Introducing: Fast & Loose With The Snow Report
Update - Jan. 18
Fast & Loose with The Snow Report: In this new Instagram Live series, we are literally ‘catching up’ with some of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s most prolific athletes, keeping it fast and loose, getting to know who they are on and off the slopes.
In a digital world, it’s almost an effortless task to find competition results and performance-based recaps. However, statistics, podiums, and results do not accurately depict the stars we see on TV and read about in the news. U.S. Ski & Snowboard and The Snow Report have combined forces to create Fast & Loose hosted by Out of Bounds Podcast founder Adam Jaber on Instagram Live. This interview series will help you get to know your favorite U.S. Ski & Snowboard characters beyond the bib.
First up: Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team’s Paula Moltzan.
Paula has experienced one career-best after another this season, including recently snagging her first World Cup podium—a second-place finish behind Slovakian powerhouse in the first and only parallel event of the year, at Lech Zuers, Austria.
You could say Paula's path to the World Cup podium was unconventional. She grew up skiing at Buck Hill, Minnesota under the legendary Erich Sailer. She spoke about her humble beginnings after the race, "I started skiing because my parents were ski instructors at this tiny little hill in Minnesota [Buck Hill]," she continued, "and in the winter instead of going to daycare while they taught skiing, I'd just go join the lessons with them. I was the youngest of three, so I was just trying to keep up with my two siblings."
She was on the U.S. Ski Team, and in fact, was the first U.S. woman to win the junior slalom world champion title back in 2015...but when she didn't make criteria a year later, she opted to go to University of Vermont to ski for the Cats and continue her career. There, she not only was crowned NCAA Slalom Champion in 2017 but also found the joy of skiing again. Straddling both NCAA and the World Cup during the 2018-19 season, Paula found success once again at the World Cup level and achieved criteria for the U.S. Ski Team again in 2019-20. After a tough 2019-20 season, she worked tirelessly in the offseason, often doing two-a-day workouts...and all of that hard work has more than paid off.
Tune in on Monday, Dec. 7 at 9:45 am MDT at @TheSnowReport on Instagram for the first of many interviews to come.
Episode 1: Paula Moltzan
Episode 2 - Aaron Blunck
Episode 3 - Gus Schumacher
