John Bauer

I got started skiing while growing up on a 50-acre produce farm in Champlin, MN, around the age of 3 to 4. My brother and I would x-c ski into elementary school when we had time, and often skied home after school. We also ice skated every day in wintertime. Skiing was continuous throughout those early years (Dannon Series xc races, etc), except for junior high school when I ice skated and wrestled in the winter instead of skiing. In between 9th and 10th grade I did a race (I don't recall the name) where the desire to ski race again was rekindled--immensely. It is at this time that I thought and dreamt seriously about the Olympics. I skied throughout high school, which in Minnesota is pretty competitive, and had Bill Koch as a continued ski idol. I took a year after high school to live in Sweden, where I raced and learned from the Swedish ski training system. Following that, I spent two years racing for a community college in Bend, OR. Following a 12th-place finish at World Junior Ski Champs, I was invited onto the US Ski Team. The rest is history, I guess! Many years later I still participate in as many races as practical, having participated in World Masters Championships, US Senior Nationals (even following "retirement"). I get quite a bit of joy from the process of training preparation, more so than from participating in events. While it can be a chore to juggle all of the duties of work, family and skiing, I am able to get up pretty early most mornings and "get out the door" with relative ease. I am not super organized so I rely on a "minivan locker room"-type organization-- storing numerous running shoes, ski boots, poles, rollerskiis and clothes--getting out whenever it's practical. I fit in 530-630 hours of effective (high quality) training hours a year which helps me to cope with the rigors of everyday life. It's something I enjoy a lot still, but there are of course ups-and-downs from year to year, where motivation isn't really high, but then it will return stronger the next year or two.