SSCV alumna Liv Moritz wins NorAm slalom title to secure World Cup starts for all of 2025-2026 season
The Vail Mountain School graduate will compete at the U.S. Alpine national championships this weekend in Vail
C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via University of Denver Athletics
Before she hopped into the start gate for her third-career World Cup race on Feb. 23, Liv Moritz received some advice from a special source.
“It was super cool,” said Moritz. “I didn’t really expect to get advice from the greatest of all time.”
Mikaela Shiffrin gave the fellow Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumnae a few tips on the Sestriere slope before going on to capture her 100th-career World Cup win. Moritz — who made her World Cup debut the previous month in Kronplatz, Italy — was thrilled to be a part of the historic moment.
“It was super cool to see her win her 100th,” she said. “The odds of being there and racing that event are super low, so it’s crazy.”
The odds of Moritz competing alongside the Vail Valley idol whom she asked for an autograph from at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Beaver Creek 10 years ago are a lot higher now. Moritz recently won the 2024-25 NorAm slalom title, securing World Cup starts in the discipline for all of next season.
Support Local Journalism
“It kind of means a lot,” Moritz said of her season-long title on the circuit considered to be a stepping stone to the World Cup. “Last year I was struggling in slalom quite a bit and usually it’s my favorite event — and usually my best event — so, my goal this season was to get my confidence back in slalom. I definitely hit that benchmark and this title gives me a little more confidence.”
Moritz started the season strong, with two top-10s in the opening NorAm series at Panorama Resort in British Columbia. The Vail Mountain School graduate capped off December with a slalom victory at the Holiday Classic on Dec. 21 in Steamboat Springs. She strung together three podiums in four races, taking GS silver on Jan. 27 in Lake Louise and another second in slalom in Norquay, Alberta, on Jan. 29 before winning the event the following day. Moritz attributed a piece of her success to skiing on new Fischer planks this season.
“I think that helped to get those good feelings to start off early in November,” she explained.
Moritz elected to redshirt her sophomore season at the University of Denver, where she also plays soccer, since the NCAA championships overlapped with her final FIS World Junior Championship in Tarvisio. In Italy, she was 11th in the slalom, had a DNF in the second run of the GS and paired up with Elisabeth Bocock, Sawyer Reed and Stanley Buzek to win a bronze in the team parallel. In March, she finished the NorAm season with a pair of podiums in the super-G and slalom.
“I definitely would say it’s my best season so far,” Moritz said. “This whole season I’ve just kind of been surprising myself with the results and the skiing I’ve been able to accomplish.”
She’s not the only Moritz having a breakout season, either. Her twin sister, Kjersti, has captured three podiums in her first NCAA season with Middlebury, including a win at the home carnival on Feb. 15. After spending the better part of the last two years sidelined by injuries, she also competed in three events at world juniors, earning two top-10s, and was named the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association Rookie of the Year.
“It’s been super awesome to see her come back,” Liv Moritz said of her twin. “She’s been skiing super well, which I think was surprising for a lot of people, but not for me because I knew she was always a good skier. But it’s hard when she had to watch a lot of my successful seasons just because she’s also being compared to me all the time, so it was awesome for her to have a little bit of a breakthrough as well.”
On the World Cup, Liv Moritz is yet to qualify for a second run, but said her experiences have instilled confidence.
“I’m starting to get a little more comfortable,” the 20-year-old stated before adding that, despite having a breakout season, she’s struggled with nerves the entire way. “So, I think the more opportunities I get to race, the more comfortable and faster I’ll be able to go.”
After nabbing a pair of FIS wins at Beaver Creek on Saturday and Sunday, Moritz plans to wrap up her season at the U.S. Alpine national championships in Vail this weekend. She plans to compete in all three races — slalom, GS and super-G — starting on March 29.
“I’d love to get a podium,” she said. “I know Paula (Moltzan) is going to be there and I think Nina (O’Brien) and Katie Hensien, so I hope to get a podium or at least ski close to them and learn from them.”
