When most Colby-Sawyer students are heading out for spring break, Alicia Socia ’28 will be in Norway preparing to  compete in the 2026 FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships. 

The crime and legal studies major will be representing Peru in the giant slalom event Thursday, March 12, and the slalom event Saturday, March 14, at the Narvikfjellet ski resort above the Arctic Circle.  

“The Peru ski team has two of us, and I’m the only junior; the other athlete is too old to compete at Junior Worlds,” she said. “So, it’s just me representing the entire country.”  

Socia’s mother was born in Peru, a South American country of about 34 million people, which includes Machu Picchu and a portion of the Amazon rainforest.  

Socia, who grew up in Albany, Vermont (population 976), will train for about a week in Norway before she and other 16- to 21-year-old elite skiers from approximately 60 countries race for a spot on the podium. 

On race day, Socia keeps things simple rather than following a rigid routine. She talks with teammates and family, then warms up and focuses on feeling the course. “I ski better,” she said, “when I’m reacting instead of trying to memorize everything.” 

For Socia, the 30 seconds in the gate prior to the start is the most stressful part of the race. “There’s a clock right in front of you. It counts down the seconds until you’re allowed to go, and you're just standing there waiting while you know the cameras are filming you from a few different angles,” she said. “It’s 30 seconds of pain. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, remind myself to have fun, and then I go.” 

Once she’s tripped the pin, Socia's nervousness vanishes. “It’s pure instinct,” she said. “It happens so fast that I don’t really remember it afterwards.” 

This will be Socia’s second time participating in the Junior World Ski Championships; in 2025, she placed 45th in the slalom in Tarvisio, Italy. While she wasn’t thrilled with her times, Socia was proud that she completed the course; 56 competitors did not.  

“It was the toughest course and longest course I’ve ever skied in my life,” she said, alluding to the ice, trenches and gate placement. “I was just trying to finish. I thought, ‘I need to get a finish for Peru, especially since my family in Peru is watching. And I really want to wave to the camera at the bottom so they can see me.’ By the time I crossed the finish line, I’d never been so tired. I was gasping for air.” 

This is Socia’s first season at Colby-Sawyer with the women’s alpine ski team. In fall 2025, she transferred from Colgate University, which didn’t have a squad. Socia, who had trained at Burke Mountain Academy and Waterville Valley Academy throughout her youth, missed competitive skiing. So, during her first year at Colgate, she began looking at colleges that had teams. 

Colby-Sawyer's small class sizes, its proximity to her family and its alpine ski program got her attention. And when Socia — who's interested in a law career and wants to be a judge — found out about the crime and legal studies major, she knew she’d found the right place to continue her academic and athletic careers. 

Socia learned to ski a year or two after she learned to walk. “I would go straight (down the mountain). I had no fear and would get away from my dad,” she said. “He got one of those leashes they put on kids when they’re learning how to ski to hold me back.” 

Socia has embraced other interests, too, including playing piano since the age of 5 and gardening and caring for animals — pigs, llamas, chickens, cows, sheep and goats — on the family farm in Vermont.  

Making headlines isn’t new to Socia; she was featured in newspapers and on TV for being the first baby born in 2005 in Connecticut. 

She’d like to make headlines again in Norway. “When you’re at the start, there’s a camera behind you, and when you get to the bottom, there’s a camera at the finish that you get to wave to,” Socia said. 

“They announce your name and where you’re from, and they even know every ski team you’ve been on. There’s also a huge TV screen at the bottom that you’re projected on, and when the camera follows you through the finish corral, you can see yourself on it. It feels so professional.” 

In four years, Socia plans to compete on an even larger stage. “My long-term goal,” she said, “is to go to the Olympics and represent Peru.” 

FIS Alpine YouTube will feature video highlights of races and U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation) will post results. Instagram and Facebook will also post highlights. Socia also plans to post from Norway on her Instagram account, @alicia.socia.