CMC Skigles / Photo: CMC
A year ago, Colorado Mountain College Alpine Ski Team coach Scott Tanner sat in a meeting and learned the program might be cut.
This spring, the story looks very different.
Buoyed by a fundraising campaign to keep their program alive, the CMC Skigles, so named after the college’s Eagles mascot, have notched their most successful season in history. Athletes have not only moved up the ranks but have won major races, proving they can compete with—and beat—top collegiate racers, including athletes with World Cup-level experience, even as the program continues to fight for its future.
“It’s been quite the turnaround,” Tanner said this April. “I feel great about that. It’s been really rewarding, not only results-wise, but the experience these kids have here.”
In February, 21-year-old sophomore Lucas Ellis earned CMC’s first men’s victory in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association. Ellis won the RMISA Nevada slalom by a landslide; University of Utah sensation Johs Braathen Herland of Norway was the only athlete to finish within two seconds of him. Ellis followed up with a second place in the following day’s slalom, again with Herland the only racer able to beat him.
Ellis carried that momentum forward. At the RMISA Utah series at the end of February, he returned to the top step of the podium, reinforcing that his earlier result was no outlier.
“That sort of sealed the deal,” Tanner said. “It’s very clear this isn’t a fluke. Our athletes are real contenders.”
To grasp the scope of what it means for Ellis to beat an athlete like Herland, keep in mind that Herland won the U.S. national GS title this year, topping World Cup racers Erik Read, River Radamus and Ryder Sarchett.
“It kind of punctuated the college season to see him do that,” Tanner said. “To know one of our kids is competing against Johs and can beat him is pretty special.”
The CMC women also turned their speed to a next-level pace to cap off the season, building depth and consistency alongside the breakthrough performances. These efforts were led by 21-year-old sophomore Maddie Welling.
Welling went to high school in Salt Lake City, taking a couple gap years to ski race in Park City and Europe before coming to CMC to try to regain her stride.
“Coming to CMC, I had a hard mindset. I was way too focused on results and performing,” Welling said. “Ski racing is 50% physical and 50% mental. I had the physical strength, but was too much in my head. Scott worked with me to come to a level-headed mindset. It wasn’t until February of this year that I finally found something that worked for me.”
Her results followed that shift. At the end of January, Welling notched her top RMISA result to date, a 10th place in the Nevada slalom against a stacked international field. She then began to show consistency she hadn’t previously found, scoring points in the majority of her races and building momentum into the postseason.
Once the college season wrapped up, Welling took another step forward.
Her streak started with a huge win (and a $10,000 prize purse) at the World Pro Ski Tour in Aspen this March, with her Skigles teammate, freshman Viveka Deck Stang, finishing runner-up in that race and in the tour standings.
“It was this outside event, a fun escape. I convinced a bunch of my teammates to do it,” Welling said. “I was like, if I can compete in this high-pressure race with 10K on the line, I’m sure I can compete in a normal FIS race.”
Sure enough, Welling won a FIS GS race at Copper Mountain a few days later. Near the end of March, she won a FIS slalom by more than two seconds, and followed it with another victory in a Loveland FIS slalom in April, where Deck Stang was runner-up and the only racer within a second.
“I’ve done a lot of work in what I tell myself before races, a lot of self-correcting,” Welling said. “Once you break through to the other side, you can rely on your past experiences more.
“CMC has been instrumental in turning around athletes,” she continued. “The biggest thing I remember from my ski racing experiences are who I’m with, the people surrounding me. We’ve had so many fun experiences and good times, the team has had a lot more success this year.”
The success is also eliciting fresh interest in CMC enrollment. Tanner is faced with selecting from a few dozen promising skiers eager to join the Skigles.
“It really has been a banner year,” Tanner said. “The list of people interested for next year is lengthy. It’s definitely a reflection on what we’re doing, the success we’re having, the team, culture and dynamics. The most rewarding part is that we all built this. We didn’t inherit it.”
That success comes with continued urgency. Wrapping up the banner year, the CMC Skigles have raised more than $600,000 to secure their future but are facing a deadline of $1 million by June 30 to ensure the program continues. Learn more or donate at Save the Skigles.
About the Author: Shauna Farnell
