Severino Bottero

Severino Bottero was born in the Piedmont Region of Italy, on the border with France. A talented mountaineer, he joined the Army Sports Group as a volunteer at the age of 17. Despite being so young, he had the talent and qualities of a coach, despite still competing in his youth and obtaining some good results. Bottero then moved to the other side of Northern Italy, to Rovereto, where he met his future wife Elena. He then embarked on a career as an instructor and coach of the Italian Ski Federation. From 1983 he has a member of the staff of the Italian National Team, before taking charge of the French women’s team, and finally the men’s A team for more than seven years. Bottero worked closely with his compatriot Stefano Dalmasso, obtaining important results with Leïla Piccard, Joël Chenal, and Frédéric Covili.

Following another return to the Italian team, Botello brought out the best in skiers such as Giorgio Rocca, Massimiliano Blardone, and Davide Simoncelli. In May 2005 he accepted the offer of the French Federation to coach the men’s giant slalom team. Whilst on his way to join the skiers in training, however, Bottero was involved in a car accident, which claimed his life in January 2006, just a month before the Torino Olympics. A few years later, the cable car of Limone Piemonte (his adopted city near Cuneo) was named in his honour.