A few days before his 91st birthday, a man died for whom skiing was a big business and a passion. In Austria, they say goodbye to him as a legend. No wonder, more than sixty years ago, Josef Fischer took over a carpentry company from his parents, from which he made an empire supplying equipment to big ski and biathlon stars. Fischer has announced the death of a ski industrialist from Ried.
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Gabriela Koukalová in the archive picture with a gold medal for winning the race with a mass start at 12.5 km in the Vysočina Arena.
Vlastimil Vacek, Right
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´Pi´´ Fischer lent his own surname to skis and it is remarkable that this company, as one of the few in this field, has remained a family company until now.
Equipment for winter fun was tentatively made by his ancestors sometime in the 1920s, but Josef and Sister Selma added a twist to it in the late 1950s.
On his skis, Franz Klammer scored a phenomenal triumph at the Innsbruck Olympics. It was inconceivable that the Austrian would not have won then. Despite the enormous pressure, it succeeded. Klammer’s joint photo with Fischer flew around the world.
At that time, it was already a war of advanced technologies, in which he then prepared skis for a number of other Olympic winners and world champions. For example, for the Norwegian legend Björn Dähli. Recently, Czech biathletes, including the star Gabriela Koukalová, runner Lukáš Bauer, jumper Jakub Janda …
“In Josef Fischer, we lose a man who not only loved skiing, but also shaped him for decades with his pioneering spirit, his innovations and ideas. His passion for the sport has been indescribably great, and this spirit is firmly rooted in the company’s foundations to this day, “said Franz Föttinger, CEO of Fischer Sports, according to the Austrian media.
