Industry News
30 years ago today on January 29, 1994, Austrian ski racer Ulrike Maier died in a crash during the Downhill race at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The 26-year-old ski racer was traveling at 104 kmh (65 mph) when her right ski caught an edge. The two-time Super-G World Champion spun out and crashed into a timing unit which was poorly secured with a bag of hay at the side of the race course. The impact was so violent that the ski racer lost her helmet and severed her spinal cord. Maier is believed to have died immediately.
Her four-year-old daughter Melanie was watching in the finish area.
Ulrike Maier’s fiance Hubert Schweighoer sued race officials at the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) for negligence occasioning death. FIS was ordered to pay CHF 600,000 (USD 694,355) into a fund that had Melanie Maier as beneficiary, while two FIS officials were ordered to pay CHF 10,000 (USD 11,573) each.
A lot has happened in those 30 years since to improve the safety of ski racers, with A-nets and B-nets now securing all FIS race courses, triple netting even at key spots of race courses, and padding of corners and pylons along race courses. Furthermore, ski racers are also required to sign a liability waiver, acknowledging they are racing at their own risk.
