soil: “It was the first time there’d been a World Cup in The US for our sport of Eskimo in about twenty years, so it was pretty convenient to have. The one that we needed to perform at be the one on home soil, and it was really, yeah, fun to have all the the Europeans and, yeah, Chinese, Japanese teams from all over the world to come, yeah, travel to the the Mountain West and see us here at Solitude.”
“It really has forced me to be a lot more intentional with the training that I’m doing and pay a lot more attention and and use software like TrainingPeaks to be tracking things, seeing where the the trends are, and just paying more attention to a lot of the details in that way.”
How Injuries change a Training Philosophy
On Learning from Watching Other Pros: “I took that race, and then I looked at what pace the leaders were doing and the fastest times of the day on that section of the race. And then I would put my ankle weights on that weight exactly the same as the schema setup, put the treadmill to that same exact grade and do intervals at that pace more or less.”
“People seeing it on TV in February is gonna give a lot of people an intro to what the sport is. Maybe they don’t go become sprint mix sprint and mixed relay racers after watching [it], but maybe they’re curious about the sport, wanna buy the gear and check out a lot of these more, yeah, lower barrier to entry races and and just participate in skimo and enjoy the amazing benefits of the fitness and the fresh air and just such an awesome way to get out in the winter.”
The Effect on Skimo Popularity
