Ursula, Erich, Martina, Lulu and Greta Sailer, picture Martina Sailer
Erich Sailer, who reworked a tiny rope-tow hill in Minnesota right into a launching pad for Olympians and World Cup champions, has died at 99. His passing marks the tip of a exceptional period in U.S. ski racing.
Sailer’s profession spanned throughout the many years. He based one of many first summer time ski camps at Mt. Hood in 1956, taught fundamentals at Telemark in Wisconsin and later Buck Hill, and mentored generations of racers that included Olympians, world champions and nationwide titleholders. But those that knew him greatest say his actual legacy lies not solely in medals, however within the confidence, resilience and love he instilled in 1000’s of younger skiers.
A Visionary Pioneer
Alan Kildow, one in all Sailer’s earliest athletes and the daddy of Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn, first met him in 1963 as a 10-year-old at Sailer’s pioneering Mt. Hood summer time ski camp.
“I had no prior ski racing expertise, was outfitted with hopelessly dysfunctional bindings, no sun shades, and—coming from Wisconsin—no thought why anybody would wish suntan lotion to go snowboarding,” Kildow recalled. Sailer observed him instantly, nicknamed him “skinny,” and supplied a number of tricks to ease his blistered lips and sunburn. When it got here time to say goodbye, Kildow broke down in tears. That was the start of a 62-year friendship rooted in snowboarding, teaching, and household.
Kildow returned 12 months after 12 months, following Sailer from Mt. Hood to Crimson Lodge, Montana, and later from Telemark in Wisconsin and Buck Hill in Minnesota. Beneath his tutelage, Kildow gained championships and finally coached alongside him for almost 15 years. He stated what set Sailer aside was not simply approach, however imaginative and prescient.
One thing else made Sailer a pioneer—he introduced in Olympic and World Cup champions corresponding to Billy Kidd, Jimmie Heuga, Barbara Ann Cochran, Sarah Schleper, Egon Zimmermann, and Christian Pravda to coach together with his younger campers. “No different coach was doing that,” Kildow stated. “His technique was to instill in youngsters a way of what it takes to be a champion.”
“Erich was unmatched in his love for snowboarding and ski racing,” Kildow stated. “He was a motivator who typically frightened his college students intentionally, however then lifted them to realize outcomes they by no means thought doable. The ‘Erich Sailer System’ labored. Dozens of Olympians, U.S. Ski Staff members, nationwide and NCAA champions got here out of it. His life ought to stand as a touchstone of greatness.”
For Kildow, Sailer’s classes reached far past snowboarding. “His classes had been self-discipline, laborious work, teamwork and self-confidence,” he stated. “And above all, he was about love. There wouldn’t have been a Lindsey Vonn as an Olympic champion had Erich Sailer not been such a motivating and loving a part of her life. Each scholar who had the privilege of his steering would say the identical.”
Elevating Champions—and Individuals
No identify is extra synonymous with Sailer’s affect than Lindsey Vonn, one of the crucial profitable alpine ski racers in historical past. Vonn grew up coaching nightly beneath the Buck Hill lights whereas Sailer barked encouragement from the timing hut. She is essentially the most profitable skier ever within the pace disciplines, but in addition a part of the game’s most unique membership—those that have gained in each particular person World Cup self-discipline. It exhibits that actually nice multi-discipline skiers may emerge from the ‘Erich Sailer System.’
“He bought everybody round him excited and to benefit from the strategy of studying,” Vonn stated. “You couldn’t assist however love him, even when he was essential of your snowboarding, since you knew he was all the time attempting to make you higher.”
One of the best recommendation she ever obtained got here from Sailer: “At all times be true to myself. By no means change as a result of I used to be quick simply as I used to be. I used that for a lot of totally different functions in life, not simply snowboarding, and he was completely proper. We’re all particular in our personal means. That’s what makes every of us nice. He noticed the most effective in his athletes and located a means to attract it out of us. I felt that if Erich believed in me that a lot, I ought to imagine in myself too.”
