Completed Event: Skiing versus 20K Freestyle (M) on March 8, 2025 , , 1st
Final Score
Skiing
1st
vs 20K Freestyle (M)
Kaja Norbye (left) celebrates with Karianne Dengerud (right) after an All-America performance in giant slalom during the 2024 NCAA Championships.
Photo by: Eli Rehmer/Utah Athletics
Stories on Snow: Kaja Norbye
2/7/2025 12:52 PM | Skiing
Editor's Note: Stories on Snow is a recurring Q&A series with members of the Utah Ski Team. Throhgout the season, UtahUtes.com will visit with both alpine and Nordic members of the team while looking ahead to upcoming races.
SALT LAKE CITY – Kaja Norbye has been a key contributor for four seasons with the Utah Ski Team, bringing both talent and energy to the hill. Hailing from Norway, she grew up surrounded by a deep passion for skiing, following in the footsteps of her mother, a former Utah skier.
Now in the midst of another competitive season, Norbye has helped the Utes to a team win in the Montana State Invitational, with home races coming up for Utah this weekend at the Utah Olympic Park.
Norbye and the Utes will kick off this weekend with a giant slalom race on Saturday, followed by another GS on Sunday and a slalom event on Monday. Races will begin at 9 a.m. each day at the UOP's Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center, with free admission for spectators.
Utah leads its home meet after the Nordic races took place in January at Soldier Hollow; the Utes have a 57.5-point advantage on Denver for the top spot. Saturday's race is an extra RMISA Qualifier and won't count toward meet scores, but individual results will contribute to NCAA Championship qualifications.
Norbye sat down earlier this week with UtahUtes.com to discuss the team's win at the Montana State Invitational, the excitement of competing on home snow, her journey in the sport and what's next for her after her time at Utah.
Two days of alpine racing up in Bozeman and Utah won the overall meet as a team. What were some takeaways from from the two alpine days up at Bridger Bowl?
"We had just come from the Nor-Am races in Canada, and it was just super fun for everyone to come back to do a college race where we skied together as a whole team. In Canada, we barely saw our boys because they were skiing at different ski resorts than the girls. So just being back together, everyone as a team, and collecting points for everyone, was a super nice feeling. It's fun to be on the college circuit again after having raced Nor-Am races."
How would you how would you sum up the season so far? Between going over to DU last month and then the Nor-Ams, what what have you enjoyed about this stretch of racing?
"I think, so far this season, we have shown as a team that we can be super competitive and that we have great depth on the team. A lot of different athletes can perform well.
"More personally, it hasn't been the strongest start of the season for myself, but I've shown a glimpse of fast skiing. I think for me, personally, it's just going to be all about connecting everything and setting that perfect run. But so far for me, (there's) been a little too many mistakes to be up, up there."
Results aside, a really exciting weekend coming up here at home. Just how stoked is everyone on the team to to be racing on the home snow and up at the UOP?
"We're super excited. We have had the chance to train on that hill quite a bit, and it's for sure a challenging hill. It's a long (distance ski) but we're all as ready as we can be to attack there. It's always fun to to ski here in Utah, having all of our friends, fans, donors and so many other people supporting. Everyone being here, it's just very special."
What is it about about the new hill at the UOP that's so special? What makes it such a great hill to train on during the week?
"I would say it's the length of it. In training, it gives us a full race length course in both disciplines, which we haven't really had that easy access to at the University of Utah before this. So it's kind of a game changer. We get to train on a hill that is similar to races that we'll compete in throughout the season. So that hill really helps us (be) more prepared for anything we'll meet because it's a long, long, long pitch. It's steep for (a) long (time). After training on that hill, anything that we'll meet in a race will feel easier. It's very good mental training, too, because it's so tiring and demanding, both physically and mentally. It sets us up really well for other hills that we meet that we don't know that well, and it makes us very fit to ski on it that much."
One thing JJ Johnson loves about this team is the camaraderie and energy that you all have together as a group. As someone who's on the team and experiences that every day, can you describe that camaraderie and what it means on and off snow?
