Fletcher McDonald

Position:
Alpine
Height:
6-4
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Copper Mountain, Colo. (Summit/Team Summit)

Top Career Slalom Finish: Second (2013 Colorado Invitational)
Top Career Giant Slalom Finish: Eighth (2014 Montana State Invitational)

Honors & Awards

2013 Second-Team All-RMISA
2014 Second-Team All-RMISA
2014 SAAC Distinguished Service Award

Career at Colorado—McDonald finished off his career at Colorado as one of the top slalom skiers in the nation as he proved season after season. In 48 career races, he finished 43 of them. In 24 career slalom races, he finished in the top 13 in 19 of them with 14 top 10 and eight top five performances. He hit the podium three times, all in slalom action. He was a two-time All-RMISA performer and given the SAAC Distinguished Service award for his contribution to the committee during his time as a student. He returned in 2015 as the assistant alpine coach.

2014 (Senior)—McDonald for the second straight season proved he was one of the top slalom skiers in the country, and at times it looked like he broke through on the GS side, as well. With a career best GS performance of 20th entering the season, he had his two top finishes in the discipline as a senior, taking 19th at the RMISA Championships and his career best by far was an eighth place finish in the GS at the Montana State Invitational. He finished five of seven slalom races and hiked twice, but in the other three races, he hit the top five each time. He took home fifth place slalom finishes at the Montana State Invitational and he was also fifth at the CU Spencer James Nelson Memorial Invitational. He earned second-team All-RMISA on the basis of his slalom performances.

2013 (Junior)—McDonald went from a solid slalom skier to one of the best in the RMISA and proved it over and over again. In six slalom races, he finished in the top 12 each time with four top 10 finishes and two podium performances, including a career best second place finish in the 2013 Colorado Invitational. A slalom specialist, his best giant slalom finish was 25th in a RMISA Qualifier race at Winter Park ahead of the Denver Invitational. His best meet was at New Mexico where he finished tied for seventh and eighth in the two slalom runs there. He also hit the podium at the Denver Invitational where he finished third. On the strength of those slalom performances, he earned second-team All-RMISA honors.

2012 (Sophomore)—McDonald skied in 12 races for the Buffaloes, all 10 in the regular season and two at the RMISA Championships for the second straight season. And also for the second straight year, he finished 11 of those 12 races and again was impressive in slalom action. In six slalom races, he hiked just one time and finished in the top 12 in the other five races with four top 10 finishes and three in the top six. He set career bests in both disciplines, first with a fourth place finish in the slalom race at the University of Colorado Spencer Nelson Memorial Invitational and then in giant slalom action with a 20th place finish at the Alaska Anchorage Invitational. He qualified for the NCAA Championships but did not participate, as he was the No. 2 alternate and was ranked No. 7 on the final slalom qualification list.

2011 (Freshman)—McDonald skied in 12 races for the Buffaloes, all 10 in the regular season and two a the RMISA Championships. He finished 11 of those races and was particularly impressive in slalom action for the Buffaloes. In six slalom races, he finished in the top 13 five times with three top 10 and a top five finish. His fifth place finish at Montana State was the best finish for the Buffs and he three times scored for the team in slalom action. His two other top 10 slalom finishes were at the New Mexico Invitational. He took 21st at the RMISA Championships, his highest slalom finish of the season but ironically it was his best giant slalom finish, taking 22nd, which scored for the Buffs as the team won the RMISA Championship.

Club—McDonald skied for Team Summit from 1999-2009 and was the Surefoot Colorado Ski Cup overall champion for 2009-10. The Surefoot award is a combination of all official ski races inside the state of Colorado.

High School—McDonald graduated from Summit High School in Frisco, Colo., in 2007 and was the 2007 Colorado State Champion in the giant slalom and was named the 2007 Colorado Skier of the Year for coach Tory Hauser.

In the Classroom—McDonald is majoring in Environmental Studies.

Personal—Fletcher Christian McDonald was born August 2, 1989 in Vail, Colo., and his parents are Corky and Sherry McDonald. His mother skied collegiately at Western State. He has aspirations of being a professional skier and enjoys fishing and hunting. He was also recruited by New Mexico and chose Colorado because it was close to home and he can continue to ski.