Schlopy competed in his first ski race at the age of eight. After various successes at regional junior championships, he became a member of the US national ski team at the age of 18. In 1993 he took part in a World Ski Championships for the first time . A serious fall in the downhill race initially interrupted his career. After the Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer in 1994 , which was disappointing for him , Schlopy retired from the national team after the 1994/95 season and joined the professional ski racing series Pro-Tour.
After four years as a professional, he returned to the national ski team in 1999 and developed into the best US ski racer of his time. In the 2000/01 season he took third place in the giant slalom ranking of the Ski World Cup, the best placement by an American since Phil Mahre 1983. The greatest success of his career was at the 2003 World Ski Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland , when he won the bronze medal in the giant slalom. After only finishing 23rd after the first run, he set the fastest time in the second run and moved up to third place.
Schlopy could not win a race in the Ski World Cup. His best placings, two second places, he achieved in December 2000 in the giant slalom in Bormio and in March 2001 in the giant slalom in Åre . His last international race was the giant slalom of Val-d'Isère on December 13, 2008 . In January 2009 Schlopy announced his retirement from ski racing.
Erik Schlopy is married to Summer Sanders , a swimming Olympic champion . He has been a member of the American Ski Association's coaching staff since summer 2013 and looks after various World Cup athletes.
United States
