After being cut from the U.S. national ski team, Paula Moltzan made an unexpected pivot to NCAA skiing at the University of Vermont. The detour helped reshape her approach to slalom racing and set the foundation for her return to the Olympic stage.
Since 2012, Moltzan had skied with the national team, winning the junior world slalom title at 20 and becoming the first U.S. woman to win the event at the junior world championships. Yet within the same year, a poor World Cup campaign cost her a spot on the team.
"When I first left the ski team, it really fired me up," she said. "I was like, 'I don't want to be a part of this federation. I don't believe in it.'"
Angry, frustrated and looking for a next step, the 22-year-old decided to ski collegiately. She chose the University of Vermont, where her then-boyfriend, Ryan Mooney, skied.
"I kind of went to school a bit on a whim, and I am grateful I did," she said. "It taught me everything I know now about ski racing, camaraderie and team spirit."
Skiing is an individual sport, and Moltzan said you learn from an early age how to be selfish. But at Vermont, the team did everything together - lifting weights, practicing, eating meals. She felt an internal shift.
"It's a lot easier to show up with an entire team behind you," she said. "(It) taught me how to be a team player and kind of root for everybody instead of just rooting for yourself."
Vermont coach Fred Fayette congratulates Paula Moltzan after she won the women's slalom event at the Division I Men's and Women's Skiing Championships. (Photo by Gil Talbot / NCAA Photos)
At the 2017 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Skiing Championships her freshman year, Moltzan felt the benefit of having a team surrounding her.
As a skier on the international circuit, she had been alone at the start line. In college, she had her entire team behind her at the start gate, cheering and shouting affirmations.
"I had never been so nervous. I've raced World Cups. I've raced world championships. And I was so nervous because I was so scared to let down my whole team," she said. "That was the moment in which I realized that alpine skiing was more than just an individual sport."
After that run, Moltzan secured the individual national championship in the women's slalom. For the first time, she had teammates to celebrate with.
"Winning my first NCAA race as a freshman was pretty special. It was my one and only, which was kind of crazy, but I'm still really proud of it," she said. "It was something that I like to have on my list of accolades. It's one of my most favorite things."
Along with winning championships, the biology major and chemistry minor excelled in the classroom. Moltzan said as an athlete with international skiing experience, she became hyperfixated with the skills she was working on; as a student-athlete, she enjoyed obsessing over her studies.
"I loved it," she said. "I loved going to school. I loved learning. I think it just allows a really convenient distraction to not be thinking about your sport all the time."
Upon reflection, Moltzan realized she needed that balance and distance from international skiing.
"With time and space, and maybe just growing up, I learned that maybe it wasn't just (U.S. ski) that had done things wrong. I think I can retrospectively be like, 'Oh, there's definitely parts in which I could have been a better athlete, a better person, more coachable, all of these things,'" she said. "I learned all those things at college, and I think that's pretty special."
Moltzan competes in the women's slalom at the national championships, where she beat second-place Andrea Komsic of the University of Denver by four-tenths of a second. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow / NCAA Photos)
After two years at Vermont, Moltzan rejoined the national team - this time with a refreshed perspective and maturity.
"I think I was a child entering college, and I came out an adult," she said. "(Rejoining the U.S. team) just opened up a new chapter. I tried not to bring any grudges back with me. … I didn't want to be the same athlete I was when I left the team."
She made her Olympic debut at the Winter Games in Beijing in 2022, finishing eighth in slalom and narrowly missing the podium in the team parallel event, where the U.S. team finished fourth. At age 27, she became the oldest U.S. women's alpine skier to make her Olympic debut in 74 years. Ryan Mooney, now her husband, is her ski technician, as well.
After qualifying for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, 31-year-old Moltzan is feeling better than ever.
"I feel like I'm just entering my peak. There are so many athletes out there that are older than me and still winning on the upward trajectory," she said.
"I want to be the best in the world, and that's what I'm striving for."
