Sophia Rouches

ski

@sophiarou

Skiing was Sophia Rouches’ daycare growing up. Living 30 minutes from the closest ski area, she spent her childhood skiing in the Snoqualmie Valley outside of Seattle. Today she’s 90 miles north, anchored between the salty Puget Sound and the steep pillow lines of Koma Kulshan (Mt. Baker).

Sophia specializes in freeride skiing; she focuses her time in the backcountry searching for pillows, cliffs, and building jumps. That’s not to say she hasn’t tried just about every ski style – park and freestyle included – and that she doesn’t enjoy what she calls “long walks” in the spring: Ski mountaineering Washington’s volcanoes.

If that sounds impressive, wait until you find out that she spends her summer as a sea kayaking guide. “Alongside skiing, it’s one of my biggest passions” says Sophia about appreciating the unique way of interacting with water. She’s now the lead guide and operations manager of a sea kayaking company out of Bellingham.

Professional Accomplishments

2020 Feature Athlete in The Approach Film

2020 Feature Athlete in Faction ROOTS

2019 Feature Athlete in Waiting for Winter

2019 Feature Athlete in Aizu

Passion Project

Sophia’s most excited about getting in front of the camera and being the representation in the ski industry that she lacked as a kid. More films about adaptive athletes, BIPOC folx, and people who haven’t traditionally had a space in skiing inspire her to do more herself. Sophia works with different non-profits in her community that support Latinx and migrant youth outside, including swimming, climbing, and exploring the Puget Sound.