Stefan Hughes - Skiing Coach - University of Colorado Athletics

Stefan Hughes

Title:
Assistant Alpine Coach
Email:
stefan.hughes@Colorado.EDU
Phone:
303-492-5402

Stefan Hughes, a two-time All-American alpine skier for the Buffaloes from 2007-10, returned to his alma mater as the assistant alpine coach in 2018 and enters his second season on the skiing staff.

In Hughes’ first year, five Buffs earned eight All-America honors in alpine action at the NCAA Championships, including Ola Johansen earning first-team All-America honors in the GS with a third place finish. Three skiers won a total of eight races, including three wins from Johansen and Tonje Trulsrud and two from Nora Christensen. In all, the alpine skiers racked up 50 top 10 and 26 top 5 finishes with 19 podium appearances and those eight race victories.

After graduating from CU in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in film studies, Hughes spent eight years as a ski coach across the globe.

His first coaching job came right out of college in 2010, when he was a FIS Alpine Ski Racing Coach for the British Junior National Ski Team.

After one season there, he moved back to Colorado to work at the Winter Park Competition Center as a U21 post-graduate coach from 2010-11.

Hughes spent the next four years coaching at the Ski and Snowboard Club in Vail, Colo., before going to work privately in the event production field the year before coming back to CU.

At Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, Hughes spent two winters working as the U21 FIS Alpine Ski Racing Coach (2012-14) and another two as the U16 USSA Alpine Ski Racing Coach (2014-16).

Skiing for head coach Richard Rokos, Hughes competed in 48 races during his CU career and had 11 top 10 and four top five finishes. He earned second-team All-America honors in both giant slalom and slalom in his time at CU, finishing ninth in the GS at the NCAA Championships in 2007 and ninth in slalom in 2009. He was presented with the 2007 Buddy Werner Award, which was named after the man synonymous with competitive skiing in America. He was the United States' first international skiing star who set a fine example and a scholarship commemorating him was established in 1983 for a deserving team member.

Hughes also participated in the 2007 World University Games in Italy with Rokos as his coach that January. He nabbed a 32nd place finish in the men's giant slalom, making him the fifth American finisher in the field of 116 skiers from universities around the world. He earned a top 20 finish in the men's slalom, good for the second-best American performance. Hughes was a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 2005-06, and won the U.S. Junior Slalom Championship as well as the Junior Combined Championship during that span.

Born June 6, 1986 in Rutland, Vt., Hughes and his wife, the former Lleane Grimditch, had Rokos serve as the officiant at their wedding. Lleane played soccer at the University of Denver from 2003-07 and now owns Whole Pets store in Boulder. His sister-in-law, Lauren Grimditch, was an alpine skier at Colorado from 1990-94 and was a part of Rokos’ 1991 national championship team.

He is the son of Chuck and Betty Hughes, and has two older siblings, Tyler and Megan, who were also accomplished skiers.