DENVER – Mia Hunt got a taste of the top level of the alpine skiing world and used that momentum to produce the best season of her collegiate career.
 
Now the senior on the University of Denver ski team wants more, of both.
 
"I told a lot of people that when I went to the World Cup and I did well at NCAA and watched my teammate win two national championships, that is the standard," Hunt said. "I'm hungry. I want that to be me. I'm excited to really push hard and have a really good senior season."
 
The Park City, Utah, native's junior campaign in 2024-25 started with her winning a time trial event in Aspen last November to earn one of the spots that the U.S. Ski Team had for women's slalom in the FIS World Cup on Dec. 1 in Killington, Vermont.
 
While she didn't qualify for a second run in her World Cup debut, the then-21-year-old posted a respectable opening run time of 58.46 and gained valuable experience for her third year with the Pios.
 
"That was definitely a confidence booster," Hunt said. "I did feel a little bit unprepared going into the World Cup, just because it was one of the first World Cups, really early season, and we had only been on snow for two weeks (at Denver). But being able to ski at that level, the highest level in the world, definitely boosted my confidence and made me feel really good about coming into the college season."
 
That early-season momentum resulted in a strong overall performance with the Pioneers. Hunt placed in the top 10 in nine of the 14 races and closed out the regular season with her first two career top-five results in slalom at the Alaska Anchorage Invitational and RMISA Championships on Feb. 21-22.
 
Picking up all-conference accolades as an honorable mention in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association, Hunt qualified for her second NCAA Championships and went on to garner a pair of second-team All-American awards. She tied for seventh in rainy conditions in slalom on March 7 before coming in 10th two days later on a windy and icy giant slalom course at Dartmouth Skiway in New Hampshire.
 
Hunt had previously made DU's national championship roster as a freshman for the 2023 event in Lake Placid, New York, and her participation that year provided valuable knowledge for her going into last year's national title races.
 
"I knew a lot more of what to expect," Hunt said of the lessons from 2023. "I knew the people that were going to be there, and I knew how it was going to be. Usually we travel as a full alpine team, but I knew how it was going to be with just a portion of our alpine team and kind of a little more spotlight on us and how valuable the points were. So I felt very comfortable when we went to Hanover for the Dartmouth NCAA Championships, and I think it helped me feel very comfortable and ready, so it wasn't all new."
 
Hunt is proud of her All-American performances at the national championships, but the moment that she says that stood out to her the most was waiting at the finish line for teammate Sara Rask to finish her runs. Rask took over the top spot in each event after being in second place following her opening runs to sweep the NCAA Championships in women's alpine.
 
"I think that was really cool and such a cool thing to be a part of," Hunt said of seeing Rask take the gold in both events. "It is such a privilege to have her on my team and being able to chase her through everything. Watching her and to do that with her last year was really cool, and I felt really proud to be a part of her team."
 
Hunt's 2025 season has lit a fire for her as she gets set for her final collegiate campaign in winter 2026. She trained with her younger sister Annika at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team facility in Park City early in the offseason before spending the late summer fine-tuning her craft on snow in Europe's high peaks.
 
"I only trained for a few weeks before starting the World Cup in November last year, so my goal this summer is to get a little bit more pre-season training," Hunt said. "Just get a few more days on snow, get a solid training block, so that if I do get an opportunity like that again, I'll have a few more days of skiing under my belt. Even if I don't get to go to the World Cup in the early season again, I think the early season training is super beneficial. It is something that I missed last year."
 
Hunt is proud of what she achieved last winter, but she's not settling going into her last dance in Pioneer crimson and gold.
 
"I went to the highest level of ski racing, which was super awesome and a super cool experience," Hunt said. "But I think overall my season wasn't really what I wanted it to be, though I'm still really happy with some of my results. I was an All-American in two events at the NCAA Championships, which was a huge accomplishment for me. There were definitely some really good things that happened for me, but I'm still hungry for my senior year."
 
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