Andrea Mead Lawrence (April 19, 1932 – March 30, 2009) was an American alpine ski racer and

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

. She competed in three

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

and one additional

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

(Olympic competitions also counted as the Worlds during that period), and was the first American alpine skier to win two Olympic gold medals.

Skiing career

Mead was born in

Rutland County, Vermont Rutland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,572, making it the second-most populous county in Vermont. Its county seat and most populous municipality is the city of Rutland. ...

, to an alpine skiing family that owned and operated the

Pico Peak Pico Peak is a mountain in the Green Mountains in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. Pico Peak is flanked to the south by Ramshead Peak. To the north, it faces Deer Leap Mountain across Sherburne Pass. Seen from the pass, the summit of Pi ...

ski area A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...

. At age 14 she made the national team, and at age 15 competed in the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where she placed eighth in the slalom. Two years later, Mead placed sixth in the giant slalom and ninth in the

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

at the 1950 World Championships in

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. At the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, Mead Lawrence was selected as captain of the U.S. women's team at age 19. This led to her being the January 21 ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' cover-story, just days before the team arrived in Oslo. The ''Time'' story was prescientshe won both the slalom and the giant slalom events. Between the 1952 and 1956 Winter Olympics, Mead Lawrence gave birth to three children, sitting out the 1954 World Championship season. Returning for the 1956 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, Mead Lawrence competed in all three disciplines, placing fourth in the giant slalom. In 1958, just two years after retiring from competition, Mead Lawrence was inducted into the U.S.

National Ski Hall of Fame The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Ishpeming, Michigan, the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States. Located in the state's Upper Peninsula, the building includes the hall of fame and museum, as well as a t ...

. She was chosen as the penultimate torchbearer at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, US, passed it to American 1952 Olympic gold medal speed skater Ken Henry, who circled the ice rink then ascended the Tribune of Honor and ignited the Olympic flame.

Olympic results

World Championship results

From 1948 through 1980, the

were also the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

for alpine skiing.

Life after ski racing

After fighting against development at

Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located within the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera and Mono Counties. It is home to a large ski area primarily on the Mono County side. Mammoth Mount ...

ski area, she was elected as a

Mono County Mono County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. The county seat is Bridgeport. The coun ...

supervisor in 1982, and served for 16 years. In 1980, her memoir was published as ''A Practice of Mountains'', with Sara Burnaby as a co-author. In 2003, she founded the Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers', a non-profit organization committed to conservation, specifically in the eastern

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

mountains. A resident of the area for over 40 years, she was also a long-time advocate for the preservation of

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water alk ...

and other environmental concerns. On April 29, 2010 U.S. Senator

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...

and U.S. Representative Howard P. "Buck" McKeon announced legislation to rename Peak 12,240 in Mono County as " Mount Andrea Lawrence," in memory of Lawrence. On January 10, 2013,

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

signed into law the Mt. Andrea Lawrence Designation Act of 2011, officially designating Mount Andrea Lawrence. Lawrence is a member of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in its inaugural class of 2012. On November 8, 2013, two Vermont non-profit organizations opened a new multi-use adaptive sports and youth skiing center at Andrea Mead Lawrence's home mountain of Pico Peak, Vermont. The Andrea Mead Lawrence Lodge at Pico will serve as the permanent home and base camp for the non-profit missions of Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports and the Pico Ski Education Foundation.

Personal life

Family

Mead married fellow

U.S. Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and ...

member David Lawrence in Switzerland in March 1951. They moved to a ranch in Parshall, Colorado in 1954 and then to

in the 1960s, where she became a member of the town's planning board. The couple separated and divorced in 1967. With five young children and little money, she moved her family in 1968 to

Mammoth Lakes, California Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191, r ...

, near

. Her nephew is

Matt Mead Matthew Hansen Mead (born March 11, 1962) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 32nd Governor of Wyoming from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the D ...

Governor of Wyoming A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

from 2011 to 2019.

Death

Lawrence was diagnosed with

leiomyosarcoma Leiomyosarcoma is a malignant (cancerous) smooth muscle tumor. A benign tumor originating from the same tissue is termed leiomyoma. While leiomyosarcomas are not thought to arise from leiomyomas, some leiomyoma variants' classification is evolv ...

in 2000, from which she died on March 30, 2009, several weeks before her 77th birthday.

In popular culture

She was portrayed by Kandi McCoy (Daughter of

Dave McCoy David McCoy (August 24, 1915 – February 8, 2020) was an American skier and businessman who founded the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in 1942. Early life McCoy was born in El Segundo, California, in August 1915. He spent the first six years of his l ...

) in the 1975 film

The Other Side of the Mountain ''The Other Side of the Mountain'' is a 1975 American drama romance film based on the true story of ski racing champion Jill Kinmont. The UK title of the film was ''A Window to the Sky''. In early 1955, Kinmont was the national champion in sla ...

(credited as "Candy McCoy").

References

External links

* *
Skiing History.org
– Andrea Mead Lawrence

– Andrea Mead Lawrence

– Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers
Nevasport.com
– Andrea Mead Biography and photos

* ttp://www.vermontsportshall.com/2012meadlawrence.html Vermont Sports Hall of Fame Bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Mead Lawrence, Andrea Alpine skiers at the 1948 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1952 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics American athlete-politicians American female alpine skiers County supervisors in California Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in alpine skiing Sportspeople from Aspen, Colorado People from Mammoth Lakes, California People from Rutland County, Vermont Sportspeople from Vermont Sportspeople from California Medalists at the 1952 Winter Olympics 20th-century American politicians 1932 births 2009 deaths Deaths from leiomyosarcoma 20th-century American women 21st-century American women