Gretchen Bleiler
I’m a Midwestern girl; I was born in Toledo, Ohio and grew up in Dayton until I was ten years old. Then my whole life changed. My family moved to Aspen, Colorado where we had “Avalanche Danger” days that kept us from going to school, climbed 14,000-foot peaks as part of my education, and I learned to snowboard.
From day one, snowboarding lead me down a totally different path and it’s that path that’s kept me laughing and continually intrigued. I love the satisfaction at the end of the day of over coming my fears, of spending all day outside working hard, and there’s nothing better than the feeling of landing a new trick for the first time.
I made my childhood dream of going to the Olympics come true through snowboarding, travel and learn about the world and my role in it through snowboarding, and because of snowboarding have lived experiences I never even dreamed of….and I’m a big dreamer! Now I’ve realized that I can use this success as a platform to voice the causes that are important to me and hopefully make a difference.
I’m helping plan and develop the first-ever all-girls halfpipe competition and photo shoot, the Snow Angels Invitational, am an active spokesperson in the fight against global warming (although I like to think of it as the encouragement of climate balance!), and am involved with the Women’s Sports Foundation.
My other loves are surfing in warm tropical places, riding my Harley, mountain biking in Aspen, designing my signature apparel line with Oakley, and spending time with my family.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
• 2007 Breckenridge Grand Prix, 1st Place
• 2007 Abominable Snow Jam, 1st Place
• 2007 US Open Halfpipe 2nd Place
• 2007 Grand Prix 1st Place, Tamarack
• 2007 Grand Prix 2nd Place, Mt. Bachelor
• 2007 Mount Baker Banked Slalom, 3rd Place
• 2007 X Games Halfpipe Silver Medalist
• 2006 FIS World Cup 1st Place, Saas Fe, Switzerland
• 2006 Olympic Silver Medalist, Torino, Italy
• 2006 Overall Grand Prix Champion; won four of the five Grand Prix events determining Olympic team
• 2005 X Games and Gravity Games Gold Medalist
• 2005 US Open Halfpipe Champion
• FIS World Cup 1st Place, Bardonecchia, Italy
• Eight straight wins in 2003
• 2003 X Games Halfpipe Gold Medalist
• 2003 US Open Champion
• Won 2003 Overall Grand Prix Title
• One of only four females invited to coveted 2003 Arctic Challenge
• 2002 and 2003 Vans Triple Crown Overall Title Winner
• 2003 World SuperPipe Champion
AWARDS
• Nominated for 2007 Teen Choice Awared: Best Female Action Sports Athlete
• Voted 2006 Female Snowboarder of the Year at Fuel’s inaugural Action Sports Awards
• Nominated for 2006 ESPY Award
• Won 2004 Colorado “Female Athlete of the Year” Award
• Earned Transworld Snowboarding’s 2004 Reader’s Choice Award
• Nominated for 2004 Laureus “Female Action Sports Athlete” Award
• Named Snowboarder and Transworld Snowboarding 2003 “Female Rider of the Year”
