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THE FLATIRONS. TWENTY-ONE TITLES.

University of Colorado

CU Boulder is Colorado's flagship public research university, about 32,500 undergraduates at the foot of the Flatirons, 30 miles northwest of Denver. Eldora, roughly 20 miles up the canyon, has been the ski team's training hill for more than 50 years, so alpine training is an afternoon drive rather than a road trip. The Buffaloes hold 21 NCAA team titles and finished 10.5 points behind Utah in 2026.

Boulder, CO

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ColoradoBuffaloes · Ski team

Photo: Casey A. Cass / University of Colorado (cuboulder on Flickr), via Wikimedia Commons, CC0

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NCAA divisionRMISA · NCAA skiing
D1
UndergraduatesFall 2025
32,520
Acceptance rateFall 2024 · most recent official figure
76%
Nonresident tuition & fees2026-27 base tier · resident $15,014
$46,058
Home hillAbout 20 miles west of Boulder
Eldora
NCAA team titlesThrough 2026
21
Roster athletes2025-26
13
NCAA power rankscore 28.83
#2

Why Colorado?

The hill is close.The bar is high.

Colorado combines a public AAU research university with a ski program that has finished in the top four at every NCAA championship for 19 years. The catch is a football-first athletics budget and a steep nonresident price.

  • Eldora Mountain Resort base area seen from the top of the International trail

    Eldora, 30 minutes away

    The team FAQ describes Eldora as the alpine and nordic home facility, a 30-minute drive from campus; the admissions visit page puts it at 22 miles from Boulder.(cubuffs.com)

  • Old Main, the original sandstone building on the CU Boulder campus

    Morning training, late classes

    The alpine team typically trains four days a week on snow and two in the gym, 6:30 to 9 a.m., with classes for ski athletes scheduled after 11 a.m.(cubuffs.com)

  • The Flatirons rock formations above Boulder at sunrise

    Second by 10.5 points

    Colorado won the 2026 RMISA regular-season title, finished second at the RMISA Championships and lost the NCAA title by 10.5 points, with 14 All-Americans and seven alpine All-Americans, the most of any team.(cubuffs.com)

  • Pearl Street pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder in winter

    A research flagship

    One of 38 public AAU members, with five Nobel laureates since 1989 and an 18:1 student-faculty ratio, in a college town with a serious outdoor culture.(colorado.edu)

About the school

The honest version.

What the school is, what it is known for, and what a family should weigh before committing.

CU Boulder is Colorado's flagship public research university, with about 32,500 undergraduates on a campus at the foot of the Flatirons, roughly 30 miles northwest of Denver. It is one of 38 public AAU members and is strong in engineering, aerospace, physics, environmental science and business; Boulder itself is a lively, expensive college town with a serious outdoor culture. The ski program is one of the most decorated anywhere: 21 NCAA team titles, and it lost the 2026 championship to Utah by 10.5 points. Eldora, about 20 miles west of Boulder, has been the team's training hill for more than 50 years, so alpine training is an afternoon drive rather than an overnight trip; Steamboat is the other regular venue. Skiing competes in the RMISA while the school as a whole is in the Big 12. Expect large lecture classes in the first two years and a steep nonresident price, and know that the athletic department is running a deficit as it takes on revenue-sharing payments, even though it says no sports will be cut.

Know before you commit

  • CU Athletics projected a $27 million deficit for the fiscal year ending June 2026, driven by football salaries and the $20.5 million annual House revenue-share payment; the department says it will not cut sports or athlete resources, but skiing is a non-revenue sport inside a football-first budget.(finance.yahoo.com)
  • Nonresident families pay about $66,500 a year in billed costs before books and travel, and with 32,000-plus undergraduates the first two years include large lecture classes.(colorado.edu)

Feel the campus

From first tracks to final exams.

Credited archive photographs of the campus, the town and the hill; not current team photography.

5 of 5 photos shown

Ski team experience

Twenty-one titles.A 30-minute drive.

Colorado skis in the RMISA under director of skiing Jana Weinberger, with Ian Lochhead as head alpine coach and Jake Dippy as assistant. The 2026 roster lists 13 alpine skiers (seven women, six men) and 13 nordic athletes. Eldora is the home facility, Steamboat the other listed venue, and the team qualified a full 12-skier squad for the 2026 NCAA Championships.

View official roster
Team athletes
13
Men / women
4 / 7
International athletes
6
NCAA team titles
21
Conference
RMISA
Alpine disciplines
SL + GS

Where Zoe fits today

Not a selection or admission prediction.

  • SLDevelopment
    68.09 · 8th of 8

    Scoring line 35.20: 32.89 points to drop.

  • GSDevelopment
    49.80 · 8th of 8

    Scoring line 33.11: 16.69 points to drop.

  • SGScorer
    51.19 · 1st of 8

    Scoring line 96.37.

  • DHScorer
    56.36 · 1st of 7

    Scoring line 233.37.

What it takes to reach the scoring line

SLtarget 35.20 · counts best 3

No results this season yet. 3 results averaging 35.20 would get there.

  • World Cup (min penalty 0): finish within 4.82% of the winner
  • NorAm / Europa Cup (min penalty 15): finish within 2.77% of the winner
  • National Championships (min penalty 20): finish within 2.08% of the winner
  • FIS / University / Junior (min penalty 23): finish within 1.67% of the winner
GStarget 33.11 · counts best 3

No results this season yet. 3 results averaging 33.11 would get there.

  • World Cup (min penalty 0): finish within 3.28% of the winner
  • NorAm / Europa Cup (min penalty 15): finish within 1.79% of the winner
  • National Championships (min penalty 20): finish within 1.3% of the winner
  • FIS / University / Junior (min penalty 23): finish within 1% of the winner

Percentages use this list’s F-values.

