Fritz Steuri (skier, 1908)

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Fritz Steuri (born July 11, 1908 in Grindelwald ; † July 8, 1953 ) was a Swiss mountain guide and Nordic and Alpine ski racer. He became Swiss ski champion in 1935 and took part in the 1932 Winter Olympics as well as in a Nordic and Alpine World Ski Championships . In 1932 he was a member of a Greenland expedition and in 1939 a Himalayan expedition.

biography

Fritz Steuri was the eldest son of the Grindelwald mountain guide and three-time Swiss champion in the endurance run, Fritz Steuri senior . After first placing in the "Great Ski Races in Switzerland" (Swiss Ski Championships) in downhill , slalom and ski jumping , he took part in the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberhof in 1931 . In the 17 km cross-country skiing , in the combined and special jump as well as in the combined run, he finished in midfield with results between 33 and 37. He also came third in the slalom, tenth in the downhill and seventh in the combination at the Arlberg-Kandahar races in Mürren in 1931 . From 1930 to 1932 Fritz Steuri was President of the Grindelwald Ski Club . He held this office a second time in a longer period from 1942 to 1949. From 1928 to 1931 he was course secretary for the Grindelwald spa and tourist association.

Steuri spent the winter of 1931/32 as a ski instructor in the United States . On the downhill slope at Mount Moosilauke in New Hampshire , where the first US American downhill championships were held a year later, he set a new record time of 7 minutes and 6 seconds, which, however, was not officially recognized because he had illegally shortened the route . Alongside Fritz Kaufmann and Cesare Chiogna, Steuri took part in the Nordic ski competitions of the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and, with 18th place in jumping, was again placed in the midfield, while in the combination he only came 26th out of 33 participants.

In 1932 Steuri was involved with David Zogg as a mountain guide and glacier expert on the six-month “Universal Fanck Greenland Expedition” on the west coast of Greenland , led by director Arnold Fanck , where the film SOS Iceberg was shot. He achieved success in ski racing again in the winter of 1935: At the 29th Swiss Ski Race in his home town of Grindelwald, Steuri won the four-wheel combination of downhill, slalom, cross-country and ski jumping and thus won the title of Swiss ski champion in 1935. He also became Swiss champion in the departure. In the previous year, when the combination of four was held for the first time as part of the Swiss championships, he had taken seventh place. At the French Championships in 1935 Steuri was second behind Sigmund Ruud in the combination of four. From mid-March to Easter 1935, he headed the Eigergletscher ski school, then the Jungfraujoch ski school until late summer. Because of a training accident he had suffered before, Fritz Steuri was a member of the reserve team at the 1936 World Championships in Innsbruck . After his brother Hermann Steuri had a serious fall in the descent, he replaced him in the slalom, which he finished in 18th place. He did not take part in the Swiss ski race in 1936 due to his training accident. In 1937 and 1938 he did not reach any top placements in the national championships. At the Arlberg-Kandahar races he achieved two top 10 results in 1935 with the ninth and in 1937 with the eighth slalom rank.

As a mountaineer, Fritz Steuri stepped into the limelight again in 1939 when he took part in the first Himalayan expedition to the Garhwal region organized by the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research (SSAF) with expedition leader André Roch , mountain guide David Zogg and the topographer Ernst Huber . The group achieved the first ascent of the 7,066 meter high Dunagiri on July 5th, the 6,714 meter high Ghauri Parbat on August 18th and the 6156 meter high Rataban . When attempting the first ascent of the 7138 meter high Chaukhamba I (Badrinath), they were caught in an avalanche in their tent on September 10 and carried away several hundred meters. They were not injured, but two porters died. When they found out about the outbreak of World War II in Europe, they had to cancel the expedition. Steuri continued to take part in ski races, including in 1942 again in the Swiss ski race in his home town of Grindelwald. In age group I, he achieved second place in the downhill. During the war, however, he mainly worked as an alpine and ski instructor in courses for mountain soldiers. In 1953 Fritz Steuri died three days before his 45th birthday.

