Photo by Monte Isom
Gretchen Bleiler
Snowboarder / Entrepreneur
Gretchen Bleiler is without a doubt one of the most accomplished female snowboarders of all time. The 2006 Olympic silver-medalist got her start on the slopes at age 11, and it didn’t take long for her to become a true pioneer in the sport, pushing the limits in women’s snowboarding half-pipe competitions with high-flying tricks.
The Grand-Prix and X-Games-winning athlete has expanded her career off the hill as well, designing an outerwear, clothing, goggle and accessory line for Oakley, hosting on-air spots for Yahoo Sports and other TV and multi-media programs, starring in the snowboarding movie, “Stance,” and serving as an active spokesperson against global warming working closely with stopglobalwarming.org. In 2010, Gretchen was selected by Mattel’s Barbie to be a spokesperson for them-as one of ten “Women to Watch”- a part of their inspirational “I can be…” campaign.
Gretchen’s list of feats is vast, and one of her most recent ventures has been co-founding ALEX, a sustainable water bottle company with her husband, Chris Hotell. Gretchen is now an active spokesperson for the environment and talking within her community and the media about her first-hand experiences with climate change. She is on the Board of Directors for Protect Our Winters (POW), a nonprofit organization bringing together the snow sports community in the fight against global warming.
In April 2014, Gretchen received her certification in meditation from the Chopra Center. She is currently building meditation classes for primordial sound meditation.