Paula Moltzan. US Alpine Championship GS. Photo: USST

The US Alpine Championship women’s GS occurred in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Tuesday, April 4. Paula Moltzan, who had a great season on the World Cup circuit, ended her GS season with a win at US Alpine Championships.

Joining Moltzan on the podium were Tricia Mangan and Katie Parker.

The courses were technically tricky due to the tight sets and the exceptionally challenging hill. The athletes had to work hard under Sun Valley, Idaho’s sunny skies, to generate speed while staying quick on their feet. In addition, there had been fresh snowfall earlier in the week, making the snow soft.

Mangan, who is primarily a speed skier and who won the National Championships super-G just two days earlier, shared some feedback on the day. She said, “It was super tight and turny and got bumpy so I think we are all pretty tired; it was a battle the whole way down.”

Starting the day with bib five, Moltzan threw down the second-fasted first run of the day. NorAm Overall winner Mary Bocock was ahead of her. Bocock took advantage of her bib one starting position to earn the lead.

However, Bocock lost time on her second run, ending the day fifth overall. Despite moving back four places, she was the fastest junior racer of the day.

In third place was Australian Katie Parker, who has been a force on the 2023 NCAA circuit. The University of Utah skier was (+0.55) seconds off of Moltzan.

This was Moltzan’s first US National Championship GS title. In 2022, she narrowly missed the podium’s top step by (+0.15) seconds. However, she was the top American in the 2022 Sugarloaf GS as Canadian Britt Richardson won. Notably, Moltzan did not leave the 2022 championships empty-handed. That year, Moltzan won the slalom title. Moltzan has been on a US National Championship podium six times since 2015.

“This Is my first ever national giant slalom title so it’s fun and I am happy to be here,” said Moltzan.  “It is a nice feeling to be done I am ready for the summer and it’s so nice to be here in Sun Valley. I think they did the best they could with the conditions and recent snow here, so it has overall been a good few races.”

The men’s GS takes place on April 5 and will be the final event of the 2023 US Alpine Championships.

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Quotes provided by the USST.