Lauren Jortberg

Quick Facts

• Specialty: Women's cross-country skiing distance and sprint events
• Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, where she started skiing with her family at Devil's Thumb Ranch and Snow Mountain Ranch
• Jortberg grew up chasing her parents and older sister on mountain adventures in Colorado, developing a love for pushing her body in the mountains
• Took a postgraduate year at Stratton Mountain School in 2015 before attending Dartmouth College, where she earned a degree in environmental science

Biographical Information

Lauren Jortberg, who goes by "Lo" or "LoJo," learned to shuffle around the Rocky Mountains with her family before she could walk. Her love for cross-country skiing and the outdoors blossomed while chasing her parents and older sister through the trails of Colorado, and her passion for the sport ignited after her first international start for the U.S. Ski Team in Sweden in 2015. 

Jortberg's path to international racing balanced academics with athletics at Dartmouth College, where she emerged as one of the program's top Nordic skiers. During her collegiate career, she earned three All-America Second Team honors—in the 5-kilometer classic in 2017, the 15-kilometer freestyle in 2018, and the 15-kilometer classic in 2019. She also earned All-East First Team recognition three consecutive years from 2017-19 and was named EISA Female Nordic Skier of the Week in February 2018. Beyond NCAA competition, Jortberg accumulated more than 10 top-20 finishes at the World Junior Championships, U23 World Championships and European Championships.

In 2020, Jortberg suffered a season-ending crash that forced her to sit out her senior season at Dartmouth. The crash resulted in the need for both back and ankle surgery in the summer of 2020, threatening not only her final collegiate season but potentially her entire skiing future. Despite graduating from Dartmouth in June 2020 with her degree in environmental science, she faced an uncertain road to recovery and a difficult decision about whether to pursue professional racing.

Jortberg's resilience and determination carried her through rehabilitation and back to competitive skiing. After graduating, she joined the Bridger Ski Foundation Pro Team in Bozeman, Montana, under the guidance of coach Andy Newell, a four-time Olympian and longtime world cup competitor. In February 2022, she made her world cup debut in Lahti, Finland, finishing just five seconds out of the points—a remarkable achievement for someone racing at the sport's highest level less than two years after major surgery. 

Jortberg achieved her breakthrough top-20 finish in February 2024 at the Canmore World Cup in Alberta, Canada. In the skate sprint, Jortberg placed 19th—a career-best result that came remarkably just weeks after another setback. She had been involved in a car crash that left her with deployed airbags, potential whiplash and concussion concerns, and required more than a week off from training. Yet she returned to deliver a performance that nearly advanced her to her first world cup semifinals, falling just short when teammate Jessie Diggins led an even faster quarterfinal heat.

In 2022, Jortberg made the move east, joining the Stratton Mountain School T2 Elite Team, living and training in Mont-Saint-Anne, Quebec, Canada. She has also found success domestically, with multiple U.S. National Championships podium finishes and a 2024 SuperTour Finals team sprint championship. 

Career Highlights

• World Cup, 2024 (Sprint - Women, Overall - Women, Distance - Women)
• World Cup, 2023 (Sprint - Women, Overall - Women)