"We are a team of people who respect each other and have a lot of fun together. There's something about the format of racing here where we all collect points in the competition. So everything we do really feels like teamwork. It's just really fun to be a part of and we're having a lot of fun. We are very comfortable around each other, so we can joke about pretty much anything. We always make make sure to help each other out because at the end of the day, if your teammate is a little more prepared because you could help them be more prepared, then it benefits everyone. The setup of college skiing is a good framework for lifting each other up, which I think is kind of rare in an individual sport like skiing. But college really makes the team environment possible."
It was a nice comeback season for you last year. A little bit limited racing in 2023, but in '24 you were a GS All-American and the RMISA MVP in slalom. What was so key to putting together the season that you had last year?
"The year before, I had a neck injury that caused a lot of pain and unpleasantness when skiing. Last Fall when I realized that my neck had fully healed, I was able to just be up on the hill without pain and have fun. I just knew in November that it was going to be a great season. So just being able to be out on the hill with no worries and just allowing myself to have fun with it was what made me ski fast."
How did you get into skiing when when you were younger?
"I got into alpine skiing through my mom. She actually skied at Utah back in the day. So she introduced me and my sisters to alpine skiing. My dad was a Nordic skier, but he was fine with us being alpine skiers. I'm the youngest out of three sisters, so I would just follow my sisters out on the hill and join their trainings. I would ski a lot of volume and be out on the hill a lot, maybe more than other people my age just because I was trying to be like my older sisters."
What should people in Utah know about Norway?
"If you go up North to and do ski touring in April-May, you can ski tour during the midnight sun, so the sun never sets on you. You can go up the in the middle of the night, and there will still be sun. It's in a place called Tromsø."
What are some of your goals when your time at the U is wrapped up?
"When I am done here at the U with the ski team, I'm also going to wrap up my career as a skier. I feel very accomplished in my career, and I've done what I wanted to do with it. So I'm actually really looking forward to pursuing my job in Oslo as a strategy consultant."
SALT LAKE CITY – Kaja Norbye has been a key contributor for four seasons with the Utah Ski Team, bringing both talent and energy to the hill. Hailing from Norway, she grew up surrounded by a deep passion for skiing, following in the footsteps of her mother, a former Utah skier.
Now in the midst of another competitive season, Norbye has helped the Utes to a team win in the Montana State Invitational, with home races coming up for Utah this weekend at the Utah Olympic Park.
Norbye and the Utes will kick off this weekend with a giant slalom race on Saturday, followed by another GS on Sunday and a slalom event on Monday. Races will begin at 9 a.m. each day at the UOP's Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center, with free admission for spectators.
Utah leads its home meet after the Nordic races took place in January at Soldier Hollow; the Utes have a 57.5-point advantage on Denver for the top spot. Saturday's race is an extra RMISA Qualifier and won't count toward meet scores, but individual results will contribute to NCAA Championship qualifications.
Norbye sat down earlier this week with UtahUtes.com to discuss the team's win at the Montana State Invitational, the excitement of competing on home snow, her journey in the sport and what's next for her after her time at Utah.
?????????? ??????
— Utah Ski Team (@utahskiteam) February 26, 2024
Congrats to Kaja on taking home the honor in Women's Slalom??
?? https://t.co/ye1lpUuDKx pic.twitter.com/v81SyH2RHk
Two days of alpine racing up in Bozeman and Utah won the overall meet as a team. What were some takeaways from from the two alpine days up at Bridger Bowl?
"We had just come from the Nor-Am races in Canada, and it was just super fun for everyone to come back to do a college race where we skied together as a whole team. In Canada, we barely saw our boys because they were skiing at different ski resorts than the girls. So just being back together, everyone as a team, and collecting points for everyone, was a super nice feeling. It's fun to be on the college circuit again after having raced Nor-Am races."
How would you how would you sum up the season so far? Between going over to DU last month and then the Nor-Ams, what what have you enjoyed about this stretch of racing?
"I think, so far this season, we have shown as a team that we can be super competitive and that we have great depth on the team. A lot of different athletes can perform well.
