TLDR: Lauro Eklund is a Two Rivers, Alaska, musher and guide who appears on Mountain Men. He finished the Iditarod 26th in 2024, 14th in 2025 and 8th in 2026. Checked October 26, 2026.
Lauro Eklund spent his childhood around dogs, rivers and a father who had already run the Iditarod. In 2026 he reached Nome in 8th place, the best finish of three races.
He is one of the Mountain Men cast who raced and also one of four reality-TV names with an official record in our Iditarod guide.
Growing Up on the Yukon River
The Iditarod’s bio says Eklund was born and raised in Alaska and spent time in the bush on the Yukon River with his father, Neil. They logged, trapped, set nets and hunted.
HISTORY’s cast page adds that he lived on a log raft that he and his father floated down the Yukon each summer. Neil Eklund ran the Iditarod in 1981 and 1983, according to an Iditarod.com profile.
The First Dog
At 17 he bought his first dog, Annie, for $600 and two cords of firewood, per the Iditarod’s bio. An Iditarod.com profile says the dog came from Lester Earhart.
After high school he worked and trained with Lance Mackey, who gave him leaders and taught him long-distance mushing, according to that profile. He then moved to Two Rivers.
HISTORY says he grew his kennel to more than 30 Alaskan huskies over about ten years. He uses the team for hunting, trapping, guiding and racing.
Skookum Expeditions
Eklund and his father run Skookum Expeditions out of Fairbanks, which offers guided hiking and sled dog trips. The Iditarod lists him as a guide and musher, aged 29 in March 2026.
The Iditarod says he has raced many events, including the Yukon Quest, but its pages do not list his qualifying races. We have not found those from another source, so we will not guess at them.
2024, the Rookie Race
Eklund arrived in Nome on March 15, 2024, and finished 26th, which that profile says matched his father’s rookie placing in 1981. Monsters and Critics reports that an injured dog cut his team to 11 healthy dogs and that he finished in 11 days, 21 hours and 22 minutes.
His father greeted him under the Burled Arch. That race was the focus of the Mountain Men season 13 finale, which aired December 26, 2024.
2025, Moving Up to 14th
In 2025 he reached Nome on March 16 and finished 14th in 12 days, 13 hours and 10 minutes with 10 dogs. The Iditarod’s race report says he ran beside his team on Front Street to keep pace with Anna Berington, who finished 13th.
That report’s headline lists him as 13th, but its text and photo caption say 14th, and the News-Miner also gives 14th. We use 14th.
2026, the Top Ten
Eklund finished 8th in 2026 in 10 days, 3 hours and 19 minutes, per the Iditarod, which called it his first top-ten finish. The News-Miner says he hugged champion Jessie Holmes at the finish and joked that he kept his schedule better between camps than at checkpoints.
Sources differ on his team at the finish, with the Iditarod’s log showing 12 dogs and the News-Miner saying 11. Connor McMahon of Wild North raced the same event, and we compare the two in the Iditarod guide.
How Mountain Men Used His Racing
We could confirm that the show followed his 2024 rookie race in its season 13 finale. We could not confirm which season he joined or how many episodes feature him.
His HISTORY bio presents the Iditarod as one part of a working dog operation.
What He Does Now
The Iditarod and HISTORY describe him as a musher and guide who still runs Skookum Expeditions with his father. We left out family life, income and home address, since the sources we used do not cover them.
Lauro Eklund Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Lauro Eklund?
The Iditarod’s Iditarod.com profile lists him as 29 in March 2026.
Is his father Neil Eklund still involved with dogs?
The Iditarod bio says Neil ran the Iditarod twice and that father and son run Skookum Expeditions together.
Where did Lauro Eklund finish in the 2026 Iditarod?
Eighth, in 10 days, 3 hours and 19 minutes.
Is Lauro Eklund on the Wild North spinoff?
We found no source placing him in Mountain Men: Wild North. He appears on the original series.
