For a half dozen Alaska-based Nordic skiers, the new-look World Cup kicked off in Scandinavia the past two weekends with a mixed bag of results: there were top 15s, personal bests, forgettable races and the disappointment of missed events due to illness.
Gus Schumacher competes at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany last season
Those highs and lows are normal for a season that started on November 26 in Ruka, Finland, peaks February 22-March 5 with the World Championships in Planica, Slovenia, and ends in late March in Lahti, Finland.
The biggest change this year is the implementation of equal-distance racing; no longer will men race farther than women. Also, World Cup points are now being awarded to the top 50 at each race (previously only the top 30 scored).
The World Cup also has a different dynamic with the exclusion of the powerful Russian squad due to its war in Ukraine and the retirement of legendary Norwegian Therese Johaug.
Rosie Brennan
After countless hours of training the past eight months — roller skiing, running, weight-room work, team camps and skiing once the snow fell — Alaskans Rosie Brennan, Scott Patterson, Gus Schumacher, JC Schoonmaker, Luke Jager and Hunter Wonders started their 2022-23 journey in Ruka.
Brennan, at age 34 one of the U.S. Ski Team’s veterans, had the most initial success by placing sixth in Ruka’s 20-kilometer pursuit and seventh in the 10K classic.
Unfortunately, Brennan — who also represents the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center — caught a cold and missed all three races Dec. 2-4 in Lillehammer, Norway. This comes at a significant cost for Brennan, who placed as high as fourth at the 2022 Olympics and hopes to challenge this season for the distance and overall podiums.
Hailey Swirbul
“As with many Olympic sports, we don’t have salaries so without sponsors, my income is solely made up of prize money and result bonuses from equipment sponsors. As such, missing a race you consider your biggest strength hits extra hard,” Brennan emailed after the 10K freestyle interval start on Dec. 2. “I am heartbroken with the bad timing of this illness and hope it passes quickly.”
While Brennan is currently the only Alaskan woman on the World Cup, she will likely be joined in January by APU’s Hailey Swirbul. Swirbul started the season off with a bang by winning three races — two sprints and a 10K classic — at the SuperTour in Sovereign Lake, British Columbia. The SuperTour is the top race series in the U.S. and its best performers earn World Cup starts.
Scott Patterson
Meanwhile, Patterson, a South High grad, popped a 14th place in Ruka. That’s a breakthrough at a venue that hasn’t always been kind as he adjusts to another months-long stint in Europe.
The breakthrough was short-lived for Patterson, who has peaked at past world championships and Olympics, as he placed 40th and 57th in Lillehammer.
“I typically haven’t excelled during period 1 on the world cup so it doesn’t feel like doom and gloom,” Patterson told Nordic Insights, a skiing website launched this fall by Anchorage’s Gavin Kentch. “I’m just building a little more race fitness and shedding the summer/fall/early winter training load. I think my fitness is good even though not every race shows that so far.”
The news was better in Lillehammer for a quartet of young Alaskans.
Gus Schumacher
Schumacher, age 22 and representing Alaska Winter Stars, is starting his third season on the World Cup. After placing 32nd in Friday’s 10K freestyle, the Service High School graduate recorded his best result of the young season in Sunday’s 20K mass start classic race, placing 17th just 6.6 seconds behind Norwegian winner Paal Goldberg.
“It’s been a while since I was stringing together good races, so to be getting better and better every time I put a bib on is huge for me,” Schumacher emailed to media outlets. “(Sunday) particularly was a chaotic race, with no big separating features on the course, so the pack stayed together the whole race. Even so, the feeling of being able to be proactive closer to the front than reactive near the back was a good feeling.”
Hunter Wonders
Wonders, a South Anchorage High School grad, recorded his best World Cup result to date in Ruka with 30th in the 20K freestyle pursuit. He followed that up with 31st Sunday in Lillehammer just 10.5 seconds behind the winner of the six-lap race that was tamer than usual after being changed to a classic mass start from a skiathlon (10K of both classic and freestyle) due to low snow conditions and limited available terrain.
Luke Jager
On the sprinting side, Luke Jager reached the quarterfinals and finished 27th overall in Lillehammer’s freestyle sprint. Making the heats — the top 30 from the qualifier do so — was gratifying for the West Anchorage High grad after he placed 40th in Ruka’s classic sprint.
Advancing to the semifinals in Lillehammer was Schoonmaker, a California native who attends the University of Alaska Anchorage but no longer races for the Seawolves. Schoonmaker wound up eighth overall to record his third Top 10 of a fledgling World Cup career. His next goal is to reach the six-skier finals.
JC Schoonmaker
“Definitely happy with today but for sure would’ve liked to make the final and take that next big jump,” Schoonmaker told Nordic Insights. “Today is a step in the right direction and will definitely give me some confidence for the rest of the season.”
The season continues next weekend in Beitostolen, Norway, with a classic sprint, 10K interval-start classic race and 4×5-kilometer mixed-gender relay. Brennan and Patterson were members of the U.S. team that won the first-ever mixed relay this past March in Falun, Sweden.