Five Washington skiers went to Europe for the 1936 Olympic games: Ethelynne “Skit” Smith (1935 national slalom champion), her sister Ellis-Ayr Smith (1935 national downhill and combined champion), both from Tacoma, and Seattle’s Grace Carter, Darroch Crookes, and Don Fraser. Don Fraser was on
both the Alpine and Nordic teams.
Washington State had three Olympians in the 1948 Games and another three in the 1952 games as well.
Grace Carter Lindley McKnight, 1936 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team; first Women’s U.S. Alpine National Slalom Champion.
Don Fraser, 1936 & 1940 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team; won the first Silver Ski Competition on Mr. Rainier; born in Vancouver, Washington; met Gretchen Kunigk skiing at Paradise and then again at ski races at Mt. Spokane, they married in 1939. They lived in Sun Valley
before the war but lived in Vancouver, Washington after the war, retiring to Sun Valley in the 1970s.
Gretchen Kunigk Fraser, 1948 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, St. Moritz, Switzerland; first American to ever win an Olympic Gold Medal in skiing (Slalom), where she also won a Silver Medal in the Alpine Combined; born in Tacoma, competed for the University of Puget Sound Ski Team, trained with Otto Lang at Paradise.
Dave Faires, 1948 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Don Amick, 1948 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Jack Nagel, 1952 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Oslo, Norway.
Janette Burr Johnson, 1952 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Oslo, Norway; 1954 Alpine World Championships, Are, Sweden; first American to win a FIS World Ski Championship (Giant Slalom).
Dorothy Surgenor, 1952 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Oslo Norway; 1956 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Cortina, Italy.
Judy Nagel, 1968 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Chamrousse, France (ski area near Grenoble); youngest American skier to win an Alpine World Cup (Heavenly Valley). Judy was the youngest competitor ever to compete in a sanctioned ski race at Stevens Pass. In the early 1960’s she made the U.S. Ski Team and at the age of 15 won the Kandahar of the Andes (two FIS Giant Slalom races on one weekend). In 1968 she won the U.S. National Championship. In Vipiteno, Italy Judy and her sister, Cathy, completed a feat not yet duplicated by sisters-they finished 1st and 2nd in the World Cup Slalom and showed the Europeans how they skied in the Northwest; In Lienz, Austria, in one weekend, Judy won back-to-back World Cup races in Slalom and Giant Slalom.
Susie Corrock Luby, 1972 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Sapporo, Japan, Bronze Medal, Downhill. Susie was born in Seattle and skied and trained at Snoqualmie Pass and Crystal Mountain. In 1970 she won the U.S. National Championships in Giant Slalom. In 1973 she won the U.S. National Combined Championship and then turned pro. She was the World Professional Combined Champion in 1975. Susie was inducted into the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum in 1976.
Phil Mahre, 1976 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Innsbruck, Austria; 1980 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Lake Placid, New York, Silver Medal; 1984 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Gold Medal, Slalom; three World Cup Titles.
Steve Mahre, 1976 U.S. Olympic Ski Team, Innsbruck, Austria; 1980 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Lake Placid, New York; 1982 World Giant Slalom Champion; 1984 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Silver Medal, Slalom.
Debbie Armstrong, 1984 U.S. Olympic Ski Team, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Gold Medal, Giant Slalom; 1988 U.S. Olympic Ski Team, Calgary, Canada; 1981, 1985, 1987 member FIS World Championship Teams; Debbie started skiing at Alpental when she was 3 years old; she skied in the Mighty Mite program and joined the Team Alpental race team in 1977; she won the Jr. National Title in Giant Slalom at Squaw Valley, CA in 1981 and was named to the U.S. Ski Team that same year. She won the U.S. National Championship in Giant Slalom at Copper Mountain CO in 1987 and retired from the U.S. Ski Team in 1988.
Mike Jacoby, 1998 U.S. inaugural Snowboard Olympic Team, Nagano, Japan; Mike was born in Bellevue, WA. He was a snowboard pioneer. In 1996 and 1997 he was a two-time FIS World Champion Snowboarder.
Tom Rothrock, 2002 U.S. Olympic Alpine Ski Team, Salt Lake City, Utah. He grew up in Cashmere Washington and started skiing at Mission Ridge.
Scott Macartney, 2002 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Salt Lake City, Utah, first racer on the downhill course at Snow Basin; 2006 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Torino, Italy; 2006 U.S. Alpine FIS World Cup, Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany, Silver Medal, Super G.
Libby Ludlow, 2006 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Torino Italy; born in Bellevue, WA; was on the U.S. Ski Team for 10 years before she retired in 2008.
Patrick Deneen, 2010 U.S. Alpine Freestyle (moguls) Olympic Team; 2010 U.S. Alpine Freestyle Olympic Team, Vancouver, British Columbia; 2014 U.S. Alpine Freestyle Olympic Team, Sochi, Russia; 2013 he had 8 World Cup podium finishes and in early 2014 won a Silver Medal in Lake Placid, New York clinching a spot on the Sochi Olympic Team’ 2009 U.S. Alpine FIS World Championships, Gold Medal; 2011 U.S. Freestyle National Champion, Ruka, Finland; 2012 U.S. top ranked FIS Freestyle Champion, FIS World Cup Freestyle Champion, Neaba, Japan; FIS World Cup Freestyle Champion, Are, Sweden; World Cup Freestyle Finals Champion. Patrick was born on Snoqualmie Pass. His father was the General Manager at Hyak Ski Area. At eleven months he was outfitted with ski gear by Sturtevant’s Sports. He started his competitive career at age 7 in alpine ski racing. In 1999 he was introduced to the world of mogul skiing and in one day won the regional giant slalom competition, the downhill competition and the mogul competition. In 2005 he earned a spot on the U.S. Alpine Freestyle Team and in 2008 was voted by his coaches as the “Rookie of the Year” for the World Cup Freestyle Team.
Will Brandenberg, 2010 U.S. Alpine Olympic Ski Team, Vancouver, British Columbia; was born in Walla Walla, WA; began ski racing at Bluewood, moved to Spokane and raced for Mt. Spokane; he was a member of the 2011 U.S. World Championship Team.
Angeli Van Laanen, 2014 U.S. Inaugural Alpine Ski Slope-Style Olympic Team, Sochi, Russia; she is a native of Bellingham, Washington.
Vic Wild, 2014 Russian Snowboard Parallel Slalom and Giant Slalom Olympic Team, Sochi, Russia; 2014 Gold Medal, Snowboard Parallel Slalom; Gold Medal, Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom; Vic was born in White Salmon, Washington. His snowboard training was with the Mission Ridge Racing Team in Wenatchee. In 2011 the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team cut Snowboard Parallel Slalom from their training programs. Vic decided to marry his Russian sweatheart (who is also a Russian Olympic Snowboard Parallel Slalom participant) and tryout for the Russian Team.
