“Inch by inch life’s a cinch. Yard by yard it’s very hard. Mile by mile, it may take a while.”
Graham “like the cracker” Anderson, born to Virginia and Steve in Seattle, Washington, passed away peacefully with equal parts grit and grace on June 2 in Sun Valley with his loving wife, youngest daughter and outstanding caregivers by his side.
Graham was predeceased by his eldest daughter, Carey, with whom he skied and sailed the world before her passing at age 27. He is survived by his beloved wife and partner of 42 years, Christie, and by his children of whom he was deeply, but as with all things quietly, proud: Kristi (Wim), Cory (Liz), Ginna (John) and Charlotte (Andrew). Graham’s heart delighted in his grandchildren, Siena (28), Zane (25), Olivia (16), Maren (14), Miles (14) and Greta (3 months). Graham is also survived by his former wife, Jana; younger brother Steve (BJ); nephew Greg (Heather); niece Stephanie (Nick); many dear longtime friends; and by mentees old and new who still from time to time sought his counsel in business, ski racing and life in general. Graham was a tried, true and sturdy friend.
Growing up on the shores of Lake Washington and Puget Sound, Graham purchased his first sailboat, a flattie, in 1946 when he was 13 and soon set sail on his first annual pilgrimage into the wild refuge of Canada’s Desolation Sound. He later became one of Seattle’s preeminent sailors and raised all five of his children to share his love of Desolation Sound with an appreciation of tides, well-kept lines, and calm.
Christie helped remind Graham’s kids that still waters run deep. It was her way of saying that, when it came to our dad, we might consider being alert to the fin-flicked ripple, the translucent reflection, the pull of surface tension that enables a mayfly to land and take off again. Graham had a deep trove of wisdom and interior feeling, though wasn’t always able to bring them to the surface for everyone who was important to him. He could at times appear to be a vanishing mirage of land, but he was also the steady Sound beneath our boats all along: intentional, composed, thoughtful, sweet and quietly connected to something bigger.
Graham discovered his life’s passions, sailing and skiing, early on. His love of skiing began in 1947 when he first traveled to Sun Valley. While attending Garfield High School in Seattle, Graham competed in Pacific Northwest Ski Association (PNSA) events and later raced for the University of Washington Ski Team where he was recognized with the varsity letter in both Alpine and Nordic disciplines. In Idaho, he worked on the packing crew of Sun Valley’s ski patrol under Nelson Bennett to earn lift and lunch at Roundhouse. Graham then became an officer on a U.S. Navy destroyer escort where he further developed his sense of character: independence, collaboration, responsibility of self to a whole, integrity and courage of conviction.
Following his service, Graham went back to learning the art and business of ski racing and to sharing his love of it by coaching at Garfield High and the PNSA. He dedicated his whole life to the sport and became active at every level of the ski world. Locally, Graham served as PNSA’s director of competition and then as president. At the national level, he served as chairman of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association and headed numerous committees including its National Alpine Championships Committee, Olympic Ski Games Committee, and Coaches Association, of which he was a founding member. He served as trustee of the U.S. Ski Team Foundation from 1960-93 and as honorary trustee thereafter.
At the international level, Graham contributed energy, experience and technical knowledge to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), where he was considered one of the world’s top authorities on alpine skiing and served as delegate for nearly 40 years. It was during this time that Graham helped codify the super giant slalom race into the discipline we know today.
In the words of fellow Ancient Skier Ross Mclaughlin, “Graham helped pioneer the safety related development of the break-a-way race gates. There isn’t much he has not done in the sport of ski competition.”
Graham served decades-long tenures on FIS’ Alpine Executive Committee and World Cup Committee, as well as on juries at World Championships and Olympic Games, where he handled such positions as alpine official, referee and course setter.
Graham’s involvement and leadership helped increase professional standards, boost public awareness and generate support for the sport of skiing. For his service, he was awarded the Julius Blegen Award in 1979 and in 1984 was inducted into the United States Ski Hall of Fame.
According to his dear friend Gustav Raum, “Graham’s contributions mark him among the top sport-builders in North America.”
