Paula Moltzan
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Hometown
Prior Lake, Minn. -
Team
2022 U.S. Olympic Alpine Team , Alpine A -
Years on Team
10 (since 2012) -
Born
04/07/1994 -
Club(s)
Buck Hill Ski Team/Ski and Snowboard Club Vail -
School:
University of Vermont
"When I was 11, I joined the Buck Hill Ski Racing Club, where the world-renowned coach Erich Sailer instilled his passion for ski racing in me. He taught me how to train hard while riding the rope-tow almost every night."
8 Things You Didn't Know About Paula Moltzan
- 1. Paula grabbed her first World Cup podium, narrowly missing her first World Cup victory, in Lech Zuers, Austria in the parallel event!
- 2. In just her second World Cup giant slalom start ever, Paula scored a top-10 and the fourth-fastest second run at the season opener in Soelden, Austria, in Oct. 2020. A week later, she got engaged. Woohoo!
- 3. Paula started dreaming about becoming an Olympic ski racer after winning NASTAR Nationals in Park City, and meeting all of the U.S. Ski team members that were setting pace times and hanging with all the athletes.
- 4. During the 2015 season, Paula scored her first World Cup points at Flachau, Austria and then took the momentum to Junior Worlds and became the first American woman to win a slalom gold.
- 5. Paula enrolled in the University of Vermont in 2017, and made an immediate impact on the Cats' ski team roster. During her freshman year, she became only the fifth UVM female to win the NCAA slalom title and the first freshman to do so since 1986. During her UVM tenure, she was also a two-time NCAA First Team All-American and was on the National Collegiate All-Academic Team in 2017.
- 6. Paula credits her father as being her biggest motivator. "My Dad was my coach, my driver, my ski man, and my biggest supporter (with my mom) through every stage of my career as a skier."
- 7. Paula rejoined the World Cup tour in 2018 (representing the Cats), starting in front of a home crowd at Killington, Vermont, landing in 17th in slalom.
- 8. During the summers, she trains by herself in a wood shed and works as a whitewater raft guide on the weekends. She also gardens during the summer - growing almost any vegetables you can think of!
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Minnesota girl Paula Moltzan made the move to Colorado's famed Ski and Snowboard Club Vail from her roots at Buck Hill in August of 2010. Little did she know at that point, she'd become the first American woman to win a slalom gold at Junior World Championships.
Moltzan made the big leap to the World Cup circuit during the 2015 season, and though she had glimpses of brilliance, it proved to be difficult for her to put two runs together. The one-month break for the World Cup tech skiers enabled Moltzan to travel on the Europa Cup circuit and ski some FIS races that helped her to regain confidence and at World Championships, she snagged her first top 30 result, landing in 20th in slalom in front of a big crowd full of family and friends. From there, Moltzan took the momentum to Junior Worlds and became the first American woman to win a slalom gold. She capped the season off with two second place finishes at U.S. Alpine Championships in Sugarloaf, ME.
Moltzan enrolled in the University of Vermont in 2017, and made an immediate impact on the Cats' ski team roster. During her freshman year, she became only the fifth UVM female to win the NCAA slalom title and the first freshman to do so since 1986. During her UVM tenure, she was also a two-time NCAA First Team All-American and was on the National Collegiate All-Academic Team in 2017. Moltzan rejoined the World Cup tour in 2018, starting in front of a home crowd at Killington, Vermont, landing in 17th in slalom. The slalom specialist went on to snag her first top 15 in Courchevel, France in December, then 12th in Flachau, Austria - with the second-fastest second run - and 16th in Maribor, Slovenia. She also made her second World Championship team, and landed in 18th in the slalom in Åre, Sweden.
FIRST TRACKS
“My Mom started me skiing early. I would tag along with her while she was giving other young kids skiing lessons at Buck Hill. By age five I was eager to join Buck’s Development Team. I’m very competitive and had lots of fun winning D-Team races on the weekends at Buck Hill and other local slopes. I think I started dreaming about becoming an Olympic ski racer after winning NASTAR Nationals in Park City and meeting all of the U.S. Ski team members that were setting pace times and hanging with all the athletes.
When I was 11, I joined the Buck Hill Ski Racing Club, where the world-renowned coach Erich Sailer instilled his passion for ski racing in me. He taught me how to train hard while riding the rope-tow almost every night. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times he told me that I was ‘skiing to slow and that I needed to go faster if I wanted to win.’ Because of Erich, I had great success as a J4 and J3 racer winning Medals at the USSA Junior Olympics, Canada’s Whistler Cup, and Italy’s Topolino Cup.
When I turned 16, I moved to Colorado with my dad to train with Ski and Snowboard Club Vail. While at Vail, coach Dan Strip helped me polish my technical and speed racing techniques. Within the year, just after my 17th birthday, I was invited to the U.S. Ski Team.“