Grade: 12
Sport: Alpine Skiing

Rosie Hust is a senior who is seldom seen in the hallways considering the amount of school she misses for her wild ski racing schedule. Competing at a high level, against women from all over North America, she proves her skill and talent by winning and placing in many of these races.

Coming from a family of ski instructors, Rosie was put on skis from the very beginning of her life. She began skiing NASTAR races with her older brother when she was just four years old. From there her skiing career began to grow and become more competitive. At age 6, she joined the Sports Hut team and began racing against girls from different clubs. Now, Hust calls the small ski area of Buck Hill home, practicing there almost every night during the winter.

“As a teammate, Rosie is a friendly competitor, and we can work hard at practices and push each other, but still be very good friends and not take it too seriously,” Buck Hill teammate Nellie Ide said.

As part of the Buck Hill team, Hust is able to compete in NorAm races; these are races that individuals must qualify for by having a low number of points compared to the other competitors. The points system in ski racing is based on results from races and their competitors; the best ski racers have the lowest number of points. NorAms include some of the fastest women from all over North America. This year, Hust competed in a NorAm at the Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont and placed an outstanding 18th place.

She also has many FIS wins this year including the Atmore Memorial race at Spirit Mountain in Duluth and the Steamboat Holiday Classic in Colorado. FIS is a circuit of ski racing that includes many fast ski racers and difficult competition. These races include fierce competitors, and it is a prodigious accomplishment to win one of these races.

Hust has had many successes throughout her years on the high school team as well. She has won the section meet five out of six times, and placed in the top five at state five years in a row; she has had three second place finishes, one third place and one fifth place.

“In the starting gate I am nervous, but when I kick out of the gate everything slows in my mind. I become really aware of what my body is doing and I focus on trying to get the most out of every turn,” Hust said, “then I cross the finish line and black out on the whole thing.”

Since the ski runs are not very long, especially in Minnesota, every hundredth of a second counts. The hours spent at practice pay off when the race results come down to a mere fraction of a second.

“I have taken away many valuable lessons from Rosie, the most important one being the value of hard work,” junior teammate Jane Guidera said.

Ski racing can also bring many challenges. It takes constant practice to be able to make the skis go even a little bit faster down the hill. Hust has proven that practice and determination will pay off in the end, as she is one of the fastest ski racers in the state.

“It’s a complicated sport,” Hust said, “you have to put a lot of effort in to get speed out of your turn and not many people understand that.”

Even though the snow is here for only a few months throughout the year, Hust continues to train on and off the ski hill during the entire year.

“In the offseason, I like to slack line and mountain bike because they help with endurance and balance. I also play lacrosse for cross training,” Hust said.

Hust’s ski career will not stop after high school. She will continue ski racing at Colby College. The small liberal arts college in Maine that has one of the best Division 1 ski racing programs in the country, and Rosie will be one of the top slalom skiers on the women’s team.

“My major goal is to smile and have fun everyday that I am on skis,” Hust said.