Sigi Grabner is World Champion, World Cup winner, five-time European Champion and winner of an Olympic bronze medal. But the winner’s podium isn’t the only place where you can see the Alpine snowboarder – he’s also there at his family’s hay harvest and in long-distance ski descents.
Let’s talk about a happy childhood, respect for nature, and rootedness in the local region: Siegfried Josef Grabner, born on 4 February 1975 in the township of Waiern in Feldkirchen (Austria), grew up as the youngest of six children in Saureggen, a hamlet consisting of six occupied farming homesteads in the Nockberg Mountains in Carinthia. He herded pigs and earned pocket money by hunting mushrooms. His brother took over the Hochsinner farm, while Sigi set out into the world and became a professional snowboarder. He probably has more than just perseverance in mind when he says, “Getting to school was good training in itself.”
Let’s talk about dependability, strong nerves, and the will to win. In January 2003 at the World Championship – held in Austria's Kreischberg –, Sigi claimed victory in the Parallel Slalom, celebrated his biggest success up to that point. Then between 1995 and 1999 came five European championship titles and a total of nine individual victories in the World Cup, including winning the Parallel Giant Slalom World Cup in 2004.* He collected his first Olympic medal – behind the Schoch brothers from Switzerland – in the Parallel Giant Slalom in Bardonecchia. Although he had speculated with Olympic Gold in 2006, after winning on this slope in the World Cup in 2002 and 2004, Sigi is not dissatisfied with his third place: “The colour of the medal doesn’t matter. It rounds off my career very nicely”. Let’s talk about innovation, variety, and new paths. In order to prepare for the 2005/2006 season, Sigi set out on a special adventure: at the end of May, he conquered the peak of Europe’s highest mountain, 4800-meter Mont Blanc. The two-hour descent was the reward for the two-day climb. There were icy edges at first, then pristine power slopes between life-threatening glacial crevices at an altitude of 2800 meters. Grabner says, “You experience the force of nature, and you’re awestruck by it.” Let’s talk about unusual projects and life circumstances. “Boarder Between the Worlds”, the title of Sigi Grabner’s autobiography, published in 2003, evokes not only geographical associations. Soccer coaches write autobiographies – but snowboarders? Well, why not? Sigi also designs his own snowboards and gives private instruction in Japan during the World Cup season. But in the end, Carinthia is still Sigi’s homeland. It’s there where he can reflect on his past and enjoy his mother’s Carinthian cuisine. But Sigi’s new home is Andorra. In this principality located in the Pyrenees, about half the size of Berlin, this nature lover finds his optimal living conditions. “Andorra is just as obstinate as I am. I do things here that otherwise I don’t have the time for – relaxing, listening to music, taking pictures, reading.” But the training conditions are also optimal: he can go mountain biking and climbing right in front of his door, and surf in the nearby Atlantic. Only skiing is missing from the picture: “I’d rather schuss down the slopes with cross-country skis – it’s more exciting.”
