Bogner

He went through fire and ice in the film of the same name for Willy Bogner; for James Bond he went through hell. Who doesn't remember the scene from For Your Eyes Only when 007 played by Roger Moore played by stunt double John Eaves thunders down a bob sleigh course on skis at 100 miles an hour. And - as if that weren't dangerous enough - is followed by villains on a motorcycle. It took three weeks to film one of the most spectacular moments in film history - and they didn't even hold back from adding extra speed to John Eaves, who was suspended from a piano string. Voilà: "Eavesman" was faster than bullets.

As a professional freestyler and aerial skiing champ, the Canadian (born in Montreal in 1953) was rightly considered one of the best skiers in the world. He won six world championship freestyle golds. In the Willy Bogner film "White Magic" he even accepted the challenge of throwing himself down Icelandic icebergs with a gradient of 50% for 100 meters. A risky matter, only trusting his own ability and skis that were prepared with "teeth" like those used on saws but which only guarantee a vague grip on ice.

In his mid-forties Eaves was still one of the heroes of the Canadian Free Skiing Championships. The glacier guru is one of the pioneers in ski aerial acrobatics: Only since the 1970s have there been virtually no limits to the objects over which the daredevils can jump on skis - as long as there is snow to land on on the other side. Before that aerial skiing was in a rather amateurish experimental phase: After a single salto by one person came the double from the next; then the backward salto. A triple helicopter - triple pirouette in the air -, flick flacks and the triple salto that went down in skiing history was only achieved by such professional stunt men as John Eaves.

Willy Bogner and "Eavesman" had one of the longest friendships in sport: In addition to "Fire & Ice" and "Faced with Death" Bogner also worked with the Canadian on "Fire, Ice & Dynamite", "Into the Sun" and "Ski to the Max".

When extreme skier Sven Kuennle was at the peak of his fame, he saw the world upside down. Literally.

Everyone held their breath when he did a back flip at the Kitzbühel Mousetrap in 2008.

The Streif ski racing course is considered one of the most difficult and dangerous pistes in the world - the so-called Mousetrap, the first jump challenge, has an 85% drop at the steepest part.

Free ski pro Kueenle (born in 1983) does not hold back to draw lines in front of any space, to go push the limits with breathtaking jumps and artistic acrobatic moves, and to achieve new records.

His kick comes from his skis that mean the world to him: "It is above all a unique experience in nature."

The rock'n'roller of impassible terrain is considered an expert on any kind of snow - like the lead character in the film, Smilla's Sense of Snow .

Koockley, a nickname that comes from Americans playing with his last name, is fascinating as an actor in Willy Bogner's film "Skimagination" (2009).

This mad skier who knows no boundaries can also be seen in the "Aestivation and TGR" (Teton Gravity Research) film project.
If he isn't filming with Willy Bogner or setting new standards on snow, the Munich-born sportsman can be found mountain biking, water skiing or on the motorcycle race track.

His energy is legendary: It seemed like the bad boy of action stunts wanted to break the laws of physics with his snowboard so he could surf the most obscure terrains - from treetops to meandering streams - with unashamed perfection and an unlimited desire for adventure.

Reto Lamm (born in 1970) is not only a myth in the snowboarding world, but also one of the pioneers of the sport at the same time.

He was one of the greats in the pipe from 1989 to 1997. Swiss champion in the half-pipe, European silver medallist, overall World Cup winner in the half-pipe, World Cup silver medallist and not least the first winner in the history of air & style contests.

The fact that the popularity of snowboarding rose from at first an exotic craziness for skiing hippies and a new generation of wild people to become a recognized sport is not least due to his commitment.

He not only combines his passion for sport but also his love of film making with Bogner: Lamm, who made snowboarding more accessible to a wider audience in the Bogner "White Magic" film, also demonstrated his showmanship and athletic talent in "Fire, Ice & Dynamite", "Into the Sun", "Ski to the Max" and "Skimagination".

The business graduate, who in an active career as a pro won world championship after world championship, never moved on from snowboarding.

Now he pulls strings behind the scenes: as a designer, coordinator of the Nissan X-Trail Jam, president of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour.

And as a creative advisor.
As part of the Willy Bogner Sports Action Team he stayed true to his soul mate and continues to work on media projects with the company.

