Peter Hinds is one of those Anchorage kids who grew up with ski trails and mountains as his playgrounds.

His surroundings propelled him to some marvelous accomplishments — in the span of a couple of months last year, he graduated from UAA with a degree in civil engineering, summited Denali with a team that included his dad and racked up two top-20 individual results at the NCAA Ski Championships.

Among the accolades earned in his final year at UAA was the GCI Born & Raised Award, given annually to a senior who makes outstanding contributions to their team and who graduated from an Alaska high school.

Born and raised in Alaska, yes. But it’s Slovakia that’s taking Hinds to the pinnacle of his sporting career.

Thanks to his mom’s Slovakian roots, Hinds is a member of Slovakia’s 53-member team at the Winter Olympics. The 23-year-old Dimond High graduate is one of the nation’s three cross-country skiers and is scheduled to compete in all four of the men’s individual events in Val di Fiemme, Italy, beginning with the 20-kilometer skiathlon Sunday at 2:30 a.m. Alaska time.

Hinds forged his path to the Olympics in less than a year.

As his college eligibility neared its end last winter, Hinds had a conversation with UAA ski coach Trond Flagstad. “Trond told me I had lots of potential in skiing and I somewhat felt the same,” he said.

“So I found some Slovak skiers on socials and sent some emails and got the ball rolling.”

Equipped with dual citizenship and years of training and racing in Anchorage with the likes of Gus Schumacher, Hunter Wonders and Zanden McMullen — all members of the U.S. Olympic men’s cross-country team — Hinds was welcomed by Zväs Slovenske Lyzovanie, the association that oversees Slovakia’s top skiers, snowboarders and jumpers.

“They’ve been very excited and kind to me,” he said. “They feel like I’m a breath of energy and novelty in their association.”

Hinds is the son of Cory and Elena Hinds of Anchorage, who passed on their love of skiing and mountain climbing.

He and his dad have been on some epic adventures — a couple of years before their Denali summit last year, they skied the Haute Route, a 90-mile backcountry tour in the Alps that goes from Chamonix, France, to Zermatt, Switzerland.

As a child, Hinds visited Slovakia frequently.

“I even spent several months there as a 5th grader — enough to feel like I forgot English at one point,” he said. “Learned the language young and had a taste of living in Eastern Europe — a whole different life than we’re used to in Alaska. Big apartment buildings and community-based living, somewhat reminiscent of Communist times.”

Hinds is flourishing there.

The ski association provides preseason training in places like the Oberhof Snow Tunnel in Germany and takes care of his travel, accommodations and ski-service needs for races.

Gaining similar support from the U.S. Ski Team was unlikely as Hinds neared the end of his college career. The talent level has seldom been higher for U.S. men’s skiing, and only the best of the best get tabbed for World Cup starts and spots on the national team. Hinds is good, but he isn’t a podium contender like Schumacher and other top Americans.

While Americans routinely have scored World Cup points with top-30 (and better) results this season, Hinds is more of a top-60 skier — he finished in the top 60 in six straight World Cup races last month.

Until he became part of Slovakia’s national team, his biggest competitions were national championships, NCAA championships and Super Tour/FIS domestic races. Now he’s on the World Cup circuit full-time, racing at iconic venues, rubbing shoulders with world and Olympic champions he has long admired, and learning what greatness looks like up-close.

“This fall and winter have been a total movie for me,” he said. “We’ve trained in beautiful places in the Alps. Since December 1st I’ve been racing almost every weekend. It’s been 22 races so far this year — loads more than I’ve ever done before. I think last year I did 15 or so total.”

“So I’m gaining experience but I’m also fit and strong enough to absorb all the races and keep going.”

In an Instagram post after his World Cup debut, he said perspective is key: “I try to keep in my mind that I’m new here and to compare myself to these juggernauts will just take time and effort.”

He said he’s happy with some of his results in World Cup and FESA Cup racing and even happier with his consistency.

He completed all six Tour de Ski races, a grueling series for even the strongest World Cup skiers. “Proud to have weathered all 6 races with only one fall and improve my overall rank (60) through the tour,” he noted on Instagram.

Hinds plans to be back in Anchorage this summer, where he said training with the local talent will infuse him with energy and fire, and hopefully make him better.

But for now, it’s all about skiing for Slovakia, the country that helped put Hinds on sport’s grandest stage.

“So yeah, I’ve had quite a story this year and I’m soaking it all up,” he said. “And it’s crazy the next races I’m doing will be the BIGGEST RACES IN THE WORLD!”