All Things Franz Klammer

[Dave Petersen]

All Things Franz Klammer

 

[Dave Petersen]

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[Dave Petersen]

SKI Sep 1976

 

[Dave Petersen]

Snow Country Nov 1991

 

[Dave Petersen]

Franz Klammer and myself in Vail from a few years ago -

Took the below pic at the Legends Race at the American Ski Classic -

 

[Dave Petersen]

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[Dave Petersen]

 

[Dave Petersen]

Somewhere there is a wax figure of Klammer -

 

[Dave Petersen]

I think this thread needs some posts from @Doug Briggs ...most likely the only Pugski member to have raced against Franz Klammer.

 

[Dave Petersen]

SKIING Oct 1978

 

[Doug Briggs]

I think this thread needs some posts from @Doug Briggs ...most likely the only Pugski member to have raced against Franz Klammer.

Ok, @Dave Petersen.

As my story would otherwise be pretty short I'm starting with an introduction of my racing career to whet your appetite.

My downhill racing career started in the early 70s at Mt. Cranmore on hand-me-down gear from Tyler Palmer. We lived in the same area and he generously donated gear to me.

I took to DH pretty quickly and had some good results. After a few seasons of big and small races, I won the '76 Jr. National DH race at Waterville Valley which earned me a trip to Copper, CO for the '76 Nationals. I unfortunately tanked there.

During the summer that followed, I went to a 3 week Salomon camp in Bariloche where I earned some good FIS points in a DH race they held while we were there.

I also met Harold Schoenhaar, Head Men's Coach for the US Ski Team. I was named to the D team a bit later.

The following winter I was having a great season racing on the east coast. I'd taken the winter off from college to race and train with Georg Capaul at Waterville Valley. I eventually wound up winning the Eastern Cup with a combination of SL, GS and DH results.

SL at WV

GS at Stratton
That earned me a trip to the Sun Valley USSA Nationals and a pair of DHs at Heavenly Valley. This would be the first time Franz and I passed through the same start gate. It was not a good snow year in the West so we were racing on a modified course, not the usual Men's DH.

While Klammer was the Kaiser, there were a few other recognizable names in these results.

I don't recall these events vividly, but I guess I really stepped it up in the second race. ;-) After the races at Heavenly I raced at Sugarloaf in what was a who's who of NA DH racers at the time.

You could say my March was pretty good. I suspect that these results clinched my being named to the "B" team.

During the ensuing summer, I trained off and on with the US Team. Back then you were more or less on your own for many months. I trained according to a manual that the team provided and kept track of my performance. The team met for some evaluations in CO which included physical testing, training and some time in a wind tunnel. 3 weeks at Portillo ended up being a lot of fun although at the time I was pretty disappointed by all the fresh snow that kept us from traveling to Bariloche; what a dope I was.

In the fall we traveled as a group to Hintertux for some on snow training on the glacier. The Austrians as well as others were there too. I was a naive, shy, young pup and didn't interact with the other teams so while I trained next to Klammer, I didn't talk to him at all. Again, what a dope. I do remember seeing his sweet BMW 3.0CS parked on the road.

I raced in a couple of Europa Cup races late in '77 as a prelude to the WC. This is at Tignes.

I'd race against him again in Val d'Isere and part of a training run at Val Gardena during the '78 World Cup. The 'part of a training run' is another story all to itself: https://forum.pugski.com/threads/best-ski-crash-photos.2596/#post-56515

 

[Dave Petersen]

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