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France’s Emile Allais, one of the first true ‘Ski Legends’ of the alpine ski racing, passed away last night after a short illness at the hospital in Sallanches at the age of 100 years. A multiple World Champion in the 1930s and a bronze medal winner at the 1936 Winter Olympics at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Allais has been is regarded as one of the greatest pioneers of alpine skiing.

The former champion from Megève had a tremendous impact on skiing during his entire life as he was involved in its impressive developments in the 1950s and 1960s at every level of that activity – creating the French Ski School, launching new resorts all over the world or creating new skis as the revolutionary ‘Allais 60’ model. It was a metal ski that helped his friend Jean Vuarnet to clinch Olympic gold in downhill at Squaw Valley 1960. The ‘Allais 60’ skis were also used by Adrien Duvillard when he became the first French winner of the Hahnenkamm events at Kitzbühel in 1960. 

A man of great vision, Emile Allais was kept on skiing himself until his late 90s, was also keen to modernize methods of course preparation in the Alps and improve security on the slopes. He has been for a long time the oldest FIS World Champion alive. He won three gold medals in 1937 at Chamonix in downhill, slalom and combined and another one in combined in 1938 at Engelberg where he also finished 2nd in slalom and downhill.

He wrote several books on skiing and his life. 

PkL

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