Clear · Back to Zoe's profile

Academics

What you can study.

CU Boulder runs a semester calendar, so the January-to-March race season falls entirely inside spring semester. The team FAQ says classes for ski athletes are scheduled after 11 a.m. around morning training. Tuition is tiered by college: engineering, natural sciences and business cost more than the base rate.

  • 32,520
    Undergraduates
  • 74.3%
    Six-year graduation rate

8 featured fields · full catalog

  • Aerospace Engineering SciencesEngineering
    A BSAE in a college that has sent instruments to every planet in the solar system; engineering sits in a higher tuition tier.
  • Mechanical EngineeringEngineering
    A BSME with lab sequences that need planning around the January-to-March travel block.
  • Computer ScienceQuantitative
    Offered as a BS in engineering or a BA in arts and sciences.
  • Business AdministrationBusiness
    The Leeds School BSBA; business is the highest tuition tier.
  • Integrative PhysiologyScience
    A BS that many athletes choose for its human-performance focus.
  • Environmental StudiesEnvironment
    A BA in arts and sciences at the base tuition rate.
  • PsychologySocial science
    A BA in arts and sciences at the base tuition rate.
  • PhysicsScience
    Offered as a BS or BA; the department has produced four of CU's five Nobel laureates.
Explore majors

Source: cubuffs.com

Admissions

Your path here.

Testing
test-optional(colorado.edu)
GPA
3.70-4.26 weighted (admitted middle 50%, 2026)(colorado.edu)
Application deadline
November 15 (early action); January 15 (regular decision)(colorado.edu)
  1. Submit the Common Application with the personal essay and CU's 250-word short answer.
  2. Upload high school transcripts (unofficial accepted for admission, official required at enrollment).
  3. Provide one letter of recommendation and pay the $65 fee ($70 international).
  4. Self-report ACT or SAT scores only if you want them considered.
Admissions details

Test scores

What admitted students scored.

Test-optional · admitted, 2026

  • SAT total1300 – 1450
  • ACT composite29 – 34

Middle 50%: a quarter scored below the low figure and a quarter above the high one. Source: colorado.edu

Acceptance rate

How selective it is.

76%Fall 2024, most recent official figure; the 2025-26 Common Data Set is not public
  • Admitted
  • Not admitted

CU admits about three in four applicants, but engineering and business are more selective than the all-majors profile suggests, and each college publishes its own middle-50% range. Early action applicants get a decision by February 1; a coach's interest does not alter the academic review.

Source: colorado.edu

Cost & financial aid

What a year costs.

2026-27 published figures.

Published costs
Tuition & fees (resident, base tier)$15,014
Tuition & fees (nonresident, base tier)$46,058
Housing & meals (standard double, 19 meals/week)$19,242
Billed on-campus total (resident)$35,456
Billed on-campus total (nonresident)$66,500

Bursar figures for 2026-27 at the base tuition tier (arts and humanities, education, music, social sciences); engineering, natural sciences and business sit in higher tiers, and totals exclude books, travel and personal costs. About 60% of undergraduates receive some aid. Nonresident merit awards include the Presidential Scholarship ($15,000 a year for four years) and the Chancellor's Achievement Scholarship ($6,250 a year); they do not stack. Athletic aid is allowed: CU opted into the House settlement, so skiing carries a 16-athlete roster limit with aid at the school's discretion.(colorado.edu)

Financial aid information

Location

Campus, hill, airport.

CU Boulder campus

The main campus sits at the base of the Flatirons in Boulder, 35 minutes from downtown Denver by car per the admissions visit page.

Open in Maps · source

The Flatirons rock formations above Boulder at sunrise
The Flatirons from Chautauqua Park at sunrise, a short walk from campus (2017)

Student life

Beyond the hill.

  • First-year residence halls

    All first-year students are required to live in a university residence hall with a food plan for two semesters, subject to space; many halls host Residential Academic Programs.(colorado.edu)

  • The Rec Center

    More than 300,000 square feet of recreation space including Boulder's only ice rink, four pools and an indoor climbing gym; Outdoor Pursuits runs trips, courses and equipment rentals.(colorado.edu)

  • Herbst Academic Center and Ralphie

    The Herbst Academic Center provides academic support for all student-athletes, including a ski-team academic coordinator; game days start with Ralphie, a live buffalo, leading the team onto Folsom Field.(cubuffs.com)

Athlete voices

Real stories.

  • “It was a real fight today. A DNF can happen really easily, but we all fought for it. I'm so proud of this team. We were not selfish at all, we just fought for each other.”
    Louison Accambray, alpine skier · source
  • “We got through. I'm super proud of Lulu, she went hard, two podiums for the week. Paige and Cathinka both skied super solid. They both had some DNFs this season, so that added to the pressure for them.”
    Ian Lochhead, head alpine coach · source
  • “I'm disappointed in my fifth. I was expecting at least a podium. But at least we gave it all today. Everybody fought. It's really difficult conditions, both runs.”
    Filip Wahlqvist, alpine skier · source

Alumni & outcomes

What came next.

NCAA team championships(cubuffs.com)
21
All-America honors all-time(cubuffs.com)
586
Olympians from the CU Ski Team(cubuffs.com)
44
University six-year graduation rate (2025)(colorado.edu)
74.3%
Graduates employed, in grad school or military within six months(colorado.edu)
86%

Related programs

You might also look at.

Sources, rights and updates

Where this comes from.

Every figure carries its reporting period and a link. Rosters and points come from official rosters and FIS or USCSA results. Photographs are Wikimedia Commons archive images under open licences, credited on each image.

35 source pages across 7 sites

Your future in skiing starts here

Ready to learn more about Colorado?

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