By the way, SonntagsBlick column: And suddenly Accola arrives.

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A beautiful winter morning in February 1995. The Swiss giant slalom team trains on the Bärenpiste circuit in Veysonnaz. Over the top of the hill, trainer Fritz Züger discusses the choice of line with his protégé Urs Kalin. He hears on the radio: “Paul Accola has started.”

Zuger and Kelin moved a little away from the track. But as Accola misses, they suddenly see a Davos player flying forward out of the corner of their eye. He tries with presence of mind to initiate a “somersault” while still in the air, so as not to “hit Zuger on the head with his skis,” as he claims.

Kelin is able to dodge, but Züger is completely caught. Accola hits Zuger in the chest with his right knee. Seven ribs were broken, some of them multiple times. One lung collapses, kidneys and liver are crushed. Zuger was airlifted to a hospital in Sion, Accola was taken to a clinic in Zurich with a meniscal injury and a suspected rupture of the medial ligament. There are rumors about the end of his career.

“Accola prepares coach for hospitalization,” read the headline in Blick. And Fritz Zuger says: “It was my mistake. I’m lucky. I could die.” After being discharged from the hospital, Accola and Zuger go to rehabilitation with Tony Mathis in Feldkirch. The physiotherapist from Vorarlberg was considered a miracle healer at that time.

28 years have passed since then. And these days they meet for the first time in a hospital bed. This is not a spectacular accident, but rather an age-related change that brings the duo closer together. Zuger will have an artificial knee implanted in Davos. Akkola was one of the first to appear at the Davos hospital.

The shocking moment at Veysonnaz in 1995 is discussed. But the start of the World Cup in Sölden is also a problem. This weekend they are celebrating the glacier’s 30th anniversary. When the first competition took place in 1993, it was Fritz Züger who was allowed to celebrate the first race on the glacier. Choosing a line is not so easy. Father Ghirardelli curses the piece of “garbage” that Zuger threw there. When his son Mark managed to run a good race and take fourth place, he calmed down.

Zuger is trying to set the course for his Swiss athletes. This does not work. The 6th and 10th places of Michael von Grünigen and Steve Locher were disappointing. Accola is in 20th place, but this first season for the coach was the start of great years. Von Grünigen, Locher, Kälin and Accola made giant slalom an iconic Swiss discipline.

Things don’t go so well for many years after that. Until someone comes along to set new standards. Under Marco Odermatt, Switzerland is currently the number 1 team in giant slalom again, even without any shock moments.

Source: Blick