December 18, 2015 – We want to thank you for your support of the APUNSC. As a result of your support the APU Nordic Ski Center had 4 athletes representing the U.S.A. at the 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden, 10 athletes on the Europa Cup, 9 U.S. National Medalists, 29 top 10 finishes, and U.S. National Relay Champions. In addition, APU Juniors were awarded the USSA Junior Male club of the year and 2nd overall club of the year. APU as a whole won the National Nordic Foundation overall club of the year for the 3rd consecutive year! We owe you, our supporters, a warm thank you for the success at all levels of the APUNSC! We hope you will consider continuing to support the dreams of the athletes with a financial contribution.

APU Team 2015 Spring Nationals SuperTour Finals, Sun Valley © APU

This season APU athletes are setting their sights high again and your support is needed to help athletes reach their individual and team goals. This season our goals are focused on the two main World Cup tours, the Tour de Ski,Tour of the Rockies, U.S. Nationals, Super Tour, and the World U23/Jr Championships. This is an incredible team, both on and off the race trails; the following story by APU Elite Team member Rosie Frankowski is a good example:

When I read last year’s Olympic story from Sadie Bjornsen, I thought, “How could I provide a story that lives up to her experience?” Sadie’s story focused on the U.S. women’s contribution to the 2014 Finnish Olympic relay medal. I on the other hand, have never been in contention for an Olympic medal, much less been on an Olympic team-in fact, I have never even raced on the World Cup. Yet after some thought, I realized I wrongly interpreted the story. Sadie did not write about individual success, or even success for the U.S. Olympic team.

She demonstrated how it takes a community, both near and far, to create success like Olympic medals. This idea of community is one of the strongest elements APU’s Nordic Ski Center possesses. After living in some of the United States cross country ski meccas, I still am astonished by the sheer number of athletes, supporters and businesses that make up APU. From the unique relationship with the University to the 200+ Junior, Master and Elite team athletes in the program, APUNSC represents something unmatched throughout the United States.

Not everyone is going to win an Olympic medal. In fact, not everyone is going to even win a race. That is the point of competition: there is one winner and there are many losers. At the end of the day, race results offer a moment of glory, usually forgotten by the next race. The real significance comes in the journey. The relationships and friendships you establish, the travels you adventure on and the memories of finding the physical edge and riding it, often to new highs.

30k U.S. Nationals leaders Rosie Brennan, Chelsea Holmes and Sadie Bjornsen © Flying Point Road

Last season I had one of my best results, and hardest races, in the 30k Skate at U.S. Distance Nationals. The race itself started around 11am,with a course almost totally in the sun, at an elevation of 7,600ft in Galena, Idaho. It was a mass start on a 5k lap course that the men raced their 50k on, right before our start. Snow conditions deteriorated rapidly, creating a slush fest of sweat and sunburn-roasting all the racers in the spring heat. Long distance skating is my favorite, and out of the start I decided to be gutsy and stay with the lead pack as long as possible. Outside of the top two athletes, the leaders were my teammates: Sadie, Rosie and Chelsea, with a smattering of a couple other racers for the first few laps. The course climbed for three kilometers before spinning down in the stadium. This climb was the only chance I had to hang on to the group, and for the first 10k, I managed to pinball off the back, catching up on the ups and falling back on the flats. While watching my teammates alternate the lead, I felt right at home. This was like every APU practice all summer and fall. I saw Chelsea destroy the uphill with her V2, Sadie push the pace over the top and along the flats, and Rosie charge through the stadium. They were racing, against the field behind them, but also pushing each other with each of their strengths. This allowed them to work together, using their individual talents to push their trio to a new level of speed.

After the first third of the race, I fell back into a race of my own: me against the elements. While I could see my teammates when we would lap through the stadium, during most of the lap I was entirely alone-no one in sight neither in front nor behind me. Any time I would start to let up on the pace I thought back to fall rollerski intervals on Clark’s Road, where my teammates and I suffered through all weather conditions to put in the work that makes cross country skiers. During those too I would often get dropped and end up skiing a hundred meters behind, but there was an expectation that you were giving it everything you had. We all suffered through some painful workouts of summer and fall training together, and now we were suffering through this outrageously slow race together. Although I was not skiing in their group, the energy and perseverance of my teammates ahead of me gave me a rope to cling onto. Watching them use each of their abilities to best race the course reminded me to ski the uphills smoothly, push the pace on the flats and ski the technical downhills well. Instead of being out on the course alone I was out on the course with my team: the team that supported me through every hard training session all year, and the team that would carry me through surviving this race.

Finally, after almost two hours, I finished the race. I finished 7th, my best finish at a national championship among a field of that level. My teammates I followed claimed 3rd, 4th and 5th. APU had the strongest representation in the top ten of any program in the United States. The best part about this race was not my individual accomplishment, or even the results of our team. The best part came through the teamwork exhibited out on the course to bring our team to a new level. This teamwork not only included the racers out skiing, but our wax techs, coaches, administrative support and club members back in Alaska. While we represented ourselves to the absolute best of our collective abilities, we represented that very thing that defines APU: community. This cumulative effort of all involved allows APU to produce national champions, Olympic athletes and inspire athletes of all ages and ability, throughout Alaska and beyond. Your role in this community creates this incredible momentum.

Thank you.

– Rosie Frankowski APU Elite Team Member

Without your belief in the APUNSC, we could not serve the community through our mission: “To develop world-class Nordic skiers and to promote the participation in the sport of Nordic skiing in the community.” We thank you, many of who are our members. This serves as the base for the development of the world’s best Nordic skiers, beginning with the junior programs. The culture inspires and excites the youth and masters teams to follow and be fans of our elite team.

This season, we have 3 athletes racing Period 1 of the World Cup and 25 athletes competing at the US National Championships. The cost to send these athletes to the US National Championships is $3,500 each, which includes wax, room, board and flight.

Please consider supporting the dreams of the APUNSC athletes with a financial contribution.

Thank you for your support,

Erik Flora, Program Director on behalf of the APU Nordic Ski Center Athletes

P.S. You can securely donate online to the Nordic Ski Center here.