"More personally, it hasn't been the strongest start of the season for myself, but I've shown a glimpse of fast skiing. I think for me, personally, it's just going to be all about connecting everything and setting that perfect run. But so far for me, (there's) been a little too many mistakes to be up, up there."
Results aside, a really exciting weekend coming up here at home. Just how stoked is everyone on the team to to be racing on the home snow and up at the UOP?
"We're super excited. We have had the chance to train on that hill quite a bit, and it's for sure a challenging hill. It's a long (distance ski) but we're all as ready as we can be to attack there. It's always fun to to ski here in Utah, having all of our friends, fans, donors and so many other people supporting. Everyone being here, it's just very special."
What is it about about the new hill at the UOP that's so special? What makes it such a great hill to train on during the week?
"I would say it's the length of it. In training, it gives us a full race length course in both disciplines, which we haven't really had that easy access to at the University of Utah before this. So it's kind of a game changer. We get to train on a hill that is similar to races that we'll compete in throughout the season. So that hill really helps us (be) more prepared for anything we'll meet because it's a long, long, long pitch. It's steep for (a) long (time). After training on that hill, anything that we'll meet in a race will feel easier. It's very good mental training, too, because it's so tiring and demanding, both physically and mentally. It sets us up really well for other hills that we meet that we don't know that well, and it makes us very fit to ski on it that much."
What an amazing morning to celebrate the opening of the Spencer F Eccles Olympic Mountain Center, the new home for the @utahskiteam. A great example of community partnership that Utah is so famous for…and as always, thank you Spence for your leadership!!! pic.twitter.com/M45uqe8hRD
— Mark Harlan (@MarkHarlan_AD) March 1, 2023
One thing JJ Johnson loves about this team is the camaraderie and energy that you all have together as a group. As someone who's on the team and experiences that every day, can you describe that camaraderie and what it means on and off snow?
"We are a team of people who respect each other and have a lot of fun together. There's something about the format of racing here where we all collect points in the competition. So everything we do really feels like teamwork. It's just really fun to be a part of and we're having a lot of fun. We are very comfortable around each other, so we can joke about pretty much anything. We always make make sure to help each other out because at the end of the day, if your teammate is a little more prepared because you could help them be more prepared, then it benefits everyone. The setup of college skiing is a good framework for lifting each other up, which I think is kind of rare in an individual sport like skiing. But college really makes the team environment possible."
It was a nice comeback season for you last year. A little bit limited racing in 2023, but in '24 you were a GS All-American and the RMISA MVP in slalom. What was so key to putting together the season that you had last year?
"The year before, I had a neck injury that caused a lot of pain and unpleasantness when skiing. Last Fall when I realized that my neck had fully healed, I was able to just be up on the hill without pain and have fun. I just knew in November that it was going to be a great season. So just being able to be out on the hill with no worries and just allowing myself to have fun with it was what made me ski fast."
How did you get into skiing when when you were younger?
"I got into alpine skiing through my mom. She actually skied at Utah back in the day. So she introduced me and my sisters to alpine skiing. My dad was a Nordic skier, but he was fine with us being alpine skiers. I'm the youngest out of three sisters, so I would just follow my sisters out on the hill and join their trainings. I would ski a lot of volume and be out on the hill a lot, maybe more than other people my age just because I was trying to be like my older sisters."
What should people in Utah know about Norway?
"If you go up North to and do ski touring in April-May, you can ski tour during the midnight sun, so the sun never sets on you. You can go up the in the middle of the night, and there will still be sun. It's in a place called Tromsø."
What are some of your goals when your time at the U is wrapped up?
"When I am done here at the U with the ski team, I'm also going to wrap up my career as a skier. I feel very accomplished in my career, and I've done what I wanted to do with it. So I'm actually really looking forward to pursuing my job in Oslo as a strategy consultant."
??????
— Utah Ski Team (@utahskiteam) July 16, 2024
Kaja Norbye has been named to the @AcadAllAmerica Third Team ??????
?? https://t.co/udvwUbCsZg pic.twitter.com/eMthGTyhcg
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