Athlete of the Week: 10 questions with Anders Giese, cross-country skiing

Anders Giese is a senior at New Trier High School who competes in Nordic combined and cross-country skiing. He will cross-country ski for Colby College starting next year.

1. What do you do to prepare for a competition?

The night before (race day) I look at the weather and set out what I’m going to wear — check the temperature, the conditions. When I get to the course, I test the skis first and pick out ones that are the fastest and hand them to my dad, who waxes them and makes them even faster. I do my warmup — race-pace intervals, sometimes energy gel — and then go race

2. Why is Colby a good fit for you?

In my college recruiting process, I really wanted to go to a small liberal arts school. I really enjoy learning. And that aligned with my academic interests. Colby is a pretty good school academically and one of the best ski schools in the country. I did a regional elite group camp this summer and the (Colby) coach was there and I hung out with her for like a week and thought she was a great coach and then when I visited this fall, the team was awesome and super nice and I could see myself there.

3. How did you get into competitive skiing?

My dad cross-country skied professionally for 10 years. He grew up in northern Minnesota, was a high school state champ and skied at Middlebury in Vermont. He was actually an alternate for the Olympics in 2002 and 2006. My family has always been a skiing family, even being in Chicago, where no one else skied competitively. In like 2018, I tried the Norge Ski Club (Fox River Grove, Illinois) and thought it was super cool. Then the pandemic hit and I went more and more. In 2021, I made the junior national championships (Colorado) and got top 10 there. I really enjoyed it. I was looking at my future and deciding what to do after high school and thought cross-country skiing in college was the best choice.

Nordic combined (jumping plus cross-country skiing) is a really small sport and there are not a ton of options after high school. Like I said earlier,I really value education and wanted to go to college and cross-country ski. … Beyond that, the future of Nordic combined as a sport is not totally certain. It’s the only Olympic sport that’s not gender equal. Something the community is fighting for is gender equality. It hasn’t come yet. … With all that uncertainty, the best option for me was to shift my focus toward cross-country.

4. What are a couple of things that are important to know about cross-country skiing?

The Wilmette golf course, whenever there is enough snow, grooms trails. It’s a very accessible sport around here. Whenever there is snow, there are a ton of skiers out and it’s a total blast. … Three winters ago, there was enough snow to groom trails and it was awesome. If we have snow like that, I totally recommend going out there.

The second thing, I get a lot of questions about is how I train. I roller ski. If you cut the mid-section out of a pair of snow skis and put wheels on it, you can ski on pavement. … So I can go on bike trails and stuff. I also run with (New Trier’s) cross-country team.

5. What has been your top moment in the sport?

In 2024, I qualified for the youth Olympic games in South Korea. I competed for Team USA and that was an awesome experience — going to South Korea with some of your best friends and teammates and family and going to race against people my age from the rest of the world.

6. What would be your dream job?

If I could do anything, I think I’d do some sort of research, whether biomedical engineering or environmental science. I think doing research is super cool. I enjoy learning and discovering new things. I think the research part of science is immensely interesting.

7. If you could try another sport, what would it be?

I love Alpine skiing, but if I could do another, it would be cycling. I love watching the Tour de France. I love watching bike racing and biking around here.

8. If you are in Walgreens with a couple bucks, what are you buying?

I think my go-to is a lemon-lime Gatorade, some Twizzlers and Lay’s salt and vinegar chips.

9. What is something people don’t know about you?

I really enjoy knitting. I took it up last year. When I’m traveling I just knit stuff. I’ve knit a sweater, a couple hats, a small blanket, a couple of scarves. It’s super relaxing and something good to pass the time.

10. What keeps you going in this sport?

I think the people and the joy the sport brings. The community and the fulfillment it brings. Part of what I love about endurance sports in particular is the people, going out for a two-hour ski with other people with no distractions, no phones, no TV, just you, your skis and your buddies. I think that is pretty amazing. The feeling of crossing the finish line, achieving your goal. No mater if you’re first or 25th, knowing you did your best that day is a really good feeling.

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