Mary Rachel Hostetter, better known as “M.R.,” is a former NCAA ski racer and NCAA college ski coach who heads up EMSC’s U14 program. This is her third season with EMSC, and she brings a long list of credentials to the program.
At 18 months, Hostetter learned to ski with the aid of an “edgie-wedgie” at Arapahoe Basin. She grew up skiing at Eldora with EMSC, where her mom was a ski instructor and dad was an engineer at StorageTek. At age 8, she joined Team Summit in Summit County and eventually raced out of Steamboat Springs, climbing the ranks as a successful junior racer. She attended Trofeo Topolino, took silver in Super-G at J-2 Nationals, earned the SSWSC Ned Garner Award, raced in the USSA RMD Governor’s Cup, and was named to Colorado All-Stars Team 2007-2012 and the RMD Regional Team.
Hostetter was a varsity ski racer with the University of Denver for two years, where she was a two-time Academic All-American and NCAA National Team Champion. She then moved to the University of New Mexico, where she graduated in 2013 with a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in physical education in 2015. At UNM, Hostetter was a consistent competitor with top-10 finishes, a Lobo Scholar-Athlete, Co-Team MVP, and All-American. At UNM, she made two trips to the NCAA Championships, and senior year, she led the team and placed a career-best third place in the slalom at the CU Invitational.
From 2016 to 2018. Hostetter served as the head Alpine ski coach at Minnesota’s St. Olaf College, where she managed both the men’s and women’s teams and recruited NCAA student-athletes. Under her leadership, St. Olaf took home two consecutive President’s Cups at the USCSA National Championships.
Today, in addition to her duties as a level 100 Head Coach for EMSC’s U14 racers, Hostetter serves as a referee and a course-setter at races like the Prater Cup, Council Cup, and the CU FIS invitational.
In addition to racing on a scholarship at the highest collegiate level at UNM, Hostetter also met her now-husband and EMSC U16 coach, Joonas Rasanen, a Finnish ski racer who was also competing on the UNM ski team.
“I want to share my love of skiing, all things outdoors, athleticism, laughter, and fun with athletes—helping every athlete reach whatever their highest potential may be. I’m motivated by athlete transformation. Seeing an athlete’s face when they drop their FIS points substantially, qualify for the Junior Championships, or just significantly improve is something that literally brings me to tears. I’m learning something new every day and every year from my athletes, parents, coaches, and officials. Ski racing is a journey, and you have to put in the hard work and dedication to be the best you want to be. But not everyone wants to be a World Cup ski racer when they leave this sport, and it’s important to know that there is an avenue for each and every athlete.” — M.R. Hostetter
