This has always been my fear of the Hokas. I go the opposite direction for my trail shoes and use Inov-8. There's usually a few times that I can catch what would normally be a step that would roll an ankle and catch myself before the dreaded pop. This is also why I don't run in stability shoes anymore even though I've got fairly flat feet. I trained myself to have more of a midfoot strike, and the issues I had from pronation are gone. I had a few bad sprains in my first few years of doing trail runs, all with thicker soled shoes and have been using Inov-8's since about 2011-2012ish.

I'm doing almost 100% trailing running right now, and only run on the road when I have to. Current shoes are Clifton 2's and 4's (I had a pair of 5's but loved them and ran them into the ground, pun intended).

I haven't had an issue and I have very weak ankles as I've broken both, to the point of requiring surgery, in the last 11 years and the most recent was 2 years ago. So my ankles are pretty weak overall but I don't have an issue with trail running in Cliftons. Having said that, I haven't owned a pair of trail specific shoes but they will be my next pair.

But for n+1 I can say that I haven't had an issue, and I would be a prime candidate for it.

A few years ago I rolled an ankle wearing Hokas (can't recall the model, but was trail specific) descending on a trail with a slight bend. Took a long time to get the ankle back to where it should be. After that I have stuck with salomon speedcross which have a high drop, but feels much more stable and sit lower to the ground. I've never felt there was risk in rolling an ankle like I did in the hokas and this has been corroborated through doing many miles on the trails with tons of vert, a couple of 50ks where my sub-par form is absolutely falling apart. Just my experience.

When running on the roads, fit of your shoes is critical but you can get away with a shoe that doesn’t fit perfectly. Maybe the midfoot has slightly too much volume. Maybe your heel slips ever so slightly. On the trail you can’t have any of that. The shoe has to fit perfect. I would be critical about that part first. Is the fit perfect. Also because you said it happens at this time of year, maybe there are things you should do leading up to the trail season that keep your lower leg strength up. Once or twice a week with a good session of running form drills would help a great deal. Search you tube there are plenty of videos.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

Yes. I drank the Hoka Kool-Aid, and ran in them for about two years. I went from age 12 to about age 40 amazing with zero significant trail running injuries. In Hokas I injured myself twice. I got a pretty serious ankle sprain from a roll (out for a month). And then I tweaked a tendon in my knee in a separate incident where I nearly rolled my foot while bombing a descent (out for 2 months). That was the end of my Hoka experiment. And I haven't been injured in the ~3 years since.

It could just be bad luck. But I suspect that the shoes magnify the effects of rolling your foot. I've rolled my foot hundreds (thousands?) of times over the years. Normally I just hobble for a few steps, and am off and running again.

Try Hoka speedgoats on the trail instead of the Clifton, which I think are more of a road shoe.

I've run trails for 30 years, the last few years in Hokas. No problems. I have the Speedgoat 2 now but have run in Challenger (trail version of the road Clifton) and Stinson. Was a bit nervous about the stack height when I started Hokas, but haven't rolled my ankles any more than I did in any other shoes. btw, Challenger a few years ago were my first trail specific shoes ever. Always just wore road shoes before. I run gnarly, rooty, rocky trails, much of my mileage on the Appalachian Trail.

try hoka torrent - they are a bit lower.
i had a formerly broken ankle, and this shoe is my favorite

I've been running in the Hoka Speedgoat 3's. I quite like the shoe, or did, until I broke my ankle! But will probably go back to using them when I'm healed up.

I broke my ankle 6km into a 50km trail race about 8 weeks ago. Was moving at a good clip through dark forest and twisted my ankle on something. It happened in an instant. Not sure that it would have been different if I were in other shoes (also run in Brooks Cascadia). And just in case you were wondering, I ran the remaining 44km to the finish.

I generally have 12 to 15 pairs of runners in my rotation (my wife thinks I have a problem). They include a variety of trail runners, cushioned runners, racing flats and others in between (although I don't have any Hokas).

When running on technical trail descents, I cannot go fast unless I can feel the ground (ie. thin soles). Without that proprioception, I do not have the confidence to trust my footing. Currently doing Trail Running races (10 to 21km) in Inov8 Terraclaw 220s. Previously raced in Inov8 Trailroc 245s, loved their feel, but the grip wasn't very good.

I'm not against Hokas and will probably end up buying a pair. But they would never work for me on a technical trail run.