Andrea MEAD LAWRENCE

Andy Mead started skiing at the age of three and began entering races before she was ten. Her first big international moment came in 1948 when she placed third in the Arlberg Kandahar race. She also competed in the Olympics that year. Between 1948 and 1952 she won virtually every woman’s race available to her. She also married men’s ski team member, David Lawrence. In 1952, as Andrea Mead Lawrence, she continued her domination of women’s skiing by winning the two technical events at the Olympics. She continued her winning ways in 1953 with victories in the North American Downhill and Slalom championships, the U.S. National Giant Slalom, and won the Harriman Cup that year. In 1954 and 1955 she tailed off a little but still won several races. She competed at the 1956 Olympics, finishing fourth in the giant slalom, and then retired. In the 60s Andrea Mead Lawrence was visible as an expert ski commentator on television. She and David Lawrence later divorced.

In her later life, Andrea Mead Lawrence became known as an environmental activist, fighting against unchecked slopeside development in her native Vermont. In honor of her environmental work, and in her memory, a 12,240-foot Eastern Sierra peak was named after her. The Mono County peak, originally known only by its elevation, is on the border of the Ansel Adams Wilderness, just east of Yosemite National Park, and near to the John Muir Trail.