On a crisp October morning in Idaho’s Wood River Valley, John Steel Hagenbuch glides along a roller-ski loop near Dollar Mountain in Sun Valley. His breath is steady, gaze fixed on a horizon only he can see. Each pole push cuts through the chill air with intent.
At 22, the Dartmouth College senior and Stifel U.S. Ski Team B member relishes the adrenaline, the weight of every memory, and the bittersweet anticipation as he approaches the final stretch of his collegiate career before beginning his Olympic pursuit.
Hagenbuch’s focus is razor-sharp. The 2025–26 World Cup season looms, offering a chance to claim one of the coveted U.S. Olympic spots for cross-country skiing in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
“I think about it every day,” Hagenbuch says.
This fall, Hagenbuch returned to Idaho. His training base is in a place that shaped him, both as an athlete and as a person. He grew up attending the Sun Valley Community School from preschool through graduation in 2020. His parents, Jay Hagenbuch and Kim Steel, were alpine skiers who took up Nordic skiing for fun. Hagenbuch tagged along and quickly discovered he had a knack for the endurance and rhythm of the sport.
That passion turned into obsession—and soon, results.
Hagenbuch made his mark in 2019, anchoring the U.S. men’s 4×5-kilometer relay to gold at the FIS Junior World Championships with teammates Luke Jager, Ben Ogden, and Gus Schumacher. They repeated the next year. In February 2025, Hagenbuch took bronze in the U23 World Championships freestyle sprint and finished a career-best 13th in a World Cup race in Östersund, Sweden.
He’s quick to admit that success in Nordic skiing isn’t measured solely in medals.
“It’s a grind,” he says. “Mentally, physically—it’s year-round training, travel, sacrifices. But the little things in between, the van rides and team dinners, that’s what sticks with you.”
Hagenbuch’s results suggest the grind is paying off. Over three consecutive seasons—2023, 2024, and 2025—he has earned seven U.S. national titles in classic and skate. In 2023, he took the 10K skate and 40K classic; in 2024, the 20K and 40K skate; and in 2025, he swept the 10K skate, 20K classic, and 40K classic. His consistency shows an impressive range.
Internationally, he pushes the pace in both sprints and distance, but when it comes to skate distance—especially the 10K—he claims it outright: “If I had to bet on one,” he says with a grin, “it’d be the skate distance.”
This season, Hagenbuch’s schedule is relentless. He left for Ruka, Finland, on November 10 for the World Cup opener, followed by races in Trondheim, Norway, and then Davos, Switzerland. This pivotal early stretch, which spans from November through mid-January, determines Olympic qualification.
Among nine American men with start rights, Hagenbuch knows the competition is fierce. He believes this group will form the core of the Olympic team. Strong results could keep him in Europe through the Tour de Ski—a demanding eight-day, six-race gauntlet across Italy. A setback means returning for U.S. Nationals in Lake Placid, New York.
Balancing his NCAA career with international racing, Hagenbuch capped the 2024–25 collegiate season by winning his second NCAA men’s 7.5K classic title. This victory confirms what many around him believe: he belongs among the world’s best.
Behind the scenes, Hagenbuch credits his mentors for shaping his path. In Sun Valley, longtime coach Rick Kapala, who led the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) for nearly 40 years, helped him find his footing. At Dartmouth, Matt Whitcomb, now U.S. Ski Team head coach, continued that growth. Now, he trains under Peter Holmes with the SVSEF Gold Team.
“I’ve had incredible coaches and teammates guiding me the whole way,” Hagenbuch says. “It’s a sport that looks individual, but you never get there alone.”
That unbreakable sense of camaraderie, the unspoken glue that binds him to his teammates, defines him as much as any result sheet ever could.
Despite being a snow hound, Hagenbuch treasures his summers in the Sawtooth Mountains. Envisioning a perfect day, Hagenbuch thinks about chasing leftover snow high in the backcountry, then biking back to the trailhead. The day would then be finished with wake surfing on Pettit Lake, only to be capped with an evening soak in the Stanley hot springs and watching the sun set over the peaks.
“That’s the dream day,” he says. “Ski, ride, surf, laugh with friends. It’s why I love this place. It keeps it all in perspective.”
Perspective matters as winter intensifies. Every training, race, and finish between now and mid-January could shape his Olympic fate.
For now, on the quiet Idaho loop where his journey began, Hagenbuch pushes on—steady, focused, always chasing a horizon just out of reach.