Surrender or stiffen your back: downhill talent Chabloz faces a life-changing decision

In December 2021, the older brother of freeride world champion Maxime Chabloz (22) thundered into the top 13 during his second World Cup appearance in Val Gardena (Austria). However, seven weeks later, the high flyer fell violently for the first time at the Olympic Games in Beijing – in a crash in the combined downhill, he suffered fractures to his shoulder blade, wrist, metacarpal and a finger.

Chabloz needs six months to fully recover from his unpleasant trip to China. On December 26, 2022, he is back in the rescue sled: during the second training session on the brutally selective Pista Stelvio in Bormio (I), he suffered a fracture of the spinous process and compression fractures in the upper thoracic spine.

Serious setback in November

After two serious falls, the former daredevil was thwarted by his subconscious during a glacier training last summer. But the biggest problem becomes noticeable in November during the preparation camp in the Canadian Panorama. After a few days of training, the speed specialist, who lives in Beckenried NW, not far from Marco Odermatt (26), has to go home due to serious back problems.

And Chabloz hasn’t solved this problem yet. “I can play recreational sports without any complaints. But when I wanted to push myself again in January with the giant slalom skis, I felt very bad.” That’s why Chabloz didn’t get a single call-up for a game this winter. His trainer Vitus Lüönd (39) says: “Yannick has to get back to his old self. As long as he cannot ski completely pain-free, there is no point in competing on selective World Cup slopes.”

The medical dilemma

To change his mind, Lüönd advised his protégé to take an interim job as a ski instructor. Chabloz also carries out this activity with great passion.

However, his mood turns somber as he asks experts how to manage his back problems. “I have asked different opinions in recent weeks. A doctor believes that I can only continue my racing career if I have two stiffened vertebrae,” but Chabloz is not sure whether he wants to accept such a radical procedure to save his sporting career. “On the one hand, I can’t think of anything better than a life as a ski racer. On the other hand, no one can guarantee me that I won’t be even more limited after the vertebrae have fused. And since life after skiing usually lasts much longer than a World Cup career, I don’t really know I certainly don’t want to take the risk of such a procedure.”

Chabloz should have an answer to this difficult question by the end of March. Until then, trainers and suppliers want clarity about whether they can plan the future with or without Yannick Chabloz.