Beyond the slopes: the fascinating life story of ski star Roger Staub Beyond the slopes: the fascinating life story of ski star Roger Staub

Palisades Tahoe. Not a name with a particularly large ring. But the place in California has only been called that since 2021. And its old name is a household name in the winter sports world. Finally, Squaw Valley hosted the 1960 Olympics.

Marco Odermatt will try to win the seventh giant slalom of the winter there on Saturday (7 p.m. and 10 p.m.). The Olympic and world champion has even won the last nine World Cup competitions in this discipline over the seasons. The final defeat? Last winter in Palisades Tahoe, the Austrian Marco Schwarz was three hundredths faster.

The all-rounder from Arosa

Odermatt, who wins the overall World Cup for the third time in a row this season, still has a score to settle with the ski station, which is a three and a half hour drive from San Francisco. If he won, he would not be the first Swiss winner there: Roger Staub became Olympic champion in giant slalom in Squaw Valley in 1960.

The man from Graubünden was a man with a very impressive CV. On the one hand, there was the fact that the son of a painter was a multi-talent. Staub initially also played ice hockey, he became Swiss champion twice with the EHC Arosa and only decided to concentrate on skiing at the age of 19.

The following winter, Staub narrowly missed the podium in the downhill in fourth place at the 1956 Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, but he struck at the 1958 World Championships in Bad Gastein: silver in the downhill, bronze in the giant slalom and in the combination.

Gold thanks to courage and willingness to take risks

Two years later, his greatest hour on skis took place in faraway America. On February 21, 1960, Roger Staub, who had already been given the title ‘eternal number two’, became Olympic champion.

“He was not only satisfied with a demonstration of his extraordinary class, but also fought tenaciously,” the NZZ praised him for the ride on the slope called KT-22. The giant slalom was held in one lap; behind Staub, silver and bronze went to the Austrians Pepi Stiegler, the father of Resi Stiegler, and Ernst Hinterseer, the father of Hansi Hinterseer.

The newspaper reporter described how both Staub, in his bright red jersey, and everyone else at the finish initially thought he had only finished second again to Stiegler. “The times announced via the loudspeaker were corrected based on the start differences, so that the best time was ultimately achieved for Staub.”

He won gold thanks to his technical skills, but also thanks to the necessary courage and risk. Unlike today, attacking the goalposts was quite unusual. Staub, on the other hand, opted for a narrow line and accepted the risk of being hit on the shoulder by the aluminum bars when cutting into the targets.

A pioneer of the air

Without knowing it, metal pipes would later play a role in his life, in this case a tragic one. But before that, Staub popularized a garment he copied from the Norwegian army. The Roger Staub cap, which he and brother Hans first bought in the sports shop, protected the face from the cold and left only the eyes exposed. So there was not only a demand for it among winter sports enthusiasts, but also among bank robbers.

After retiring as a skier in 1961, the all-rounder again became Swiss champion on two skis: in water skiing. And he was a pioneer of the air. Roger Staub discovered a new sport in the US, where he set up a ski school in the then small ski area of ​​Vail (Colorado): delta sailing. He acquired the Swiss general license with the aim of popularizing fun at home.

One day before his 38th birthday, on a Sunday morning in the summer of 1974, he paid for his experimental spirit with his life. In Verbier, Roger Staub suffered material damage. He fell from a height of 150 meters and died on the spot.

TV announcer as a woman

«A tragic death – but in any case a death in the mountains. “In the mountains where you came from, where you lived and conquered,” wrote the “Schweizer Illustrierte” as a farewell. Staub left behind his wife – he had married popular television host Lilo Haussener while on vacation in Acapulco, Mexico – and an infant son.

Roger Staub’s gold medal at Squaw Valley was Switzerland’s 50th at the Olympics, the first in the men’s giant slalom. He was followed by Heini Hemmi in 1976, Max Julen in 1984, Carlo Janka in 2010 and Marco Odermatt in 2022.