Otto Furrer

Otto Furrer competed in cross-country skiing at the 1928 Olympics, and helped Switzerland place third in the military ski patrol demonstration event, but he was a better Alpine skiier, in the early years of that sport. At the first Alpine Skiing World Championships in 1931 Furrer won a silver medal in the downhill. In 1932 at the Worlds in Cortina d’Ampezzo he won three medals, with a gold in the combined, a silver in the slalom, and bronze in the downhill. He also won a bronze medal in combined at the 1933 World Championships. In Arlberg-Kandahar racing Furrer won the combined, slalom, and downhill in 1931, 1932, and 1934.

After retiring from competition, Furrer co-founded the ski resort of Zermatt, Switzerland. He founded the ski school at Zermatt in 1935 and was its director until his death in 1951. Furrer was known as a pioneer among ski and mountain guides. Furrer died in a fall when one of his ropes broke while climbing on the Matterhorn.