Gretchen Kunigk Fraser (February 11, 1919 – February 17, 1994) was an American alpine ski racer. She was the first American to win an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal in skiing. She was also the skiing

stand-in A stand-in for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting and camera setup. Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of film and television production. Stand-ins a ...

for ice skater

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

in the movies '' Thin Ice'' (1937) and ''

Sun Valley Serenade ''Sun Valley Serenade'' is a 1941 musical film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, and Lynn Bari. It features the Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing by the Nicholas Brothers. ...

'' (1941).

Background

Born in Tacoma,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Gretchen Kunigk was the daughter of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

immigrants, Willibald and Clara Kunigk. Her Norwegian-born mother was a skier and Gretchen first skied at age 13, at Paradise Valley on the south slopes of

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...

in December 1932. Under the tutelage of

Otto Lang :''see also Otto Lang (film producer) and Otto Lang (actor)'' Otto Emil Lang, (born May 14, 1932) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician. Life and career Lang was born in Handel, Saskatchewan. In 1961, he was appointed Dean of Law at the U ...

she became a proficient ski racer and later competed on the ski team at the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

Career

In 1938, she traveled to Sun Valley to compete in the second Harriman Cup, a new international event featuring the best racers in the world. She met 1936 Olympian and Northwest ski champion Donald Fraser (1913–1994) of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

on the train trip to central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. They were married in November 1939, and Sun Valley became their home. Both Frasers were members of the 1940 Olympic team, games that were cancelled due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She spent the war years skiing in Otto Lang's military training films and helping to rehabilitate wounded and disabled veterans through skiing, setting the stage for a lifelong commitment to working with disabled skiers. After the war, the Frasers moved to Vancouver, Washington. She finally got her chance to compete in

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 ...

in 1948. A week before her 29th birthday, Fraser won the gold medal in the slalom and a silver medal in the combined event in St. Moritz, She soon retired from competition, became a mother and an ambassador for Sun Valley and skiing in general. Later in life she was a mentor to aspiring female ski racers at Sun Valley, including Susie Corrock,

Christin Cooper Christin Elizabeth Cooper (born October 10, 1959) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic medalist from the United States. Early years Born in Los Angeles, California, she was raised in Ketchum, Idaho, and learned to ski and race at ...

Picabo Street Picabo Street (; born 3 April 1971) is an American former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. She won the Super-G, super G at the Alpine skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics, 1998 Winter O ...

Andrea Mead Lawrence Andrea Mead Lawrence (April 19, 1932 – March 30, 2009) was an American alpine ski racer and environmentalist. She competed in three Winter Olympics and one additional World Championship (Olympic competitions also counted as the Worlds during t ...

, and disabled racer Muffy Davis.

Death

She died at age 75 in February 1994, during the

; her husband of 54 years, Don Fraser, had died a month earlier. They are buried at the city cemetery in

Ketchum Ketchum may refer to: Towns, cities, and, geographic features * Ketchum, Idaho, United States * Ketchum, Oklahoma, United States * Lake Ketchum, Washington, United States * Ketchum Glacier, a glacier in Antarctica * Ketchum Ridge, a large ridge i ...

, Idaho.

Legacy

*Fraser was inducted into the

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 ...

in 1960 and the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame in

Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...

in the inaugural class of 2002. *In 1960, she was inducted into the

State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and the

Hall of Fame. *Gretchen's Gold, a ski run at Sun Valley's Seattle Ridge is named for her, as well as Gretchen's Restaurant in the Sun Valley Lodge. *Gretchen Fraser Neighborhood park in Vancouver, Washington, is named for her.

References

Other sources