Featured Image: Paula Moltzan at the World Cup GS in Kronplatz, Italy. Credit: GEPA/Thomas Bachun

The excitement has increased as we get one day closer to starting the 2023/24 season with the World Cup opener in Sölden, Austria. The Stifel US Ski Team Tech women, led by Head Coach Magnus Andersson , are brimming with confidence as they prepare for this dynamic and challenging GS hill. Although the women are full of poise, several will take the World Cup stage for the first time, and some are looking to prove themselves while increasing their world ranking. 

During their preseason training camps, the women went to New Zealand to prepare. Paula Molztan, World Cup racer, stated, “The pre-season training was really good. We had an amazing camp in New Zealand and got really lucky with snow conditions. We shared lanes with Alice Robinson (New Zealand World Cup racer), which was a great place to get going.” 

Last year, the women did not have the chance to race the Sölden World Cup due to nasty weather. However, this year the group is feeling prepared, excited, focused and ready to push out of that start gate. 

Paula Molztan, Stifel US Ski Team

Paula Molztan, a slalom and giant slalom specialist, had her best season yet in 2022/23, but is looking to achieve even more this winter. For the 2023 World Cup standings, Paula is ranked 7th in the world in slalom, 11th in GS and 15th overall. She has been on this hill before, racing Sölden in 2020, achieving a 10th place finish and 2021 ending in 23rd place. 

Her success last season is not changing her motivated outlook on this season. She explains, “I think having a successful season last year just reinforces that when you put in the work in the summer, it really pays off in the season.” 

She continued, “I went into this season with a similar mentality just to do all the work then (in preseason training) and coming into these camps strong, fit and pushing hard. I hope I carry that hard work into the season, and it hopefully pays off.”

Being a Buck Hill racer, Moltzan has been living and breathing slalom throughout her athletic career, strictly training only in slalom until age 13. With minimal GS training as a young racer, Sölden in 2020 was really the first time her GS career began. Nonetheless, the discipline has been increasingly successful for Moltzan, but she feels she is still trying to get her footing.

She stated, “I still feel relatively young in the world of GS skiing. I don’t know if I have more potential in slalom or GS, but I think they are equally fun events.” She is looking forward to seeing what she can achieve this season.

AJ Hurt, Stifel US Ski Team 

AJ Hurt, a 22-year-old racer from North Lake Tahoe, Palisades Tahoe, has been scoring World Cup points since 2020. Her two top World Cup finishes have been in GS. The first was in Courchevel, France, where she ended 18th and the second in Sölden in 2021, when she ended in the 20th position. 

After her finish in Sölden in 2021, she told Ski Racing Media, “Sölden was awesome. After four years of racing at the World Cup, to finally have two runs I was proud of boosted my confidence.” She continued, “Even if I struggle for parts of the season, I can look back and say, ‘I know I can do this because I did it in Sölden.”

Unfortunately, this past December, Hurt got injured and was off skis until summer camps. But she has been pushing to make a strong comeback going into this season. She showed excitement about her skiing during the prep period and successful races in New Zealand. 

She explained, “I am feeling pretty good. I stopped skiing in December, but that gave me a lot of time to work out and feel fit for the season. The New Zealand races were good, which started the season off with a little momentum.” 

Stella Johansson, Stifel US Ski Team 

20-year-old racer Stella Johansson will be stepping into her first starting gate on the world stage this weekend. This winter will be Stella’s first season on the US Stifel Ski Team with the national team, and she is gunning to score her first World Cup points. Stella stated, “During my preseason training, I was focused on hardening and improving my skiing technique so that I will be able to handle and ski fast in World Cup conditions.” 

Stella had a very impressive season last year in the Europa Cups. A highlight was achieving second place in the Mayrhofen, Austria GS. Although this young racer lacks experience on the World Cup circuit and on the Sölden hill, she is not lacking confidence. “I will be focusing my energy into skiing my fastest, which, for me, means having 100% focus and confidence the moment I stand in the start gate,” Stella said. 

She continued, “My primary goal is to make the flip, to race the second run. This is a tall order as the field is very deep, full of fast and experienced racers. It will take a special effort and some luck to climb into the top-30… I just need to find the right focus and send it.” 

Stella is a racer to keep an eye on this year. She is ready to make a strong debut into the World Cup circuit. 

Mary and Elisabeth Bocock, Stifel US Ski Team

Mary Bocock, age 20, and Elisabeth Bocock, age 18, are two sisters making their first appearance on the World Cup circuit. Mary was the overall NorAm Champion in 2023, and Elisabeth has also had a lot of success leading up to this moment.

The two women were excited when they talked about having this big career moment together on the World Cup Circuit. “It is really exciting, and it is really comforting because it is our first time, so this is totally a new experience for both of us…Having my sister here always makes it fun,” explained Mary Bocock. 

Both are realistic about race day and have goals that do not put outcome ahead of performance. Read more about the Bocock Sisters making their World Cup Debut in Sölden.

The US Women’s Ski Team is fired up and ready to ski Sölden with tenacious focus. The team wants to achieve consistency this season, which begins with taking their hard work from preseason training and applying it to this weekend. Unfortunately, the women’s tech team is down two key racers, Ava Sunshine and Nina O’Brien, due to injuries endured in New Zealand. But they will be cheering on their teammates for the first World Cup Race. Tune in this weekend to watch them in Sölden streaming live on Peacock.