NO RE-GRETE: The inside line on Grete Eliassen

It’s difficult to determine what’s cooler about Grete (pronounced Greta) Eliassen: the fact that she doesn’t train for slopestyle or Superpipe comps until she shows up at the venue a few days before the comp, or that she designed Armada’s women’s ski with a male supermodel for the graphic because she’s tired of seeing girls on skis. The 18 year-old American-born Norwegian’s attitude of “just wanting to have fun,” resonates on and off the hill, whether it’s poking fun at online ski-chat forums, boosting out of the pipe, or rippin’ Norwegian pow. With multiple major contest victories, and sponsors like Oakley, Armada Dakine, Tecnica, Red, and Windell’s Ski Camps, this comic young lady is making quite the impact in the freestyle world. And we hear she throws a kick-ass spread eagle to boot.

Powder: What are you doing these days?

Grete: I’m actually studying for a final for my health class and then I’ll be done with high school! Wanna help?

Powder: Not really, cause I want to ask you a few questions and dispel some rumors. We’ve read a few threads on newschoolers.com saying you just recently got married to an ugly, Asian dude named Freddy. Is there any truth to that story?

Grete: Unfortunately, no. Still single. Actually, tell people that I really did marry an ugly, Asian dude.

Powder: How does that feel now that you’re in the spotlight and people are making up rumors about your personal life? Do you find it to be kinda cool, are you indifferent, or does it piss you off that people are so intrusive?

Grete: I love the gossip, especially on newschoolers. It’s so much fun to go online and check it out cause it’s so funny to see what people are writing. Most of the stuff in the forum section of newschoolers isn’t true, so it’s pretty fun to read all the gossip.

Powder: Tell us about your childhood skiing experience, because you’re not originally from Norway right?

Grete: No, I’m actually from Highland Hills, Minnesota. I lived in Minnesota until I was 13 when my family and I moved to Norway. My dad is Norwegian and he thought it would be a good opportunity for my family to experience a new place and culture if we lived in Norway. So, we ended up moving to Lillehammer, Norway.

Powder: Do you still live in Lillehammer?

Grete: No, I live about three hours away to go to this public school that actually has a ski class, so I can balance my schedule a little better when I’m away.

Powder: You grew up racing in Minnesota. How many years did you continue to race?

Grete: I raced from about 10 to 16 years old. I joined a ski team here in Norway and worked my way up to the F.I.S. level and eventually raced for the Norwegian Europa Cup team. I raced all disciplines, both technical and speed at the F.I.S. level, but slalom was my favorite event.

Powder: How was that experience racing all over Europe?

Grete: It was an awesome experience, but it took too much time. I really just wanted to win and once I won I realized that there are bigger things in life besides just racing. Looking back though, it was the best decision of my life to ski race.

Powder: After an extremely successful career as a gate basher, what motivated you to try out the freestyle scene?

Grete: I actually wasn’t really checking it out at all because I always did it. After training for racing I would just switch skis to twin-tips and go mess around on the jumps and rails. When I used to train at Hood in the summer for racing we would always go and check out the freestyle scene.