Chad Wolk - Skiing Coach - University of Colorado Athletics

Chad Wolk

Title:
Alpine Coach
Email:
chad.wolk@colorado.edu

Chad Wolk, a five-time All-American alpine skier for the Buffaloes from 1998-2001, returned to his alma mater as the alpine assistant coach in 2022 and enters his third season as part of the program in 2024.

Wolk served as the interim alpine head coach for the 2023 season, appointed after the start of the season and helping the team through turmoil to culminate in a second place finish at the NCAA Championships, including putting the Buffs into the lead after the first day of alpine action when Filip Forejtek and Louis Fausa went 1-2 in the men's GS race and Emma Hammergaard picked up first-team All-America honors in fifth place.

In his two seasons, Wolk has coached two skiers to three individual NCAA Championships, with Forejtek becoming just the third men's skier in NCAA history to repeat as the giant slalom champion and Magdalena Luczak winning the championship in 2022 as a freshman. He has coached three Buffs to a combined seven race victories, five Buffs to a combined nine All-America honors and eight skiers to a combined 70 top 10 finishes in collegiate races.

In 2023, he also coached the Scandinavian alpine skiers at the World University Games in Lake Placid, the most successful trip for the Buffs in the history of the event, including medals from Emma Hammergaard and Jacob Dilling.

Wolk was the team captain his senior season in 2001 and has skied and coached for the U.S. National Team.

The Buffs won back-to-back National Championships in 1998-99 in his first two seasons, he was the Dick Schoenberger Award winner as a junior as team MVP in 2000 and the Buddy Werner Award winner as a senior in 2001.

After graduating from CU in 2003, Wolk began his coaching career as the Lead Traveling Coach at Buck Hill Minnesota from 2004-05, returned to his high school alma mater Burke Mountain Academy in 2006 as the women’s FIS coach and then moved on to Park City wher he was the FIS coach for seven seasons from 2006-12.

He remained in Park City but returned to the U.S. National team from 2013-17, being the Head Coach for the National Training Group in 2016 when the US won three gold medals at the Youth Olympic Games and nine total medals including three golds at the U19 World Championships. He was the assistant coach for the Europa Cup in 2015, helping Team USA pick up one gold and one silver medal at the World Junior Championships.

He returned to Burke Mountain Academy from 2019-20 and was the lead coach for the Elite Team postgraduate and group 1 athletes, executing all duties necessary for an elite ski racing program, including equipment acquisition, physical conditioning, video analysis, venue preparation, course setting and athlete guidance.

Originally from Dresbach, Minn., he graduated from Burke Mountain Academy, letting in both skiing and soccer and earning a Vermont State Championship in soccer in 1992.