Sophia Laukli has been absent from podiums of elite trail running competitions since 2023, but she’s currently in the hunt to return to a higher level of running than she’s previously achieved. Laukli, Olympian in Nordic skiing and professional trail runner for Salomon, broke unexpectedly into the trail running world in 2021 as a young twenty-one-year-old Nordic ski phenom from Maine. She’s secured wins at the world’s toughest trail running races, all while training for professional Nordic ski competitions.
In her debut trail running season in 2021, she dominated the Alaskan trail running scene, winning the Alyeska Cirque Series Race. In 2022, she won the prestigious Broken Arrow Skyrace and Norway’s Stranda Fjord Race, as well as placed second at the Flagstaff Sky Peaks 26K. In 2023, she had even more impressive results, securing wins at the Marathon du Mont Blanc, Sierre Zinal, Pikes Peak Ascent and overall win at the Golden Trail Series World Final.
Laukli’s opening seasons as a professional trail runner placed her on a trajectory to be one the best in the sport, but unfortunately she faced many consequences in 2024 from her rapid rise to the top. She reflects on the start of her trail running career, initial wins and recent setbacks that have led to performances she’s not been satisfied with in both trails and skiing, “I didn’t run in high school or college, and Nordic skiing was always the thing for me. I was a full-time athlete, so the opportunity of adding another sport like trail running was unexpected, but I knew I wanted to try it. The year after I signed a contract with Salomon in 2022, I was quite unprepared going into the world of both running and skiing, especially doing the two together. I had a couple of really good years when I first started out because I was young and a little bit more invincible, but then eventually I began to understand what it really takes to be professional at both of these sports and I started to struggle.”
Laukli reflects on her hard learned lessons as she’s matured as an athlete in both trail running and Nordic skiing, “In 2024, I started to notice that I couldn’t race the way I had before. I wasn’t responding to anything in training and it took me a few years to realize what was happening. If I look back at that time, I realize that it’s obvious why I hit the wall so hard. My training had no structure, I was not on top of nutrition and hydration, and I added more and more hours each week of running. I was always chasing more, harder and faster.”
Craving competition
Laukli discovered trail running through training for Nordic skiing, but never used to enjoy it. Her perception of running changed during summer ski training trips to Alaska, Montana, Idaho, and Utah, where she stumbled upon strong and inspiring trail running communities. She describes how she went from disliking running to becoming passionate about it, “I wasn’t really aware of what running could be growing up. I knew running to be on tracks, roads or through golf courses in cross country. I had no interest in doing it. It was painful and I didn’t understand the reward. But with trail running, the motivation is different. It’s happening in wild places, in the mountains and combines competition with a crazy adventure. It’s about going to places you’d never get to go, seeing incredible views and achieving a sense of accomplishment that goes beyond physical effort.”
Laukli describes her first trail races during her summer training season in Alaska in 2021, “I didn’t have the intention to become a trail runner, but I decided to jump into races for fun when I was training for Nordic skiing. For me, the training period for Nordic skiing is quite long and I am quite competitive, so I would find it hard to wait so many months before racing.”
Full potential mindset
While Laukli’s competitiveness has been a strength, it’s also been a source of struggle. She describes her relationship to competition and how it led to her setbacks in trail racing starting in 2024, “I really don’t like racing when I can’t reach my potential. When I first started trail running, I could start every race and feel like I really got everything out of it that I could. But then after becoming super tired from training and racing, I started to not be able to get the most out of myself when I raced. I lost all motivation to race, but not because I lost my competitiveness, more so that competitiveness is what made me want to stop. I didn’t enjoy it when I couldn’t really compete.”
Laukli describes her current approach to training, and her strategies to manage her competitiveness more effectively, “I’m training again after not competing all winter, and I haven’t raced yet this summer. The main motive being I don’t want to be on a start line until I am really able to compete again. There’s certainly an antsiness that goes along with taking such a long break from the sport, and I’m in this process of learning to take things slower than I ever have before. I’m looking forward to racing again. I set the bar high, wanting to be the best in both trail running and skiing. I’ve learned I have to race less in order for me to actually race fast. That means not racing an entire World Cup season in skiing and not racing as many trail races as other professional runners do in the summer.”