Statistics & successes (skiing)

winter Olympics

World championships

Nordic:

  • Oberhof 1931 : 33rd combined run, 34th 17-km cross-country ski run, 35th combined jump run, 37th special jump run

Alpine:

Swiss championships

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Personal folder Steuri, Fritz, Sohn (PDF; 36 kB) in the Historical Alpine Archives of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol, accessed on July 12, 2011.
  2. ^ Fritz Erb : The FIS races in Oberhof. In: The mountain hare. Yearbook of the Swiss Academic Ski Club. Volume 2, No. 1, 1931, pp. 97-105.
  3. ↑ Othmar Gurtner : 2x Mürren. In: The mountain hare. Yearbook of the Swiss Academic Ski Club. Volume 2, No. 1, 1931, pp. 106-122.
  4. ^ A b Rudolf Rubi : The summer and winter health resort: roads and railways, winter sports. (= In the valley of Grindelwald . Volume III). Verlag Sutter Druck, Grindelwald 1987, p. 223.
  5. ^ Rudolf Rubi : From mountain farming village to tourist resort: hospitality, alpinism. (= In the valley of Grindelwald . Volume II). Verlag Sutter Druck, Grindelwald 1986, p. 121.
  6. ^ A b National Ski Association of America: First Downhill Championship Race. In: Canadian Ski Annual 1933. Official Organ of The Canadian Amateur Ski Association. John Lovell & Son, Montreal 1933, p. 47.
  7. ^ A. Hochholdinger: Olympics in Lake-Placid (USA) 1932. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association, 28th year, 1932. P. 161.
  8. ^ A b Rudolf Rubi : The summer and winter health resort: roads and railways, winter sports. (= In the valley of Grindelwald . Volume III). Verlag Sutter Druck, Grindelwald 1987, p. 220.
  9. ^ III Olympic Winter Games Committee (Ed.): III Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1932 Official Report. Lake Placid 1932, pp. 195-203.
  10. ↑ a b Rudolf Rubi : From mountain farming village to tourist resort: hospitality, alpinism. (= In the valley of Grindelwald . Volume II). Verlag Sutter Druck, Grindelwald 1986, p. 207.
  11. ^ Rudolf Rubi : From mountain farming village to tourist resort: hospitality, alpinism. (= In the valley of Grindelwald . Volume II). Verlag Sutter Druck, Grindelwald 1986, p. 217.
  12. ↑ 29. Big Switzerland. Ski races in Grindelwald. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association. 31st year, 1935. p. 149.
  13. ↑ 28. Big Switzerland. Ski races in Andermatt. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association. Volume 30, 1934. pp. 170-181.
  14. ↑ Annual report of the technical management of the SSV - foreign delegation. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association. 31st year, 1935. pp. 137-138.
  15. ^ Paul Simon: FIS race in Innsbruck 1936. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association. Volume 32, 1936. pp. 172-181.
  16. ^ Heinrich Fueter: The World Championships 1936 in Innsbruck. In: The mountain hare. Yearbook of the Swiss Academic Ski Club. Volume 3, No. 10, 1936, pp. 366-373.
  17. ↑ 30th Swiss ski race in Davos. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association. Volume 32, 1936. pp. 122-140.
  18. ↑ 31 mes Courses nationales suisses de ski aux Diablerets. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association . Volume 34, 1938. pp. 97-100.
  19. ↑ 32nd Swiss ski race in Wengen. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association. Volume 34, 1938. pp. 105-110.
  20. ^ Fritz Ringgenberg: 8th Arlberg-Kandahar race in Mürren. 9/10 March 1935. In: The mountain hare. Yearbook of the Swiss Academic Ski Club. Volume 3, No. 9, 1935, pp. 242-244.
  21. ^ GA Michel: For the 10th Arlberg-Kandahar race. In: The mountain hare. Yearbook of the Swiss Academic Ski Club. Volume 3, No. 11, 1937, pp. 523-526.
  22. ↑ Expedition supported by SFAR. Swiss Himalayan Expedition 1939: Garhwal. Extract from: Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research 1939 to 1970. Zurich 1972. SSAF website, accessed on September 12, 2011.
  23. ↑ Swiss in the Himalaya 1939 to 1951. 1939: The four members of the Swiss Himalaya Expedition. SSAF website, accessed September 12, 2011.
  24. ↑ Alexander Troller: André Roch: 90 ans de passion pour la montagne. In: The mountain hare. 35th yearbook of the Swiss Academic Ski Club SAS. 1991-1996. Pp. 129-143.
  25. ^ Rudolf Rubi : From mountain farming village to tourist resort: hospitality, alpinism. (= In the valley of Grindelwald . Volume II). Verlag Sutter Druck, Grindelwald 1986, pp. 217-218.
  26. ↑ 36th Swiss ski race in Grindelwald. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Ski Association. Volume 38, 1942. pp. 38-50.
personal data
SURNAME Steuri, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss skiers and mountain guides
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Grindelwald , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH July 8, 1953