No ascent is too difficult, no white glory too distant for him not to conquer.
Which madman climbs up Mount Everest to 8800 meters and then swings down shouting - half jumping, half flying - and half breaking his neck?
The answer: The madman is Brice Lequertier, and he did it in 2003. Brice, the Frenchman with Jesus sandals and dreadlocks, is one of the rare species of elite international skiers who can combine freestyle skiing with free riding.
Free skiers measure themselves against Alpine skiers in five disciplines, race over mogul pistes, do aerials on jumps or complete a course to win bets.

As a free skier (part-time job: mountain guide), the free spirit (who was born in 1977) was in the French national team for five years and was Youth World and European champion.
His official highlights include the gold medal in the Slopestyle Winter X Games in Crested Butte, Colorado, and the Crystal Award in St. Moritz for the Red Bull Hike and Ride.
On the other hand free riding is limited to absolute professionals who have perfected the art of skiing through deep snow.
Free riders are quick, wild and as bold as brass so they can practice their magic beyond controlled and marked pistes in untouched virgin powder snow.
His desire to discover drives ski magician Lequertier to God-forsaken areas in Kazakhstan, Alaska, Ecuador, or New Zealand.
He and his spiritual brother, Willy Bogner, have the common characteristic that they repeatedly regain strength from their home roots.
Whereas Bogner has kept his feet firmly on Bavarian ground, the Frenchman calls Les Portes du Soleil in the Savoy mountains home. Lequertier appeared in Bogner's "Ski to the Max" and "Skimagination" films - playing important - or rather flying - roles in each.

He is a man of superlatives: To keep it simple Markus Wasmeier is considered to be the best German skier of all time. Two Olympic gold medals, one World Championship title - nobody else in Germany has come close to the guy from Schliersee (born in 1963). Like nobody else, "Wasi", as the sports press calls him, understood how to surprise people in his active career . The course of professional skiing career can be likened to a mountain with its peaks and depressions - bitter tragedy here, highest triumph there.

On December 11, 1984 he mounted the podium for the first time after taking part in the giant slalom at Sestriere. One year later he was the sensation at the World Championships in Bormio: Without having previously winning a World Cup race, Wasmeier beat the favorite Pirmin Zurbriggen by five hundredths of a second and took the gold medal in the giant slalom. In the following season, Wasmeier also scored regularly in all the disciplines: On February 9, 1986 he won his first World Cup race, the Super-G in Morzine; he also won the Super-G discipline course which was raced for the first time. He came third overall in the World Cup. His success continued into the 1986/87 season in which he won such prizes as the prestigious Lauberhorn Descent in Wengen and he came in third in the Super-G at the 1987 World Championships.
And then there were the not-so happy moments: For example, in the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary in 1988 when he was considered the favorite in the Super-G - and lost it after just he first gate. In Furano in 1987 he fell so badly he broke two vertebrae. He himself says that Lillehammer "seriously changed" his life. Nine years after his first World Championship (giant slalom in Bormio) the sensation and the happy end came: He was the first male German skier to win double gold at the 1994 Olympics (for Super-G and giant slalom).

The son of a mural painter, who was on skis at the age of two, is a master of resilience. He could handle defeats and always magic up new victories for the world like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Between 1985 and 1992 he won numerous races and medals in World Championships and Cups for Super-G, combined and downhill races. He won a total of nine World Cup races alone. The sporting world was shocked when the "blond lightening bolt from Schliersee" announced his retirement from professional sport in 1994.

Honored as "Sportsman of the Year", Wasmeier then fulfilled another dream: In 2007 he opened a farming and winter sport museum in his home town. With the aid of sponsors he arranged for three historical farmhouses threatening to collapse to be transferred and re-erected in Schliersee.
He presents major sporting events for the German ARD TV channel - and the helmet cameras that he uses to document tricks and subtleties on the piste down to the last detail are legendary. In 1994 the family man (married, three children) played a supporting role in Willy Bogner's "White Magic". He joined him to design a fashion line that was launched in 1995.

In July 2007 Wasmeier was awarded the Bavarian Sports Prize in the "Top Sportsman Plus" category and state premier Edmund Stoiber honored him with the Bavarian Order of Merit.