Louis Fausa

Position:
Alpine
Height:
5-10
Weight:
null
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Oslo, Norway
High School:
Donski Videregaende Skole
Prev School:
Heming IL

World Univeristy Games Participant (2023 Lake Placid)
First-Team All-American (2023 GS)
Two-Time National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team (2021-22; 3.5 GPA, Participation In Regionals)
Two-Time Honorable Mention All-RMISA (2022, ‘23)
Three-Time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll (2021, ‘22, ‘23)
CSC Academic All-District (2023 At-Large)
Three-Time NCAA Championship Qualifier (2021, ‘22, ‘23)
Spencer Nelson Award (2023)
Three-Time Letterwinner (2021, ‘22, ‘23)
CU Athlete of the Week (Feb. 26, 2023)

At Colorado: Career—Fausa has skied in 37 of a possible 39 races at CU, including three appearances at the NCAA Championships and one first-team All-America honor when he finished second behind teammate Filip Forejtek in the GS race at the 2023 NCAA Championships. He has finished 27 of those 37 races with 21 top 20, 14 top 10 and six top-five finishes, which include three podium performances. An all-around skier, he has two podiums in GS and one in slalom, and more GS than slalom Top 10s (eight GS, six slalom) but more slalom top 20s (12 slalom, nine GS).

2023 (Jr.)—Already a solid skier, Fausa his another level in 2023 and it culminated with a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships in the GS race, finishing behind Filip Forejtek and giving the Buffs a 1-2 finish, enabling the team to have the lead at the end of the first day, which stretched through the midpoint. Fausa had his first three collegiate podiums in 2023, all coming in the final five races of the season, taking second in a GS race at the RMISA Championships and third in a slalom race at the UAA Invitational, earning him CU Athlete of the Week honors. Both of those finishes secured Fausa a better starting position at NCAAs, which he took advantage of in the GS race taking second place. After opening the season with a 14th and 13th place in slalom at the Westminster Invitational, he improved throughout the season, taking 10th in first GS race as part of the CU Invitational and then sixth in the second. At DU in slalom action, he took ninth in the first race and fifth in the second before his exploits in Alaska. He was named honorable mention All-RMISA for the second straight season and earned a mention on the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll and the CSC Academic All-District Teams while earning the team’s Spencer Nelson Award. He earned his third letter and qualified for NCAAs for the third time, as well.

2022 (Sophomore)—Fausa improved upon a solid freshman season with an even better performance in his sophomore season, earning honorable mention All-RMISA honors at season’s end. He earned his second letter and participated for the Buffaloes at the NCAA Championships. He finished the season racing in 12 of a possible 14 races and finishing eight of them, all in the top 15 with seven top 10 performances, a pair of top-five finishes and his first collegiate podium appearance, which came in an extra slalom qualifying race at the RMISA Championships in Steamboat Springs. He opened the season with a fifth-place showing in the GS at the Montana State Invitational and after not finishing the slalom race there, he took sixth in a slalom the following day in an extra qualifier race. A nasty fall in the first qualifier GS race at Park City kept him out of the two races as part of the Utah Invitational, but he returned strong at the Denver Invitational and finished fifth in the GS, seventh in the slalom and sixth in the extra qualifier GS race. At the RMISA Championships, he has the 12th fastest first run in the GS but didn’t finish and he had his podium with a third place in the extra qualifier after the RMISA Championships. He was primed for his first All-America performance at the NCAA Championships and sat in fifth place after the first run, but his ski fell off and he didn’t finish the second run. He finished 15th in the slalom race at the NCAA Championships to close out his season. He also earned mention on the National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team and the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll for his work in the classroom.

2021 (Freshman)—Fausa skied in all 12 possible races his freshman season, finishing nine with eight top 20 and five top 10 performances with one top-five finish. He got his career off on the right foot with a pair of top-10 performances in the Colorado series, taking ninth in a slalom race at Aspen as part of the DU Invitational and ninth in GS at Eldora in the CU Invitational. In the Utah series, he finished four of six races closing out the regular season and RMISA Championships. He took ninth in a slalom race at Snowbird before not finishing the other one, then took sixth in the first GS race at Park City for the RMISA Invitational at Utah. He bettered that mark with his first top-five finish, taking fourth in the GS race at the RMISA Championships. At the NCAA Championships, he narrowly missed out on All-America honors, finishing 11th in the slalom race on the final day of competition. In the GS race, he sat in 11th after the first run before a mistake in the second run moved him down the finish list. He picked up a letter in his first season and was also solid in the classroom, picking up National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team and Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll honors.

Prior To CU—Fausa competed for Heming IL out of Oslo. He’s competed in 13 continental cup races, including four European Cup and nine Nor-Am Cup starts. He has two top 20 finishes in Nor-Am Cup races, both slalom, taking 15th at Burke Mountain and 16th in Nakiska in 2019. He has competed in National Championships in Norway, Austria and Sweden, with his best performance at the 2019 Norwegain National Championships where he took sixth in the slalom, 11th in the GS, 19th in the downhill and seventh in alpine combined. He was also 18th in the slalom at the 2017 Norwegian Championships in Narvik. Since 2017, he has 32 top-10 finishes in FIS races with six podiums, which include two wins and one second-place finish. He won the GS at Oppdal, Norway, in 2019 and the slalom at Raudalen, Norway, in 2020.

High School—Fausa graduated from Donski Videregaende Skole in Baerum, Norway, in 2019.

In The Classroom—Fausa is majoring in Finance from CU’s Leeds School of Business. He has twice been named to the National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team and the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll.

Personal—Louis Fausa was born May 4, 2000, in Oslo. His parents are Gunnar and Inger Margrethe Fausa. He has one older sister, Chloe, and a twin sister, Lisette. Chloe skied for the University of Utah, helping the Utes to the 2017 National Championship and was a member of the Norwegian National Team. His hobbies include traveling and playing soccer.

Why Colorado?—”I chose Colorado because it has the perfect combination of a great ski team and a recognized business school. I am also excited for all the outdoor activities available and exploring the town of Boulder.”