Josef Stiegler

Who is Josef Stiegler?

Josef "Pepi" Stiegler is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. He was a member of the Austrian national ski team during the late 1950s and early 1960s and was one of the world's premier racers. His two children are on the U.S. Ski Team: daughter Resi is on the World Cup team and son Seppi is on the Nor-Am circuit.

At the 1960 Winter Olympics of Squaw Valley, Stiegler won a silver medal in the giant slalom and took fifth place in the slalom. At the 1964 Winter Olympics of Innsbruck, he took the bronze medal in giant slalom at Axamer Lizum and then won the gold in slalom, edging out American medalists Billy Kidd and Jimmie Heuga.

Pepi Stiegler later made appearances at many ski events in the United States and wrote articles for ski magazines. In 1965, he became the first ski school director at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he served for 29 years, followed by eight years as ambassador of skiing. He stepped down in 2002 after 37 years with the resort.

Similar to Heuga, Stiegler was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1993. Austrian teammate Egon Zimmermann, gold medalist in the 1964 Olympic downhill, also has MS.