Bloedel was the last of ten Catholic children when she was born in about 1960. Her mother was a nurse and her father was a doctor.[1] The family were keen on waterskiing.[2]
An accident when she was aged ten when her minibike had a collision with a car.[1] The accident left Bloedel without the use of her legs[3] so she had a wheelchair at Wilson High in Tacoma. At school she was keen on sport including tennis, swimming, javelin and weightlifting[1] and at home her brothers would pull her along in a toboggan through the snow.[2] She decided to ski whilst attending the University of Washington where she studied for a degree in social work and a master's in rehabilitation therapy. She was recruited by a ski instructor at the campus.[1]
She joined the national team in 1987.[3]
She won gold medals at the National Championships in the US and Canada in 1991.[3] At the 1992 Winter Paralympics Bloedel took a silver medal at Albertville in the Giant Slalom coming second to Marit Ruth whose time was 2:36:78. Teammate Candace Cable of the USA came third.[4]
Bloedel did some modelling of clothes.[5] She became pregnant and retired from skiing to live with husband and children in Seattle.[3] In 2016 she was inducted into the North-West Ski Hall of Fame. The others honoured were Judy Nagel Johnson, Nobi Kano and Lenore Lyle.[2]