FIS was saddened to learn of the death of legendary Alpine skier and one of the earliest Freestyle Skiing pioneers, Stein Eriksen, He passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, December 27, 2015 at the age of 88.

The Norwegian, who lived the last six decades in the U.S., and served as the Director of skiing for Deer Valley Resort, originally gained fame through competition at the 1952 Olympic winter Games in Oslo, where he took the gold and silver medals in the giant slalom and slalom, respectively. Two years later he went on to win three gold medals at the World Championships in Åre (SWE) in 1954, making him the first alpine skier to win the world championship ‘triple gold.’

He also made his mark in Freestyle Skiing, inventing a forward somersault, an aerial maneuver credited as the forerunner of the inverted aerials performed by freestyle skiers today.

Many former and current Alpine and Freestyle skiers took social media to pay tribute to the legend.

To read more about Eriksen and his extraordinary life, please click here

Source: fis-ski.com