The CMC alpine team is proving to be a force in slalom

Rountree-Williams and Krota lead Eagles in Steamboat and Loveland races

By Shauna Farnell

Feb. 22, 2024 – The Colorado Mountain College alpine ski team is beginning to show some consistency, particularly in the tight gates. Several skiers walked away from their last two race series in Steamboat Springs and Loveland with solid points on the board.

Nicola Rountree-Williams had the most impressive results throughout the events, which launched on CMC home snow in Steamboat Springs with a giant slalom race on Feb. 1. The former U.S. Team skier and CMC women’s team captain notched 14^th place, following up with 18^th in the second GS. In the night slalom race on the notoriously steep Howelsen Hill on Feb. 3, navigating ruts and variable conditions that resulted from fresh snow throughout the day, Rountree-Williams was firing down the first run as if it were pure silk until she got bumped off-course near the finish line.

“She was skiing so well,” said CMC head coach Scott Tanner. “She came down like there wasn’t a bump in the course. Then she hit some bumps two gates in a row. She almost saved it but got knocked out.”

Jessie Ferguson unfortunately joined the two other CMC women on the injury sideline after sustaining a bone bruise on her leg in a FIS race before the Steamboat university races.

The CMC men came on lukewarm in the home GS races, Matt Macaluso and Gunnar Barnwell the only two finishing in the top 30, Macaluso taking 26^th and Barnell 29^th, respectively, in the first race.

However, five CMC athletes piled into the top 30 in the night slalom, led by team captain Macaluso in 13^th, followed by Barnwell in 24^th, Appollo Powell 27^th, Isaac Mozen 28^th and Samuel McDermott 29^th.

Rountree-Williams was the team’s shining star once again in the Denver University-hosted races at Loveland Feb. 5-6, landing 16^th in the first slalom against a stacked international field and then pulling through for a fifth-place finish in the second slalom. The results came on the heels of her podium in a FIS slalom race on the same hill against a similar field several days prior.

“The fields aren’t quite as deep, but the best racers are there,” Tanner said. “To win or podium in those races is just as difficult as university events. Those results are huge. The fifth place is really going to help her starting position.”

Filip Krota, a sophomore and the first Croatian to attend CMC, led the Eagles men’s team in a solid showing in the Loveland slalom races. The 23-year-old former Croatian national team skier took 25^th in the first slalom as his housemate Macaluso followed on his heels in 26^th.  The next day, in spite of a mistake in the first run, Krota shot into the second run proving that he’s a true contender, 10^th best in the run and 22^nd overall. Macaluso again followed in 23^rd, Mozen landed 26^th and wearing bib No. 50, 20-year-old Gerrit Kursch managed to land 29^th.

“I know I was not skiing my best and I still made a good result,” said Krota, whose arrival in Steamboat Springs last year marked his inaugural trip to the United States. He was drawn to CMC by the prospect of continuing to race at a high level while earning a college education, something he says is nearly impossible to accomplish in Europe.

Having grown up in Zagreb skiing much icier conditions in Austria and Slovenia, he continues to adjust to the softer snow in the Rocky Mountain region as well as fight through a back injury that he mysteriously sustained training in December.

“I think I have improved in the last year but didn’t have the opportunity to show it because I’m struggling with my back injury,” he said. “Now I can still feel it, but it’s getting better. My goal is to win, usually, but not everyone can be a champion. I always go with that mentality and see what happens. There are a lot of good skiers, but I’m a good skier, too. Good things are going to come soon.”

The 2024 CMC university race season is now staring down its homestretch with the RMISA Championships in Big Sky, Montana, Feb. 22-24.