Photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images
Bleiler's advocacy efforts leave her smiling these
days.

Heading into Winter X Games 15 Olympic snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler is relaxed and confident. "I'm really excited about X Games. It's in Aspen, my hometown," she says. "Plus I've won it four times, which blows my mind.

Bleiler's skill on a snowboard has blown away the competition for years and has also brought her success and fame. Yet her love of the sport is not her only passion.

"Since I won the silver medal in 2006 in Torino I realized I had a platform to talk about things that were important to me. Being a pro snowboarder, the environment is very important," she says.

Bleiler has thus committed her time off-hill to environment sustainability projects including a line of signature Oakley outerwear made with 100% recycled and recyclable materials. She also advocates the non-profit, ProtectOurWinters.org, and recently took part in the "21 Day Reusable Challenge" a call to action challenging people to boycott plastic bags, plastic water bottles, and Styrofoam take away containers for three weeks.

Climate change is a very real issue. Traveling the world chasing the snow, we've seen the differences that are out there, she says.

Bleiler's advocacy is matched by her pragmatism, exemplified by the reusable stainless steel bottle company, ALEX bottles, she and her husband co-founded.

"There are a lot of reusable water bottles out there but they're really hard to clean. This bottle opens up in half so you can actually clean it as well as mix and match the different sizes to create a middle size. It's been a lot of fun," she says.

As for her riding, Bleiler maintains her focus on fun by not putting too much pressure on herself at X Games. I'm looking to ride my best, give everyone a good show and hopefully land my best tricks and see what happens."

As seen on USA Today