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Dust off your Team USA gear because the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are kicking off today (Feb. 6) from Italy, and the West is sending its best to compete on the world stage.  

Westerners make up a dominant portion of the 232-athlete Team USA roster, with Colorado sending more athletes than any other state in the nation, followed closely by other western states like Utah and California. Mountain West towns are a hotbed for Winter Olympians, with Park City, Utah, boasting 11 Olympians – the most of any town. Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is home to 6 of this year’s Olympians, and 9 have trained at the local Winter Sports Club. Steamboat holds the unofficial record for producing the most Winter Olympians, and it has been represented in every Winter Games since 1936.  

Not surprisingly, western athletes dominate in snow sports. One western skier that is top-of-mind for every Olympics fan is Coloradan Lindsey Vonn. At age 41, Vonn is one of the greatest ski racers of all time. She was in the midst of a storybook return from retirement when she suffered a ruptured ACL in a crash on January 30. Even with her injury, Vonn says that her knee is stable, and she’s confident that she can still compete in this year’s games. 

"I'm still here. I think I'm still able to fight. I think I'm still able to try. And I will try as long as I have the ability to, I will not go home regretting not trying," Vonn said. "I will do everything in my power to be in that starting gate.” 

Mikaela Shiffrin, another Vail, Colorado, native, is looking to cap off a dominant World Cup slalom season in which she has taken the top spot in seven of her eight appearances. Shiffrin, the most decorated World Cup racer ever, is hoping for Olympic glory after missing the podium in 2022.  

The newest Olympic snow sport – ski mountaineering – is making its Olympic debut this year, with two westerners representing the US. “Skimo” features athletes racing both up and downhill on skis. Anna Gibson of Jackson, Wyoming, and Cam Smith from Crested Butte, Colorado, will compete in sprint solo races and a mixed relay race. The pair won a thrilling qualifying race in Utah earlier this winter to secure their spot in the Games.  

In cross-country skiing, the US Men's team is looking for its second-ever Olympic medal and first since 1976. Alaskan skier Gus Schumacher is a strong medal contender after podium finishes on back-to-back days leading up the Games.  

California snowboarding phenom Chloe Kim is looking to defend her gold medal in the halfpipe this year, and she’s even added some new tricks to her repertoire since the 2022 games. Also in snowboarding, Coloradan Red Gerard will try for his second gold medal after winning his first at age 17, while siblings Birk and Svea Irving will ski in the halfpipe competition.  

Catch all of the Olympic action at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs – Olympic City USA. The museum will be hosting daily watch parties, as well as a free downtown festival to celebrate the Games.  

Major geothermal power: in southwestern Utah, Fervo Energy is set to mark a major milestone this October when it begins delivering next-generation geothermal power to the grid. The much-anticipated Cape Station project is expected to go online this fall with 100 MW of its eventual 500 MW capacity.  

Cape Station is a pioneer in enhanced geothermal systems, which creates geothermal reservoirs in hot underground rock formations. For more on geothermal in the West, read the Heat Beneath Our Feet report from Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ 2023 WGA Chairmanship.  

Hydrogen from oil and gas waste: in Wyoming, Governor Mark Gordon, Williams Companies, and the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources are in partnership to develop green hydrogen fuel from oil and gas waste in Sweetwater County.  

A pilot plant in Wamsutter aims to transform wastewater and off-gas from oil and gas production into green hydrogen to be used in everything from long-haul trucking to industrial processes. 

Read the Decarbonizing the West report from Governor Gordon’s term as WGA Chair for more on energy innovation techniques and strategies.  

Colorado Poet Laureate: last week, Colorado Governor Jared Polis named Crisosto Apache as Colorado’s new Poet Laureate. Apache succeeds the powerful and beloved Andrea Gibson, who passed away last year.  

Apache is an indigenous poet and Associate Professor at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Denver.  

“Colorado’s Poet Laureate is our statewide ambassador of the arts, inspiring and uplifting the next generation of artists and poets in our state. Crisosto will be a strong advocate for the arts and art education, helping youth discover poetry, and bringing Coloradans together,” said Governor Polis. “I am grateful for Andrea Gibson’s service as our previous Poet Laureate and we posthumously continue to honor Andrea’s artistic influence and unwavering conviction as powerfully shown in the 2026 Oscar nominated film Come See Me in the Good Light.”   

Rockets to study aurora physics: at a research site near Fairbanks, Alaska, a series of NASA-affiliated rocket launches are taking off over the next few weeks to study aurora physics.  

Each launch will study a different aspect of the little-understood phenomenon, from distortions in aurora sheets to certain gasses created by the aurora.