Ernst FEUZ

Ernst Feuz was the son of a mountain guide and started skiing and mountaineering at the age of nine. He began his competitive career as a ski jumper and in Nordic combined. His first international achievement was finishing fourth in the jumping at the 1927 World Championships and the following year finished a respectable eighth at the 1928 Winter Olympics. At the 1931 Worlds, he competed in Alpine skiing and finished fourth in the downhill. Two years later, he took part in both Nordic and Alpine World Championships and there, during his last international appearances, he finished sixth in the slalom and fifth in Nordic combined and won the championship in the triple combination (downhill, cross-country and jumping). He was also an avid climber. In his civil life, he successfully completed an apprenticeship in banking and worked for the Neue Warenhaus AG (EPA). In 1943 he was promoted to vice-director and in 1947 director. Moreover, he initiated the building of the Schilthornbahn, an aerial cableway to the Schilthorn summit in the Bernese Alps where he was President of the Board 1962-84.