Medal record
Émile Allais
Olympic Games
Men’s Alpine Skiing
Bronze	1936 Garmisch-P.	Combined
World Championships
Gold	1937 Chamonix	Downhill
Gold	1937 Chamonix	Slalom
Gold	1937 Chamonix	Combined
Gold	1938 Engelberg	Combined
Silver	1935 Mürren	Downhill
Silver	1935 Mürren	Combined
Silver	1938 Engelberg	Downhill
Silver	1938 Engelberg	Slalom

Émile Allais (born February 25, 1912) is a French former Alpine skier who realised at hat-trick of victories in the 1937 championships in Chamonix. He is considered as the very first well-known French Alpine skier. He was born in Megève.

[edit] Biography

He won Bronze medals in downhill and slalom at the Garmisch winter olympics held in 1936, the first to feature downhill skiing disciplines. In 1937 he was world champion at Chamonix. He created the École Française de Ski which taught innovative French methods 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. This is still now the biggest Ski school in the world in terms of numbers of ski teachers. It is present in every single French ski resort and even abroad.

After a spell in North and South America (Squaw Valley and Portillo) Allais held the post of technical director at Courchevel from 1954 to 1964 where he introduced many ideas from the USA regarding slope preparation and piste security. He later worked as a technical consultant for other resorts, notably La Plagne and Flaine. One of the Saulire couloirs at Courchevel is named after Allais.

In December 2005, 93 year old Allais made the trip to the French Senate in Paris where he was honoured along with a number of other ski instructors. His whole life has been all about skiing. He learned his skiing early. He raced all over Europe then coached the French Olympic skiing team for seven years. He fought World War II on skis. He even courted his wife at a ski meet.

[edit] External links

• "Allais, aged 94, skis on" from The Age, February 18, 2006

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