Gebhard Hilbrand

Gebhard Hilbrand
nation	Austria
birthday	4th December 1934
place of birth	Mittelberg
Career
discipline	Slalom , giant slalom , downhill , combination
society	SC Kleinwalsertal, Arlberg Ski Club
status	resigned
End of career	1958

Gebhard Hilbrand (born December 4, 1934 in Mittelberg , Vorarlberg ) is a former Austrian ski racer . He achieved numerous victories and podiums in international races in the 1950s.

biography

Hilbrand was initially a member of the local Kleinwalsertal ski club and joined the Arlberg ski club in 1952 . Between 1951 and 1954 he won a total of nine Austrian youth and junior championship titles and from 1952 also took part in international competitions. That winter he already achieved second place in the slalom of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen International Winter Sports Week . In the 1952/1953 season Hilbrand again achieved good results at the winter sports week in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with second place in the giant slalom and fourth place in the slalom. At the winter sports week in Sestriere , the then 18-year-old drove to the top of the world in second place after finishing fifth in the giant slalom.

Hilbrand celebrated his first victory in 1954 in the slalom for the “White Ribbon” in St. Moritz , where he also came third in the combination. In the same year he also won a giant slalom in Zuoz , but because of the many world-class runners of the Austrian Ski Association at the time , a starting place at the 1954 World Cup was out of reach. In the winter of 1954/1955 Hilbrand was without a victory. However, he achieved several podium places with second place in the combination and third place in each of the slalom and giant slalom of Sestriere and third place in the downhill run of the Arlberg-Kandahar races in Mürren . He finished sixth in two important combinations on the Lauberhorn in Wengen and at the Hahnenkamm races in Kitzbühel in 1955, and he finished fourth in the Wengener Slalom.

Due to disagreements within the Austrian team and disputes with the ÖSV and trainer Fred Rößner , the four Arlbergers Othmar Schneider , Toni Spiss , Martin Strolz and Gebhard Hilbrand were banned from starting on December 22, 1955 by the main committee of the Austrian Ski Association until May 31, 1956. After apologizing from those affected, this ban was lifted almost two weeks later. Hilbrand then won a giant slalom in Zakopane in the winter of 1956 and, on the final day of the Olympic Games , in which he had not participated, the downhill run of the Gamperney derby in Grabs .

In the winter of 1956/1957 there were a number of other victories, but again mostly in less well-attended FIS-B races. He won the White Belt slalom in St. Moritz for the second time, also a slalom in Oberstdorf , slalom and combination in Davos and a giant slalom in Arosa . He achieved further podium places with a second place in the downhill and two third places in slalom and a combination of the 3-tre races in Madonna di Campiglio . In his last active season in 1957/1958, he only achieved podium places in his immediate homeland when he was second in downhill and slalom in Kleinwalsertal. Hilbrand later worked as a businessman and trained as a state-certified ski instructor and mountain guide . He has three children with his wife.

successes

Victories in FIS races

• Slalom of the White Belt in St. Moritz 1954
• Giant slalom in Zuoz 1954
• Departure of the Gamperney Derby in Grabs 1956
• Giant slalom in Zakopane 1956
• Slalom of the White Belt in St. Moritz 1957
• Slalom and combination in Davos 1957
• Slalom in Oberstdorf 1957
• Giant slalom in Arosa 1957

literature

• Austrian Ski Association (Ed.): Austrian Ski Stars from A – Z. Ablinger & Garber, Hall in Tirol 2008, ISBN 978-3-9502285-7-1 , p. 149.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gebhard Hilbrand won medals at Austrian youth championships. ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ÖSV winner board, accessed on October 4, 2012. 
2. ^ Hermann Nussbaumer: Victory on white slopes. Balance of alpine skiing. 9th expanded edition, Trauner Verlag, Linz 1977, ISBN 3-85320-176-8 , p. 138.
3. ↑ The four rebels locked . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna December 23, 1955, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
4. ↑ The Arlberg runners pardoned . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 4th 1956, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
5. ^ Hermann Nussbaumer: Victory on white slopes. Balance of alpine skiing. 9th expanded edition, Trauner Verlag, Linz 1977, ISBN 3-85320-176-8 , p. 157.
6. ↑ Hansruedi Rohrer: Gamperney Derby was the highlight. In: Werdenberger & Obertoggenburger , January 23, 2009.