She additionally recalled the muse of her coaching—attending Sailer’s Mt. Hood camps at age 7, touring to Europe with him at 9, and coaching at Buck Hill after faculty. “Erich would typically sit up within the timing hut and are available on the loudspeaker with suggestions or enthusiastic phrases of encouragement… together with my time, which informed me how briskly I used to be.”
“In all of my years of racing, he by no means misplaced religion in me,” Vonn stated, “though he additionally by no means stopped telling me I’m too far on my inside ski, ha ha. I’m so grateful I noticed him this summer time. He nonetheless believes I can win, and I’ll do my greatest to not let him down. I do know he might be watching.”
Now, because the soon-to-be 41-year-old Vonn prepares for the Cortina Olympics, she carries his perception in her into yet one more chapter of her profession
A Household That By no means Ends
Tasha Nelson McCrank, a two-time Olympian, grew up in a household deeply tied to Sailer’s program and household. For her, the defining high quality was his capacity to make each athlete really feel like household.
“He thought each child he coached was his child,” she stated. “I just lately informed Martina, his daughter, your dad lives on day-after-day by means of each child he taught. His legacy goes to stay on without end. What I train my youngsters got here from him, and that’s true for each athlete he touched.”
She additionally remembered how Erich knew precisely what every skier wanted within the second. As a younger racer, she typically bought nervous within the begin gate. Erich, realizing how a lot she cherished her horse, Shadow, would lean in with a smile: “Consider your horse.” The picture made her snort and calm down, after which she would push out of the gate along with her greatest runs.
That, she stated, was Erich’s present—he understood his athletes so effectively that he may all the time discover the proper phrases to convey out their greatest..
Her phrases seize what many really feel—that Sailer’s influence will ripple by means of generations, carried on not solely in ski outcomes however within the confidence and love he instilled in each athlete he coached.
The First Breakthrough
Kristina Koznick, the primary of Sailer’s protégés to win a World Cup and the primary athlete to emerge from Buck Hill onto the game’s greatest stage, remembers greater than ski drills. At camps in Austria, Ursula Sailer, Erich’s spouse, led German classes and etiquette lessons.
“We didn’t simply practice,” Koznick stated. “We discovered tradition, historical past and even how you can place our fork and knife. He cared about us as individuals, not simply as racers.”
On the hill, his genius was clear. He by no means compelled one model. As an alternative, he coached to every athlete’s strengths. “He believed in you a lot you couldn’t doubt your self,” she stated. “That confidence was contagious.”
She laughed recalling one drill that wouldn’t fly in the present day. “He’d swing a bamboo pole behind us in the beginning,” she stated. “If it smacked your bottom, you had been too sluggish out of the gate. We cherished it—it made it a sport.”
When she was a youngster, Koznick had the prospect to go away for a ski academy. Her dad and mom left the selection to her, however she by no means hesitated. She wished to remain in Minnesota, beneath the lights of Buck Hill, with Erich. “I didn’t need to go anyplace else,” she later stated. “I wished to stick with him.”
Even after she rose to the World Cup, she typically known as Erich from Europe. Generally it was for recommendation, typically simply to listen to his voice. He remained a gentle presence in her profession.
A Son Past Blood
Cory Carlson met Sailer on his first day with the Buck Hill Ski Staff at age 9, the identical day Erich started teaching there. “Little did I do know that day would mark the start of a lifelong bond with one of many best coaches and human beings I might ever know,” Carlson stated.
Sailer shortly turned greater than a coach. “He was my mentor, my good friend, and in so some ways, a father to me,” Carlson wrote. “He raised me, guided me, and formed not solely my ski profession but in addition my character.”
Carlson spent 9 years on the U.S. Ski Staff and later raced on the Professional Tour, but his bond with Sailer prolonged far past competitors. “We performed tennis collectively, labored summer time ski camps facet by facet, traveled the world, and spoke typically about life, careers, challenges, and limitless investing discussions, which had been passions,” he stated.
