Alaska’s top skiers prepare for World Cup circuit on heels of historic season

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – When Anchorage’s Gus Schumacher made history for U.S. Ski Team, he wasn’t the only one shedding tears.

”So many people that I run into watched it and cried along with me,” he said. “The people that were crying were crying because they’ve known me and have watched me race … for decades now.

“It’s just cool to be able to share that with people who have really been there the whole way.”

On Feb. 18, Schumacher won the men’s 10-kilometer freestyle World Cup race at the 2024 Stifel Loppet Cup in Minneapolis.

Not only was it the first World Cup race held on U.S. snow in over 20 years, but Schumacher became the first American man to win a World Cup distance race in over 40 years.

It was a historic moment that sent shockwaves throughout the ski communities in Alaska and throughout the country.

”It was huge, having an athlete in Alaska win a World Cup is big,” APU Nordic Ski Center head coach Erik Flora said. “They get to be together training every day, so when your training partner has that success, all of a sudden that voice goes off, ‘hey, if they did it, I can do it.’

“It was a big day, but I think that big day will turn to more in the future.”

Schumacher, a Service grad who won a Junior World Championship in 2020, recently joined the APU Nordic Ski Center program — the “dream team” for any Alaskan skier: APU has sent at least one skier to every Winter Olympics since 1972, with Schumacher among the six who competed in 2022 at the Beijing Games.

Among notable skiers from APU recently are Kikkan Randall (2018 Olympic gold), Rosie Frankowski (2018 Olympian) Holly Brooks (2014 Olympian) Scott Patterson (2018 and 2022 Olympian), and Logan and Reese Hanneman (2018 Olympians), among many others.

The lone two-time Olympian representing APU this year is Rosie Brennan. Originally from Park City, Utah, Brennan has been a part of APU since 2011 as the longstanding skier in the program, though she didn’t necessarily envision being the face of the program when she turned pro.

”I came up to race here in 2009 … and I swore I would never step foot back in the state, and here I am in 2024, living here and training and racing with APU since 2011, so it does crazy things to you,” Brennan said with a laugh. “But it is truly the community that has made this place so special to me. The ski community in particular is really strong and the community that APU has built is very welcoming and has been everything to me.”

Brennan, 35, has been maintaining strong performances year-over-year, with five of her 12 career podium finishes coming last season, including runner-up in the 10K twice and a 20K pursuit. She placed seventh overall in the World Cup Standings.

”I was really happy with a lot of the changes I made in my skiing, technically, last year, so I hope to continue with that and keep that momentum going,” Brennan said. ”The World Championships aren’t until March, so part of the name of the game this year is maintaining — or gaining — fitness until then. It is kind of this dual battle in your brain of like, yeah the World Cup is my race circuit and it is how I make a living and so I want to show up every weekend ready to race, but I also have really big goals down in March, so trying to find that balance between being ready every weekend and hopefully saving the best for [March].”

Luke Jager, 24, would be considered an “up and coming” skier had he not already arrived. Making his Olympic debut in 2022, Jager had an impressive top-25 finish in the men’s freestyle sprint.

That same winter, he won two individual titles at the national championships in the 20K classic and classic sprint, while last year, he became a two-time national champion after placing as the top American in the 10K classic at Soldier Hollow, Utah.

In international events, he felt he could have done better.

”The results were not super good for me, but that is part of the deal,” Jager, the former West Anchorage skier, said. “It was good practice, just riding the lows and leaning on your friends when it’s not going so good and fixing what you can, controlling what you can and doing your best, really.”

Jager has seen international success as a two-time Junior World Champion gold medalist and hopes to improve on the global stage behind his APU teammates and skiing community.

”Our training group is crazy, we have so many of the best people in the country, and now the world too here, which is really awesome because every day, you get to be head-to-head and checking in and learning from people who are so good at so many different things … it’s momentum you can feel,” Jager said. ”It’s pretty fun … to be in a role that a lot of people were in for me when I was younger. People were just so nice to me and let me follow them around and gave me skis and stuff just be like, ‘You can do whatever you want.’

“Definitely when I get older I’ll have to spend time in a PistenBully [grooming machine] setting up races and volunteering to make up for everything I have benefited from so far.”

Qualified skiers from APU will begin World Cup races Nov. 29 in Ruka, Finland. You can find all members of the APU Elite Team here.

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