Chad Giese

Chad Giese grew up in Mora, MN, home of the Mora Vasaloppet, watching the best skiers in the country come to town each February.  He set a goal to someday be one of those skiers sprinting down main street for the win in front of a home crowd. He ultimately did just that…and more.

A Minnesota High School State Champion in 1994, Chad went on to a successful college ski career at St. Olaf College and Middlebury College (’98), earning All American honors at NCAA Championships.  After graduating from Middlebury with a degree in Biology and education, he decided to see how far he could go with ski racing. He moved to St. Paul, MN to work with Ahvo Taipale. The MN and Midwest ski communities were integral to his success, supporting him throughout his nearly decade-long full-time racing career.

Highlights from his ski career include:

    • 1994 MN High School State Champion

    • 1998 NCAA All-American / Academic All-American

    • 2005 Super Tour leader

    • 2005 World Cup Competitor

    • 2006 FIS North American Marathon Cup Champion

    • 2007 US National Champion

    • 6 x Mora Vasaloppet Champion

    • 3 x City of Lakes Loppet Champion

    • 3 x Noquemanon Champion

    • 2001-2009 Subaru Factory Team member

Recent involvement:

    • 2022-2026 - Central Division Nordic Combined Coach

    • 2022-2025 - Chair of Central Division Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined

    • 2025 and 2026 - World Junior Championship Nordic Combined Coach - Volunteer

    • 2021-present - Tom Giese Skier Development Fund board member

    • 2025-2026 - Great Lakes Division Coop Member

As a skier, his career was filled with teammates, mentors, advocates, and role models (Ahvo Taipale, Al Serrano, Toby Markowitz, Miles Minson, and many others) that supported his development as a ski racer, but also prepared him for a successful post-ski career transition.

He is excited to join SNØ Racing as a Former Athlete Trustee.  As a young junior skier, Team Birkie was his introduction to high-level ski training.  He remembers attending summer and fall camps, learning from Steve Gaskill the ‘why’ behind training, and volunteering at fund-raisers. These opportunities provided him a solid foundation to build on throughout his career.  With so many strong skiers in the Midwest, the opportunity to support their development in the heart of nordic skiing culture in the US is motivating. He looks forward to helping athletes reach their potential on the race course and off.

Chad lives outside Chicago with his wife Ann and two boys, Anders and Evan.  Both boys have competed in Nordic Combined. They all ski regularly and have worked with the park district to get 5km of groomed skate and classic trails on the local golf course for the Chicago area to enjoy.