CMU’s Alpine Ski team has not been to the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA)National competition since 2024 but they are working hard to get there.
Only the top five teams in the Regional competition make it to Nationals. With both the men’s and women’s teams finishing in sixth last year, they are aiming to make it to Nationals this year.
The team had their first race of the season Jan. 18 in Winter Park, Colorado. They only have a few more races until the Rocky Mountain Conference Regionals on Feb 19-21.
“Our team this year really wants to make it to Nationals, last year both of our teams missed it by a couple of points,” said junior business management major Colby Malpass who has been racing since age 10. “We’re hoping for better results this year, so if we get to nationals again, that would be amazing and a super cool experience for the rest of the team.”
The whole team had a promising previous season and ended on a high note. Last season, then freshman Gracey Hening consistently placed well and finished in 14th place at the USCSA regionals in March. She secured an individual spot in the national competition later that month.
“Nationals was a really cool experience, but the hard thing was, I didn’t have the rest of the team,” Hening said. She is from Durango, and has been racing since she was four.
USCSA ski teams and the ski industry as a whole in Colorado have been heavily affected by the worst year of snowpack since 1977.
The CMU Alpine Ski team’s closest mountain, Powderhorn Mountain Resort, along with the rest of the state, have been affected by the low snowpack. At Powderhorn there are only two or three runs open on each lift.
“It just makes it hard for us to train and prep for the season, so we’ve only had one training day to date, so we’re going up to Winter Park this weekend to go train before our race” said Malpass about the snow. “It’s not fun having to deal with it but I mean, everybody has to deal with it, so we’ll deal with it too.”
According to reports from the US Department of Agriculture, Western Colorado has only recieved 53-58% of its usual snowpack. This record low is caused by an warm and dry season.
The ski team is coached by Jesse Scott, who in 2024 was named the USCSA Coach of the Year. Scott has been CMU’s Alpine Ski team coach since 2017 and is an experienced racer and coach. Scott’s been coaching junior race teams since he retired from his own racing career at age 17.
He also takes a leadership role with the USCSA where he administers and assists with labor for races at both conference and national levels.
“My favorite memory by far was making Nationals freshman year, we got to travel all the way out to New York, and me and the team captain actually drove our team van out there together, so plenty of wild stories from that trip,” said Malpass.
The Alpine Ski team has a race in Powderhorn on Jan 31, which happens to be the same day as Mavs Take Over the Mountain. Show your support for CMU’s skiers and catch a few runs with them. The Mavs Take Over the Mountain event offers discounted lift tickets and equipment rentals for CMU students.
