Born and raised in Hailey, ID, Annika grew up skiing for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and quickly became enchanted with the rigors, challenges and supportive community of competitive ski racing. Annika pursued her competitive goals at Middlebury College, where she achieved consistent top-10 results on the EISA collegiate circuit, won a Junior National Championship, qualified for U23 World Championships, and two NCAA Championships. After graduating college in 2020, right at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she returned home to join the Sun Valley Gold Team, and raced for them one season, before joining the Craftsbury Green Racing Project where she skied for two years.
After three seasons racing on the SuperTour circuit, which included a top-10 American Birkebeiner finish, a 3rd place at the Boulder Mountain tour, and multiple top-15s, primarily distance races, she decided to try something new and more suited to the training and racing that she loves. This past season, she transitioned away from chasing World Cup dreams, and joined the newly revamped Enjoy Winter Factory Team, with the goal of racing domestic marathons and, more importantly, ‘rediscovering’ her love for skiing. Her first season was a resounding success. Season highlights included taking the wins in the Ski de She and Craftsbury Marathon, an agonizingly close 2nd in the Boulder Mountain Tour, 3rd in the Tour of Anchorage, and a top 15 at US Nationals.
Besides skiing, Annika is excited about developing her endurance in ultra trail running, ski touring, cycling, and other mountain adventures and you can often find her scheming on strava or caltopo for the next big quest. She believes fundamentally in embodying sport as a lifestyle and a sustainable lifelong pursuit, and strives to be open and honest about her experiences as an athlete and the challenges and joys that endurance sport can bring.