50 years | Ingemar Stenmark | FIS Alpine

Born in Joesjö, Sweden, on March 18th, 1956, Ingemar Stenmark is widely regarded as the greatest skier of all time. He’s the most successful alpine skier in the history of this discipline with a career haul of 86 World Cup victories (46 Giant Slalom and 40 Slalom) and 155 podium finishes. Stenmark made his World Cup debut in December 1973 at age 17 and the year later he earned his first World Cup victory on the slalom course at Madonna di Campiglio. Known as the King of Slalom because of his unmatched technical skiing that took him through the gates with very little upper body movement , Stenmark retired from World Cup competition at the end of the 1989 season in March, days before his 33rd birthday, after winning three straight overall World Cup titles (1976-1977-1978) two gold medals at the OWG held in Lake Placid in 1980 and three World titles (GS and SL in 1978 at Garmisch and Slalom in 1982 at Schladming). He dominated the slalom and giant slalom courses, winning titles in both events for seven consecutive years, from 1975 to 1981. The Swedish ace won 13 World Cup races during the 1978-1979 season, a feat no man has ever equalled.

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[pbandj]

I recall seeing a remarkable Japanese video of Stenmark free skiing in very rough terrain as if the loose snow and uneven bumps and rolls were not even there. I think it was made after he retired from racing. It may have been made for the Japan Interski Team as an example to emulate. It was remarkable skiing and showed how good he was. You could see how all his medium and little muscles were firing to keep him balanced. It reminds me of the ski test for Level 4 instructors in Canada...."high speed turns in uneven terrain". Anybody got it. Would love to see it on youtube....