For Logan Drevlow, hills are just hills—no matter where he is or what the weather is like.
Drevlow, Minnesota’s reigning high school state champion in the boys Nordic ski pursuit race, is also a skilled cross-country mountain biker.
In February, he became the first high school freshman this century to win the individual Nordic title. He helped Hopkins secure third place as a team and earned the Star Tribune Boys Nordic Skier of the Year award.
In March, after winning three races at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Junior National Championships in Lake Placid, New York—the mass start, freestyle, and sprint events—Drevlow had only one week to prepare for the first national mountain biking race of the spring. Despite little preparation, he finished 14th.
“I’m usually pretty rusty,” he said. “I hadn’t done any intervals on the bike. I just went and raced.”
A few months later, he improved his mountain biking performance by finishing third in the Junior 15-16 race at the USA Cycling Cross-Country Mountain Bike National Championships in Pennsylvania.
“I definitely shook the rust off,” he said.
In September, Drevlow earned a spot on the professional Bear National team, which supports riders from across the United States. Most team members live in the West, where mountain trails are abundant. When asked how he prepares without mountains nearby, Drevlow said, “Pedaling hard.”
“I did 90% of my biking last spring on the roads around western Lake Minnetonka,” he added. “I want to ride mountains, but the training works.”
When he’s not riding with friends from the Hopkins Mountain Bike Club, Drevlow often trains alone, doing intense interval rides.
“He will do what he needs to do on his own,” said Hopkins Nordic coach Brett Schulze. “Nobody has to tell him to push harder. He is very motivated, and that dedication inspires the other skiers.”
Drevlow’s parents are passionate skiers. As soon as he and his older sister, Sydney, could walk, they joined Loppet Trail Kids, a Minneapolis-based program offering year-round outdoor endurance activities, including skiing and mountain biking.
Drevlow took to biking quickly. Mountain bike racing and ski racing share a key skill: positioning yourself to gain advantage over opponents. Drevlow learned this skill early on.
“He knows how to draft behind others and handle hills constantly,” Schulze said.
After New Year’s Day, Drevlow will compete in a race in Anchorage, Alaska, which could qualify him for Team USA’s Nordic Nations trip to Europe. His sister Sydney, now a senior at Hopkins and a former Nordic state champion herself, traveled to Norway for the same trip in 2023. She plans to run collegiately for Nebraska and has helped guide Logan in Nordic skiing.
“She went through all the steps first, so when I go through them, I have a better idea of what to expect,” Drevlow said.
Last year, he missed qualifying by just one spot at the qualifier in Utah. This year’s race will conflict with the high school section tournament, preventing him from competing in the state tournament at Giants Ridge in February.
“Because he’s so talented,” Schulze said, “you never know how far Nordic skiing will take him.”
Though balancing skiing and biking is challenging, Drevlow has avoided pressure to choose between them.
“Hills are just hills to him,” Schulze said. “He embraces those challenges.”