Annie Albrethsen This is Me

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1. 1. 02.03.02 GJ woman remembers fondly experiences on Olympic team

   www.gjsentinel.com/auto/feed/s - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/3/2002   Last Visited: 2/3/2002

   Annie Albrethsen can't help but smile and reminisce every four years when she turns on the television to watch the Winter Olympics.
   
   As she watches the opening ceremonies this week and later tunes in to the skiing, she'll think of a time more than a half-century ago when she was a part of it.
   
   A Grand Junction resident since the mid-1950s, Albrethsen experienced Olympic glory in 1948 as a member of the women's U.S. Olympic ski team.
   
   Albrethsen was one of the eight women on the alpine team at the Winter Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She ended up being an alternate and didn't race in either of the two events, the slalom and the downhill, but she brought back a lifetime of memories from her only trip to Europe.
   
   ...
   "He used to ski to the post office every day," Albrethsen recalled. When she was 2, her dad put her on the front of his skis to make the trek. She soon graduated to the back of his skis, then to her own skis.
   
   Her dad made her first pair of skis, her mom her first pair of ski pants (out of her dad's socks). Bee's wax was often used to wax the skis, which worked "so-so," Albrethsen said. Paraffin worked better.
   
   Having an older brother, she was not going to be left behind. If he skied, she was going to ski, too.
   
   "We didn't have lessons, but I had good balance," she said. By the mid-1930s, Sun Valley had opened as a winter playground. She still didn't take a formal lesson, but she watched and imitated.
   
   Not having sophisticated snow-packing machines, children from the area would sidestep up and down the slope to pack the runs. That's how they earned their ski ticket. Albrethsen was the only girl.
   
   By 1942, during World War II, the ski area was taken over by the Navy and used as a rehabilitation center. It was during that time that she skied in her first race at Sun Valley. She beat most of the boys.
   
   She didn't like the speed of the downhill, "so my emphasis was on slalom because I could do it." Her first racing skis were 6 feet, 9 inches long - more than 20 inches taller than her.
   
   After graduating from high school, she applied to attend college at the University of Utah.
   
   "My dad encouraged me to do several things there," she said of experiencing the opportunities available in Salt Lake City. In the mid-'40s, it was the only college with a ski team. She tried out.
   
   "It was a breeze," she said. "I just think I was so strong. I was a country girl. I had to keep up with the boys, sidestepping up the hills."
   
   Her ski racing got some notice, and in 1947 she was asked to try out for the Olympic team.
   
   ...
   Being an alternate was O.K., Albrethsen said. After all, she got to march in the opening ceremonies and "I got to be on the sidelines taking pictures."
   
   It was a wonderful experience, but it was time to move on.
   
   She moved back to Idaho after college, getting reacquainted with Holger (Al) Albrethsen, whom she later married. They'll celebrate their 53rd anniversary in June.
   
   An attorney, Al came to Grand Junction in 1955 to work for the Atomic Energy Commission.
   ...
   They taught all four daughters and Albrethsen was an instructor at Grand Mesa and Powderhorn ski areas. She skied until the mid-'80s, when hip problems forced her to give it up.
   
   Albrethsen still has clothing and mementos from her memorable trip. And when the Olympic ski events are televised beginning Feb. 10, she'll watch with interest - remembering that, even though she didn't get to race in an Olympic event, she was, indeed, a pioneer.
   
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