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FREDA LANGELL NIETERS

Tragedy drove woman to set ski record
Lindsey Krusen
Vail, CO Colorado
March 2, 2007

Brad Odekirk/Summit Daily file photo

Silverthorne's Freda Nieters set a Guinness World Book record at Keystone last March while raising nearly $8,000 for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome research.
KEYSTONE ” A world record wasn’t enough for Freda Nieters.
Last year, at 74, she zipped up her pink, one-piece skiing suit and racked up 78,000 vertical feet on her skis in just over eight hours. That feat earned her a spot in the Guinness Book amongst the world’s tiniest woman and the biggest pizza ever baked.
But for Nieters, the 67 miles of terrain she skied last March 29 were far less important than the reason she was on the slopes ” Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.
“It’s all about SIDS,” she said. “It’s not about me.”
Nieters lost her grandson, Zachary Thomas Meade, to SIDS in January 2005. The heartbreak and grief were channeled into her marathon skiing event, where donors pledged as little as a penny per foot to support SIDS research.
“It was all I knew how to do,” Nieters said of her decision to try to ski more vertical feet in one day than any other human being her age.
It seems Nieters’ knowledge has expanded in just one year, or she’s made some great connections. Nieters believes it’s more of the latter.
“It’s not what I know, it’s who I know,” the native of Norway said.
Keystone Resort helped set up Nieters’ course last year, including the roped-off section where the self-proclaimed “flying pink fossil” skied faster than most people half her age.
At the post-event celebration, Chuck Tolton, former director of mountain operations at Keystone Resort, stopped Nieters as she came through the door. Nieters said she felt like she had just gone for a very long hike, but she was willing to listen.
“Let’s do it again,” Tolton said.
“Again” happens on Sunday, but there’s no world records up for grabs this time. Instead, Nieters and Keystone Resort have designed an event ” “Ski for SIDS” ” that’s open to individuals, groups and families, and even some competition.
“It’s open to anything that slides,” Nieters said. “Flying fossils ” they slide well.”
Ski for SIDS has some big skiing names attending this year, including ’98 Olympian Jason Rosener.
“I think she’s crazy,” said the former Keystone resident who has known Nieters since he was 5 years old. “It says a lot about her and her caring for kids.”
Legendary Olympic skier Steve Mahre is flying in from Yakima, Wash., to participate in this year’s Ski for SIDS. Mahre worked with Nieters when his ski camps from the Mahre Training Center came to Keystone.
“Freda’s a good communicator,” Mahre said. “When you coach, you have to be able to communicate across what the skiers are doing and what you want them to feel.”
And this year, by expanding Ski for SIDS to include a deep network of family and friends, Nieters has made her cause clear: SIDS is the reason, and the rest ” including world records ” are insignificant.
Pushing
                        

Special to the Vail DailyFreda Langell Nieters was among the first instructors hired when Keystone opened in 1970
VAIL – The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in Vail, Colorado will induct six new members at a gala on Nov. 7 in Denver. The inductees are Freda Langell Nieters, Vladimir Peter ‘Spider’ Sabich, David Scott, Ann Taylor, Otto Tschudi, and Otto Werlin. All were inducted for making significant contributions to snow sports in Colorado.The Vail Daily will publish bios of each inductee between now and the induction gala. For the other bios, see http://www.vaildaily.com.
Freda Langell Nieters was a mainstay of the Norwegian National Alpine Team from 1945 to 1950, and came to the U.S. to ski for the University of New Hampshire, where she won an NCAA championship in 1951. She joined Winter Park’s Eskimo Ski Club as a coach in 1962, and was among the first instructors hired when Keystone opened in 1970. She’s taught there, and at Aarapahoe Basin, ever since. Along the way she became one of the few instructors to earn full certification in both alpine and nordic disciplines, coached the Summit High School team to three successive state titles, and coached the Mahre’s training camp for 10 years. She won many masters races in both alpine and nordic events, including two over-40 World Cups in 1981 and the U.S. national championships in downhill and giant slalom in 1984 (she took second in slalom and combined that year). And she raised five daughters. In recent years Nieters has channeled her boundless energy towards fundraising for charities, and by some reckonings she’s raised roughly $360,000 for the Race for the Lights, the Special Olympics and the Jimmie Heuga Vertical Express. On her 70th birthday, she skied 70,000 vertical feet to raise $13,000 for the local elementary school ski program. After losing her grandson Zachary to sudden infant death syndrome, she helped to organize a Ski for SIDS campaign and on her 75th birthday skied 75,000 vertical feet in the fundraising event.The 33rd annual Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Induction Gala is Nov. 7 at the Denver Marriott City Center. For details call 970-476-1876 or visit http://www.skimuseum.net.

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