Nikki LaRochelle – Mother, Artist, Athlete

Hours before the chairlifts start turning, Nikki LaRochelle has already done a few laps. If she’s training for a competition, there’s a chance she’s climbed and descended 10,000 vertical feet before most people have had breakfast. The 38-year-old Breckenridge local never thought that uphill racing would be her forte, but she’s won numerous ski competitions in which gravity was, for the most part, not on her side and she just won the 2024 Grand Traverse Women’s Race.

As seen in Breckenridge Magazine by Shauna Farnell

Most people would argue that LaRochelle has plenty of gifted abilities and not just in the realm of physical endurance. A mother of two girls (Teagan, 1, and Penny, 7), LaRochelle is a talented graphic artist who has designed posters and signs for high-profile clients, including the Town of Breckenridge. Those amusing cartoon signs you see out on the singletrack (“slow your roll,” “nobody cares about your Strava,” etc.) are her handiwork. She’s also on the Breckenridge Open Space and Trail committee, teaches the Breck Ski Patrol winter conditioning class every fall, and coaches endurance athletes.

“In the ski mountaineering world, I’d say my weakest link is the climbing,” she says.
“I think I’m better at all the other parts of it – the transitions, the downhill. Those are more my strong suit. But certainly, speaking to my former self, I have made a great deal of improvement in my climbing.”

Growing up in Grand Junction, LaRochelle made regular ski trips to Breckenridge with her parents. Her father, town planner Bob Arcieri, moved to Breckenridge in 1970 and along with architect Jon Gunson, played a major role in designing Main Street and the landscapes around town. Although he and his wife, Deb Finley, moved back to Grand Junction in 1982 before having their son and daughter, they continued visiting Breck. LaRochelle, who moved to Seattle for a couple of years after graduating from Colorado State University with a degree in graphic design and art history, always viewed Breckenridge as her happy place. She moved here full time in 2008.

With skimo scheduled to make its inaugural Olympic appearance in the 2026 Games, LaRochelle hopes for the chance to coach an aspiring high school athlete to the big stage.

Although she played soccer in high school and advanced her skiing skills to the point that she could do a back flip and a series of other tricks in the terrain park, LaRochelle didn’t realize her true athletic potential until she moved to Breckenridge. However, when it came to cardiovascular endeavors, she claims the learning curve was a slow burn.

Like many community members, she’s concerned that Breck is becoming too expensive for locals. Still, the skimo champ never goes a day without feeling a deep sense of gratitude for where she lives.

“Brad, my now husband, introduced me to mountain biking, Nordic skiing, ski touring,” she says. “I think I have some athletic ability, but those things took me so long to get good at. I remember being at the base of Carter Park on a mountain bike, not understanding gearing or cadence. I remember thinking it was physically impossible to bike up Carter Park. It felt so unattainable. When I started out doing the trail races, it was like, who are these people?”

“I just hope it’s still livable for these kids who grow up here and want to stay here,” she says. “It is an incredible place. Every time I see the sunrise or the sunset, I’m like, what? I live here.”

“That would be the ultimate dream,” she says.

Ask any local who competes in endurance sports and they will tell you that LaRochelle is now, without a doubt, one of “those people.”

She started competing in ski mountaineering races (skimo, as it is popularly known) in 2012 and joined the US National Team in 2017. She won the grueling Power of Four skimo race in Aspen two years in a row (2018 and 2019), competed internationally and most recently, notched the Grand Traverse Triple Crown title, winning the co-ed team category of the skimo race from Aspen to Crested Butte last April with her husband (they were fourth overall) and won the crown with top results in the event’s mountain bike and trail running races last September. She’s also competed in a handful of 100- and 50-mile trail running races, landing on the podium in the High Lonesome 100, a rugged race in the Sawatch Mountains that gains 23,500 feet of elevation.

Your 2024 Grand Traverse Women’s Champions! Nikki LaRochelle and Kelly Ahern in a time of 7 hours and 5 minutes. Photo Courtesy of Grand Traverse, Crested Butte Nordic Center

“In the biggest picture, I was not a gifted athlete. I never was,” LaRochelle says. “It’s by sheer will and hard work that I’ve made any progress whatsoever, which I hope is inspiring to people. Any accomplishments I’ve achieved have just come from work and dedication and not gifted ability.”

With skimo scheduled to make its inaugural Olympic appearance in the 2026 Games, LaRochelle hopes for the chance to coach an aspiring high school athlete to the big stage.

“That would be the ultimate dream”, she says.

Like many community members, she’s concerned that Breck is becoming too expensive for locals. Still, the skimo champ never goes a day without feeling a deep sense of gratitude for where she lives.

MWM ^^^