“The one time I went cross-country skiing as a child,” says Edina High School senior Jen Rolfes, “I hated it. I went with my mom and grandma, and all we did was walk up a hill and ski down it.”

These are unlikely words coming from the captain of EHS’s Nordic Ski Team who made All-State last year when she placed No. 7 in Minnesota’s Nordic Ski Championship.

But Rolfes didn’t set out to be one of the fastest high school Nordic skiers in the state. She joined the ski team in seventh grade after her first cross-country running season because so many of her running teammates also skied. “I had such a great time running with them, so I thought I should give skiing another try.” Rolfes’ mother, who remembered her daughter’s adamant dislike for skiing as a child, was doubtful that Jen would stick with it, but she quickly proved she was serious about skiing.

“You can tell middle-school students from high-school students because they often lack the maturity—just because they are younger than the high school students,” says Andy Turnbull, who has been Rolfes’ coach at EHS for the last five years. “But Jen was never like that. She’s always had an amazing level of maturity, and she works incredibly hard.”

Skiing quickly became a priority for Rolfes. At the end of seventh grade she began to train with the Minnesota Valley Cross Country Ski Team, which draws skiers from across the Twin Cities. As a beginning skier, she sometimes felt like she was in over her head. She admits that when she traveled to Utah with the Midwest Junior Olympic team in ninth grade, she wasn’t prepared for the difficulty of the Salt Lake Olympic trails.

But her coaches supported and encouraged her, and her skills improved quickly. “It helps to have the same coaches year after year,” she says. “They know you and really believe in you.” Rolfes went from finishing almost last in the 2007 Junior Olympics to finishing seventh and making All-American in the 2008 Junior Olympics. She was voted most-improved on the Midwest Junior Olympic Team.

“Jen is always upbeat, and she’s a great listener, which is necessary skill when you’re being coached,” says Randy Gibbs, one of Jen’s MN Valley coaches. “She learns quickly and is an example to others. The younger girls really look up to her.”
 
But it takes more than a good attitude and listening skills to go to the Junior Olympics three years in a row and be one of the top high school women skiers in the state; it also takes dedication. “Cross-country skiers are unique individuals who have to be really motivated to train,” coach Turnbull says. “So often we lack ideal training conditions. Sometimes it’s bitter cold or there is sloppy, wet snow or no snow at all. But we still train.”

Rolfes spends an average of 15 hours a week practicing during peak training times and during the summer, when she spends mornings training with the MN Valley team. “Cross-country skiing at this level takes a lot of heart and hard work,” Gibbs says. “Sometimes it means waking up early and heading to the track before school, even when it’s zero degrees.” 

Skiing at this level also requires sacrifices. Rolfes has skipped trips with her church youth group because she didn’t want to miss a week of practice in the summer, and admits that out-of-state ski trips during the school year can be stressful. “Last year, I missed seven days of school to go to California for the Junior Olympics,” she says, “so I had to make up work and coordinate this with my teachers.”

But Rolfes acknowledges that it’s been worth it. “Traveling has expanded my horizons. I’ve gone to some real cool places, including Anchorage, and each year I’ve gone to the Junior Olympics, I’ve been the only Edina kid there. It’s exciting to realize there’s something beyond Edina.”