Émile Allais
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Émile Allais (25 February 1912 – 17 October 2012) was a champion alpine ski racer from
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
; he won all three events at the 1937
world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
in
Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...
and the gold in the combined in 1938. Born in
Megève Megève (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France with a population of more than 3,000 residents. The town is well known as a ski resort near Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Co ...
, he was a dominant racer in the late 1930s and is considered to have been the first great French alpine skier. Allais won the bronze medal in the combined ( downhill and slalom), the only alpine medal event at the
1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...
in
Garmisch Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the Oberbayern region, which borders Austria. Nearby is Ger ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. These Olympics were the first to award medals in alpine skiing. The previous year, he had won the silver medal in the downhill and combined at the 1935
world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
. In 1937 he was a triple world champion at
Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...
, France, winning all three events (downhill, slalom, and combined). The following year at
Engelberg Engelberg (lit.: ''mountain of angel(s)'') is a village resort and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Alongside the central village of Engelberg, the municipality enc ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, he won the combined, and took silver in the downhill and slalom. He created the ''École Française de Ski'' which taught innovative methods of Anton Seelos (who was his trainer and instructor), characterised by parallel turns, controlling the speed by sideslipping, and turning by ''ruade'' ('' French'': kick, back kick), i.e. kicking the backs of the skis up and pivoting on the tips while rotating the body in the direction of the turn. The ''École du Ski Français'' (ESF) is now the biggest Ski school in the world in terms of numbers of ski teachers, and is present in every single French ski resort, and even abroad. After a spell in
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and
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( Squaw Valley,
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and
Portillo, Chile Portillo is a ski resort in South America, located in the Andes mountains of Chile. In the Valparaíso Region, it is from Los Andes, Chile, Los Andes, the nearest city, and by vehicle from Santiago, Chile, Santiago. Its hotel sits at an elevatio ...
) Allais held the post of technical director at
Courchevel Courchevel () is a French Alps ski resort located in the Tarentaise Valley. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski areas in the world. Courchevel also refers to the towns of Courchevel 1300 (Le Praz), Courchevel 1550, Co ...
from 1954 to 1964, where he introduced many ideas from the
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regarding slope preparation and piste security. He later worked as a technical consultant for other resorts, notably
La Plagne La Plagne () is a French ski area in the Alps, alpine valley of the Tarentaise Valley, Tarentaise (Savoie). Since 2003, La Plagne and the neighbouring resort of Les Arcs form the Paradiski ski area. It is currently owned by Compagnie des Alpes. ...
and
Flaine Flaine is a ski area in the Haute Savoie region of the French Alps, and is a part of the linked Grand Massif domain. It is in the territory of the communes of France, communes of Magland and Arâches-la-Frasse. Flaine is linked to Samoëns, Mori ...
. One of the Saulire
couloir A couloir (, "passage" or "corridor") is a narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 121. . Geology A couloir may be a seam, scar, or fissure, o ...
s at Courchevel is named after Allais. As a consultant to
Skis Rossignol Skis Rossignol S.A., or simply Rossignol, is a French manufacturer of alpine, snowboard, and Nordic equipment, as well as related outerwear and accessories, located in Isère, France. Rossignol was one of the first companies to produce plastic ...
, Allais helped to design the laminated-wood Olympic 41 ski (1941), and the first aluminum skis to win major ski races, the Métallais (1959) and Allais 60 (1960). The Olympic 41 later served as the basis of Rossignol's very successful Strato (1964). In December 2005, 93-year-old Allais made the trip to the
French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
where he was honoured, along with a number of other ski instructors. His life has been all about skiing; he learned his skiing early, raced all over
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, then coached the French Olympic ski team for seven years. Allais fought in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
on skis, and even courted his wife at a ski meet."Allais, aged 94, skis on" from The Age, February 18, 2006
/ref> He turned 100 in February 2012. Allais died after an illness in a hospital in
Sallanches Sallanches (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. Located close to the Mont Blanc massif, many visitors pass through the town en route to well-known alpine resorts such as Chamonix, M ...
in the French Alps on 17 October 2012.


References


French ski legend dies
at planetski.eu


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allais, Emile 1912 births 2012 deaths People from Megève Skiers from Haute-Savoie French male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for France Alpine skiers at the 1936 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics French men centenarians French military personnel of World War II 20th-century French sportsmen