Gus and Graham were both long-time members of HK, an exclusive and somewhat mysterious worldwide ski-oriented friendship society that included their pals Pete Andrews, Stein Eriksen and King Harald of Norway.
Graham was passionate about access to winter sports. His efforts provided encouragement and financial assistance to talented and deserving young skiers who may not otherwise have been able to train and compete. As president and trustee, Graham helped guide SkiForAll, a foundation providing programs for disabled skiers of the Northwest, as well as the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, which enables participating youth to reach their athletic potential while developing strong personal character.
Scott McGrew, now executive director of SVSEF, arrived at the ski team while Graham was still the president of the board. He recalls that Graham “cared deeply for the team, the sport, and the community, and that in so many ways, Graham was the one who set the tone of leadership, innovation, and inspiration that would come to define a whole generation of us at SVSEF.
“Graham’s leadership was calm, strong, intelligent, compassionate, and unwavering. To this day, I still draw on Graham’s model, mannerisms, and kind heart whenever the going gets tough.”
Graham served as chairman and CEO of Pettit-Morry Company, a regional property and casualty insurance brokerage. Along with his partners, Graham helped grow Pettit-Morry into a full-service brokerage and expand its geographic reach. He referred to himself as “a simple insurance broker from Seattle” and attributed his success to his ability to surround himself with incredibly smart and hardworking people.
Graham’s particular focus was insuring ski areas. Under his leadership Pettit-Morry’s ski department grew into a major player in the ski resort business, insuring most major resorts in the West, including Sun Valley. Graham pioneered ski area risk management techniques and approaches, and together with Barry Bunshoft developed a method for handling liability cases, all of which are still employed as the gold standard today.
After retiring from the insurance world, Graham continued to exercise his love of skiing and business as the managing partner of Eldora Mountain Resort, a ski area near Boulder, Colorado, which he, Bill Killebrew and Chuck Lewis pulled from the brink of closure and over the following 30 years transformed into a thriving community-focused resort.
When asked about his work at Eldora, Graham once said, “We knew this thing could be what we remembered growing up: a family place. We didn’t need the glitz.”
Together with Vail founder Pete Seibert and others, Graham was a driving force behind the creation of Colorado Ski Country USA in 1963. He served as trustee from 1991-2016 and was the board’s unofficial historian.
Colorado Ski Country President and CEO Melanie Mills recalls, “Graham always backed up his belief in ‘safety-first’ with resources, stern conversations, smart personnel, and an ever-present sense of perspective and care.
“Even after he and his partners sold Eldora to POWDR in 2016, Graham continued to mentor countless industry go-getters. He had a phenomenal memory and regaled friends and family with stories of business ins and outs, details of wins and losses, visits to Lord David George Burghley in the U.K., and the exploits of his colleagues at the Kandahar Ski Club.”
Though Graham’s adventures took him all over the world, he skied Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain every winter from age 14 until he hung up his skis at 86. Even then, he could still be found holding court at Warm Springs Lodge with a cup of cocoa in hand. In 2020, Graham was inducted into Sun Valley’s Ski Hall of Fame.
Graham had creativity, intellect and heart. He worked the curriculum life gave him. Through it all, he explored the straight and narrow as much as he did connection and adventure. He had a stoic’s heart, seeing the wisdom in accepting things as they are while also working the ways of holding on, pioneering change and letting go.
Through narrow passages and expansive crossings, Graham trusted that enough said was enough said and that we would make our own minds and meanings of things. Unselfconscious gratitude was the current Graham caught in the end, and with his last breath he said, “Thank you. I’m done.”
A couple hours after his passing, Graham’s youngest daughters reached for his well-worn bedside Kindle. The last page he had been reading shined back, and there—in very large font—were words from Louis L’Amour’s 11th chapter of “Sackett’s Land:”
“… for we were some distance off and moving faster. Another dip of the oars and we caught the first suggestion of the river’s current, then more, and we were swept through the passage.”
We love you, Graham. You did good.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation in Graham’s memory.