All over the world, family and friends are gathering together to celebrate the holiday season. It's a time of year that's typically steeped in tradition for many people and when memories are made with loved ones to last a lifetime. Team USA cross-country skier Julia Kern's Christmases in Germany were just that and she reminisces fondly about the special and unforgettable time.
It was so magical. We do Christmas Eve together. And the next morning, our whole family would go for a ski. We would spend the whole holidays, going skiing.
Kern's parents, Dorothee and Gunther, were born and grew up in Germany. The Olympian and her sister, Nadja, were raised in Waltham, Massachusetts with dual citizenship and a generational love of skiing.
Nearly every year during Christmastime, Kern's whole family would travel to visit her grandparents in Germany, where they still live today. These winter vacations spent in the snow only grew her love of the outdoors and of course, skiing.
The Kern family Christmas tradition always was to ski together as a family on Dec. 25, after they celebrated the holiday on Christmas Eve.
Just being outside in the winter, playing in the snow, what kid doesn't love that?
The future Olympian said she was pulled in a sled until she was able to start skiing on her own as a toddler. "My grandma's like, bribing me with gummy bears and hot chocolate and hot tea to make it to the next intersection," Kern said.
After a day in the snow and cold, Kern said her whole family all would go to a restaurant together on Christmas. "Going out to eat wasn't really a family thing. That was a big, big deal for my family. And so having this big, shared meal after a day of skiing was really special," Kern said.
The Kern family Christmas, nor most any other German Christmas celebration for that matter, wasn't complete without a trip to the world-famous markets for fun with friends, food and of course, gluhwein.
“It's one of my favorite things. It's such a cool tradition that I absolutely love. My family is from Halle, which is near Leipzig, and that Christmas market to this day is still my favorite. It just has this magical feel," Kerns said.
Kern made the U.S. cross-country ski team at 17 years old and skied in her first FIS World Cup two years later. The 28-year-old now is a two-time world championship medalist and 2022 Olympian, who is aiming to compete in Milan Cortina at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Due to her intense and elite training and competition schedule, these days her Christmas vacations look a little bit different. Over the last few years, Kern said she's been forced to spend Christmas outside of Germany because the snow conditions haven't been reliable enough for her to train for the upcoming Tour de Ski, held annually at the end of December. She's typically spent the holiday in Italy or Switzerland over the last couple of years, where she said there's been skiable snow for her and her family. Kern said sometimes her family sticks around Europe after Christmas to watch the beginning of the Tour de Ski and then heads north to see their family in Germany.
This year, Kern is spending her Christmas break in Davos, Switzerland, where the third stage of the cross-country skiing World Cup season wrapped up in mid-December. She will be enjoying time with her mom and boyfriend, before the Tour de Ski starts on Dec. 28 in Toblach, Italy.
Kern currently ranks 32nd in the overall World Cup standings, after she finished 30th in the women's 10km interval start free in Davos on Dec. 14. The official Olympic roster for the U.S. cross-country ski team is expected to be announced around Jan. 20, 2026.