Émile Allais facts for kids
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| Born | 25 February 1912 Megève, France |
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| Died | 17 October 2012 (aged 100) Sallanches, France |
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| Sport | Skiing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Émile Allais (born February 25, 1912 – died October 17, 2012) was an amazing alpine ski racer from France. He was born in Megève. Émile was a top skier in the late 1930s. Many people think he was the first really great French alpine skier. He won many big races, including all three events at the 1937 world championships!
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A Champion Skier
Émile Allais won a bronze medal at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch, Germany. This was for the combined event, which included both downhill and slalom. These Olympics were the first time alpine skiing medals were given out.
World Championship Wins
A year before the Olympics, in 1935, Émile won two silver medals. These were for the downhill and combined events at the world championships.
In 1937, he became a triple world champion in Chamonix, France. He won gold medals in all three events: downhill, slalom, and combined. The next year, in Engelberg, Switzerland, he won another gold in the combined event. He also earned silver medals in both the downhill and slalom races.
Teaching the World to Ski
Émile Allais did more than just race. He helped create the École Française de Ski, which means "French Ski School." This school taught new ways of skiing. These methods came from his trainer, Anton Seelos.
Innovative Skiing Techniques
The new techniques focused on:
- Making parallel turns.
- Controlling speed by sliding sideways (sideslipping).
- Turning by doing a "ruade" (a French word for "kick" or "back kick"). This meant kicking the back of the skis up and turning on the tips while rotating your body.
Today, the École du Ski Français (ESF) is the biggest Ski school in the world. It has many ski teachers and is found in almost every French ski resort. It even has schools in other countries!
Ski Resort Development
After his racing career, Émile Allais worked in North America and South America. He spent time at places like Squaw Valley in California and Portillo, Chile.
From 1954 to 1964, he was the technical director at Courchevel, a famous ski resort in France. He brought many new ideas from the U.S. to Courchevel. These ideas helped make ski slopes safer and better prepared. Later, he worked as a consultant for other resorts, like La Plagne and Flaine. One of the challenging ski runs at Courchevel is even named after him!
Designing Skis
Émile Allais also helped design skis for Skis Rossignol, a well-known ski company.
- In 1941, he helped create the "Olympic 41" ski, which was made of laminated wood.
- In 1959, he helped design the "Métallais," one of the first aluminum skis to win major races.
- In 1960, he helped create the "Allais 60," another successful aluminum ski.
The "Olympic 41" ski later became the basis for Rossignol's very popular "Strato" ski in 1964.
A Life Dedicated to Skiing
In December 2005, when Émile Allais was 93 years old, he traveled to the French Senate in Paris. There, he was honored along with other ski instructors. His whole life was about skiing! He learned to ski very early, raced all over Europe, and even coached the French Olympic ski team for seven years.
Émile Allais even fought in World War II on skis. He met his wife at a ski competition. He lived to be 100 years old, celebrating his birthday in February 2012.
Émile Allais passed away on October 17, 2012, after an illness. He died in a hospital in Sallanches, a town in the French Alps.
