Rudi Riet

Thirteen years building champions. A lifetime chasing speed.

Rudi grew up skiing Solitude, Utah, but his racing fire started in front of a TV in 1984—watching the Mahre twins and Bill Johnson dominate at the Sarajevo Olympics. That spark never went out.

He raced through the Intermountain Division, specializing in downhill and super-G, competing in FIS and Nor-Am events, multiple Junior Olympics, and two U.S. National Championships. His high school was Rowmark Ski Academy, where he trained under Olle Larsson and Marjan Cernigoj, and spent two summers learning from Joze Sparovec—the coach who taught Rok Petrovic the cross-block slalom technique. Speed was Rudi's happy place. Still is.

His coaching superpower? A critical eye for both technical skiing and the mental game. Rudi's a "book learned, hill honed" coach who knows that developing athletes isn't just about making them faster—it's about building better people. Focus on the task. Follow through, no matter how hard it gets. The mountain teaches life lessons.

When he's not on snow, Rudi's conquering steep climbs on one of his titanium road bikes. He's president of one of the country's largest recreational cycling clubs and co-founder of a cycling PAC. A bike is his happy place when he's not on skis (yes, even in winter). He's also a coffee and beer snob, collects CDs and baseball caps, has only owned manual transmission cars, and is decidedly not a morning person.

What he wants LMRT athletes to know: "Try every drill. Keep repeating it until it's mastered. Always listen, always question. You're never done learning—even old-dog coaches are constantly learning new things. As Greg LeMond said: 'It doesn't get easier—you just get faster.' But in the end: skiing and ski racing should be fun!"

Why he coaches: "I love paying forward my love of skiing and ski racing to new generations!"