“Kiki” Cutter was the top American skier of the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team, competing in all disciplines, and she was on the 1970 F.I.S. Team. “Kiki” is the holder of five World Cup Titles.

Christina Kiki” Cutter, a native of Bend, Oregon, is the first American skier, male or female, to win a World Cup title. She has been called one of America’s greatest women athletes and is acknowledged by ski coaches to be one of the top skiers ever produced by the United States.

In 1969, Kiki was second in the World Cup Slalom standings and fourth in the overall-combined rankings. For two decades, she held the American record for most World Cup victories by a U.S. skier.

Cutter joined the U.S. Alpine Ski Team after winning the U.S. Junior National Downhill Championship at 16 – in 1967. She was a member of the team in the years of 1968-1970; the F.I.S. (Federation Internationale de Ski) Team 1970 and the U.S. Olympic Team of 1968 in Grenoble, France.

Born into a family of skiers, Kiki’s early successes as a junior racer earned her a spot on the national team in 1968. At the Grenoble Olympics that year, she was the only American female to race in all three disciplines: slalom, giant slalom and downhill. Though only 18 years old, Kiki achieved the highest placing by an American woman.

According to SKI magazine, Cutter was “by far the most successful U.S. racer on the early World Cup circuit.”

In that Olympic year, she won the first World Cup title America had ever had, winning the slalom at Oslo, Norway where the young American was congratulated by King Olaf.

In 1969, she won the giant slalom at Oberstaufen, Germany and took slalom titles at Mont Ste. Anne, Quebec and Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. This same year, she was fourth in the world in overall points. In 1970, Kiki won another slalom title at St. Gervais, France.

The French, whose alpine team dominated early World Cup competition, called Kiki “la Dangerousse Americaine” as she was a strong threat to their racing superiority. Until Phil Mahre came along, Kiki’s five World Cup titles made her the United States’ top World Cup winner.

Turning professional in 1970, Kiki made her home base in Aspen, Colorado, performing on the Women’s Pro Tour. An accomplished all-around athlete, Kiki placed fourth and third, respectively in the nationally-televised Women Superstar Competition.

James A. Michener, in his book Sports in America said, “Kiki Cutter, the skier, was the best athlete, pound for pound, I have ever seen, man or woman.”

As a professional, Kiki has been a popular participant in major, nationally-televised celebrity fund-raising events. In 1987, she won the Legends of Skiing Giant Slalom, the highest American finish. She has represented and used Rossignol skis and Marker bindings. She also represented Bolle sunglasses and goggles, Tecnica boots and THE SKI COMPANY’s SKI and SKIING magazines, both as spokesperson for promotional events and as host of her own monthly column “ask Kiki” in SKI.

An excellent tennis player, Kiki has worked as a tennis teacher and coach. Her other sports interests include rollerblading, mountain biking and cross-country skiing.

Kiki appeared on the nationally televised (CBS Network) Tournament of Champions broadcasts. The format consisted of eight top women skiers from throughout the world, competing head to head in an elimination series. Kiki won the initial Tournament of Champions series in 1990 and placed 5th, 4th and 3rd in the 1993 series, finishing 4th overall.

Christina “Kiki” Cutter was elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1993.