Jan Guenther

Hennepin County Board Appointee

The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners appointed Jan Guenther to the Three Rivers Park District Board in 2023. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Duke University and a master’s in business administration with a focus on finance and marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. 
 
Jan founded Gear West Ski, Bike and Run and has owned and operated the Long Lake business for more than 30 years. Prior to that, she worked in retail in Crystal Lake, Ill. She has been a Board Member of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Board of Directors for more than a decade, and she created the Ski de She race, which offers an opportunity for women to come together to expand their cross-country skiing skills, build race confidence and connect with fellow women skiers.

Jan lives with her husband and two standard poodles in Minnetrista. They have two grown boys: Anders, who works in finance for Johnson and Johnson in California; and Connor, who is a Navy diver in Spain.
 

Favorite Place in Three Rivers Park District

The cross-country ski trails at Baker Park Reserve are my favorite place in Three Rivers Park District. I have spent every winter from the moment I moved to Minnesota in 1991 cross-country skiing on some amount of snow at Baker. I have skijored with my dogs on the lower multi-use trail. I know and love every inch of that park.

Jan’s term expires December 31, 2026.