When Carlson’s racing profession ended, Sailer pushed him to assume past teaching. “On the time, I used to be upset—we didn’t communicate for almost a 12 months,” Carlson admitted. “However as all the time, he was proper. His push set me on a course towards a profession in hospitality that has introduced me achievement, progress, and alternatives I by no means may have imagined.”
“For me, he was household,” Carlson stated. “He raised me like a son, and I’ll all the time carry his voice, his classes, and his love with me. I’m deeply grateful to have been one of many many fortunate ones to name him coach, mentor and good friend.”
Shaping Coaches Too
Tony Olin first encountered Sailer as an 11-year-old red-headed child who had by no means raced. He wasn’t even a member of the Buck Hill staff but—simply tagging together with a neighbor. His very first dryland session with Erich was brutal. The children had been informed to run miles by means of the neighborhoods, and half of them bought misplaced whereas dad and mom circled in automobiles looking for them. Then, on the hill, Erich arrange lengthy bamboo programs for the children to run, hammering house his perception in self-discipline and repetition even earlier than they placed on skis.
Olin got here house exhausted however informed his mom, “I’ve to do that.” He joined the staff and by no means appeared again.
“He included us like household,” Olin stated. “We spent holidays at his house, consuming Austrian meals. Erich transcended generations. He may join with 10-year-olds as simply as with faculty athletes. And once we reconnected years later, he informed me, ‘You’re my good friend. We now have to remain collectively as a result of I want somebody to hold my casket.’”
Olin finally turned a coach alongside Sailer at Buck Hill, and in the present day he runs his personal program at Afton Alps. He credit Sailer with giving him the boldness to tackle the problem of main. “The teachings I discovered from Erich stick with me day-after-day,” he stated. “He formed how I coach and the way I join with athletes. That’s his present—he didn’t simply create racers; he created coaches too.”
The Latest Star
Paula Moltzan, who podiumed on the 2025 World Championships, represents the subsequent chapter of Sailer’s affect.
“Erich believed in me from day one and supported me by means of each step,” she stated. “Even this season, he texted after races with congratulations or motivation. He was daring and sincere, by no means saying you had been good until he meant it. Behind that honesty, although, he did every part in his energy to make you the most effective you possibly can be.”
Moltzan stated she’s going to carry his classes all through her profession. “I’ll carry the teachings and expertise Erich taught with me by means of the remainder of my ski profession,” she stated, “and hopefully discover a approach to instill them within the subsequent technology of racers.”
Extra Than Ski Racing
Sailer’s attain stretched far past the hill. He taught self-discipline, laborious work, teamwork and, above all, love. For 1000’s of athletes, he was greater than a coach—he was household, motivator and lifelong mentor.
I personally witnessed Erich’s love for his daughter Martina once they, working independently, joined my group for coaching in Vail. I noticed them once more at races, all the time collectively. That bond was unshakable. And in recent times, even from images, it was clear how deeply he cherished Martina’s two daughters as effectively. His household, like his athletes, was all the time on the middle of his coronary heart.
I normally don’t write articles this lengthy, however after talking with the athletes he influenced, I felt compelled to signify the ideas and love they shared. I’ve been round Erich for the reason that Nineteen Seventies, however now I’ve a greater understanding of why my coronary heart informed me to jot down this tribute.
It was a pleasure to take action, and Ski Racing Media is proud to shine even a small mild on such a deserving member of our neighborhood.
As somebody who spent 38 years teaching at each degree, I used to be struck by how deeply his athletes cherished him. Many now not stay in Minnesota, but they made the hassle to go to him in his remaining 12 months. If I had half the affect on the athletes I labored with that Erich Sailer had, I might die proud. I’ve little question Erich handed realizing precisely how a lot he meant to so many.
Erich Sailer lived almost a century, however his legacy is timeless. He formed Olympians, world champions and gold medalists, but in addition 1000’s of children who by no means raced past their native hills and fogeys who trusted him to information their youngsters. His best triumph was not solely in producing champions however in shaping lives and communities. That victory won’t ever fade
Due to all those that agreed to contribute to this text, it’s drastically appreciated.
—Peter Lange, Writer, Ski Racing Media