Runner or skier?
Laukli is not a dualsport athlete where one sport is a hobby and the other an occupation, she’s world class in both Nordic skiing and trail running. Laukli describes how her focus on trail running expanded from a fun, competitive activity that complimented her ski training, to a full-time occupation, “At first, running was something that I didn’t focus on the training for. I was lucky that the ski training I was doing prepared me very well for those running races, but now the level of trail running is so much higher that you have to be a lot more intentional in how you train for trail races if you want to be at the top.”
While not sporting disciplines are not complementary, Laukli has realized how Nordic skiing and trail running certainly are. She describes the benefits of Nordic skiing for trail runners, “Skiing or roller skiing in the summer allows me to train twenty-five hours a week, instead of ten or fifteen. This extra volume can help you with longer races and is beneficial for injury prevention for runners. Having a winter sport to break up the running training can be really healthy too and get you in great shape from the high intensity racing.”
Norwegian constant
“Quality training means something different for everyone, but for me that means finding my place and spending actual time there. I haven’t ever done that until recently. That consistency is something I’ve never had but what I know I need to take me to the next level.” —Sophia Laukli
Above all else, there is one thing Laukli has learned from her athletic setbacks in 2024: the benefits of consistency in training. Laukli describes her reflections on changes to her training patterns, “I had always been bouncing around with different coaches since the start of my skiing career. From high school, to Middlebury for two years, to the University of Utah, then different coaches during summer seasons, I never had a coaching relationship that felt consistent. That led me to doing things on my own, or following what everyone else was doing.”
In summer 2025, Laukli decided to find a coach. She shares her thoughts on this decision, “I finally understand how much confidence you can build from having a coach that works with you, listens to you, and that you trust. It makes training more fun when you both know why you’re doing what you’re doing in training.”
In addition to her coaching consistency, Laukli has also sought similar steadiness in her training environment. With a Norwegian father and dual citizenship, Laukli decided to move to the mountains of Norway in 2025, a country she had traveled to many times in her childhood to visit family. Laukli speaks on how her new training environment compliments both her skiing and trail running goals, “Having a place to enjoy training is something I definitely overlooked. I’ve never lived so consistently in one place and I’ve always jumped at every travel opportunity, never feeling like I’ve had a homebase. After moving up to Norway, I’ve had a textbook training set up. I have ski trails in the winter, roads in the summer to roller ski on, and trails to run on. I use my car maybe once a month because I’ve got all I need to train right here at home.”
Laid-back AND driven
Despite her trail running setbacks, Laukli has continued to find joy in the sport through the community. Her perspectives as both a professional Nordic skier and trail runner have given her unique insights into each of these communities, “I enjoy spending time in both communities, though I do notice a bit of a shock each time I switch seasons and spend more time with one community or the other. I previously thought that since skiing and running are both similar endurance-heavy sports that their communities would be similar, but that is certainly not true. They are very different and I see positives and negatives in both.”
One of the distinguishing factors of the trail running community that Laukli appreciates is the comradery, “Trail races are less high strung and more social. Skiing for me can feel less social because I just hang out within the National Team. With trail running it feels more acceptable to meet with people not on your team, who you have raced against a lot, and it’s overall really welcoming.”
While Laukli enjoys the relaxed side to trail running, she admits that the recent growth in competitiveness in the sport suits her. She describes the balance of competition and comradery that draws her to the trail running community, “I was definitely shocked at the lack of pressure or high-strung tension, compared to skiing, in trail races when I first started. That has definitely changed, but also the laidbackness isn’t gone. In general, trail racers can switch on the focus and intensity more than they did a few years ago, but still keep things more relaxed and fun. This is the perfect balance for me. I want competitiveness, I want it to feel professional, but I also want that friendliness to always be there.”
Follow Laukli’s training and comeback on her Instagram here.
