Between 1982-2016, the Gretchen Fraser Cup was awarded to the Fastest U10 Female at the Roy Hobson Memorial Race. Since 2017, it has been awarded to the Fastest U10 Female at the Gary Black, Jr. Memorial Race.

In 1948 Gretchen became the first American to win an Olympic alpine skiing medal, and her journey to gold is inspiring. Gretchen Kunigk Fraser was born of Norwegian-German parents in Tacoma, Washington on February 11, 1919. In 1994 she and her brother received skis as a Christmas gift. She began her skiing career by winning several novice races on Mount Rainier in 1936.

In 1937 she met Don Fraser who had competed in Germany as a member of the 1936 U.S. Olympic Ski Team. He was Gretchen’s first inspiration and was instrumental in her joining the Washington Ski Club Team. In October, 1939, they married and the couple lived at Sun Valley for a year; the proximity giving her an excellent opportunity to train under Otto Lang.

Gretchen and Don Fraser were both named to the 1940 U.S. Olympic Teams which did not compete because of the outbreak of World War II in Europe. In 1941 the Frasers moved to Denver where Don worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. Much of their time was spent at Sun Valley where Gretchen was able to maintain her training. That year she won every major race including her first national alpine title, the combined. In 1942 she won the U.S. Slalom Championship.

As World War II swept the world, Don entered the navy. Sun Valley became a navy rehabilitation center, and ski racing ceased for Gretchen for four years while she contributed as a nurse to help and rehabilitate wounded and disabled veterans through skiing.

After the war, the couple settled in Vancouver, Washington and worked hard at establishing a business. When the tryouts for the 1948 Olympics came in 1947, Fraser felt she had been away from skiing too long to make the team. With her husband’s encouragement, not only did she try out, she received the number one position on her team—a spot she held throughout European training.

At the 1948 Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Gretchen won gold in slalom and silver in the alpine combined—the first Olympic medals won by an American woman or man.

During her skiing career she won dozens of major alpine ski races including two national titles. In 1952, she was a member of the Olympic Selection Committee and served as the Women’s Olympic Team manager for the games in Oslo, Norway. She was later involved in fundraising for the U.S. Ski Team. Gretchen Fraser was elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1960.

The Frasers retired and returned to Sun Valley. They were supporters of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, the Wood River Trail System, and the Nature Conservancy of Idaho. Her Olympic medals are on display in the restaurant named for her in the Sun Valley Lodge—Gretchen’s.

The world lost two world class skiers in 1994. Don passed away on January 12, 1994 and Gretchen just one month later on February 17, 1994.

Award recipients’ names are engraved on the Gretchen Fraser Cup, which is displayed in the SVSEF Training Center at Warm Springs.

Source: U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame