FRIENDS

I still vividly remember that March day in 1974. It was just before my eighteenth birthday, so I was still officially a minor. Jurij Vogelnik, a technologist from Elan, visited me in the High Tatras in today's Slovakia. At that time, I was still a completely unknown Swedish ski newcomer, and I didn't have a single World Cup victory in my collection. He brought me a pair of Impuls skis, which later became one of my favorites. Neither of us had a clue how this seemingly insignificant meeting would impact our lives. It was the moment when two completely different worlds collided. I was coming from the north of Europe, and he was Slovenian, or at that time also Yugoslav and there was also a sixteen-year age gap between the two of us and a huge language barrier as well. But we got along very well even in that very first moment.

Shortly after that, Elan's management appointed Jurij as my technician. Since then, we have spent countless hours together, traveled thousands of kilometers, had fun together, confided in each other about personal matters, and immersed ourselves in professional ski debates. And we never fought. We had a harmonious friendly relationship. We usually spoke in German, which was also a neutral language for both of us, although over the years Jurij also learned quite a few Swedish phrases.

Jurij has been my companion throughout my entire career. He also deserves a lot of credit for all my 86 World Cup wins, two Olympic gold medals and five World Championship titles. He was with me from the first to the last one and always knew how to prepare my skis perfectly. I've often been asked how our relationship lasted fifteen years. And I answered the same thing over and over again. Because he's a good man. The most important thing for me is to have good relationships with the people I work with. Even if the skis weren't 100%, it wouldn't be as bad as if the people around me weren't right. But the skis have always been great too.

Above all I have a huge respect for his work and expertise. He was the one who understood all my wishes. In fact, already at the time when we were skiing with 205-centimeter-long skis, he and I came up with the idea that it would be good if the skis had more sidecut. Especially in giant slalom, I always strived for a perfect turn. I could say that, in a way, I already carved with those more than two-meter-long skis, when the snow conditions allowed it, of course. I used the tails of the skis, and when I managed to bend them, the whole thing was already quite like today's carving. And Jurij was, of course, the co-author of this idea.

During the time we spent together on a fifteen-year trip around the world, hundreds of anecdotes happened to us. I remember coming to his workshop, where, while he was preparing the skis, we debated about various things. When he finished the work, he never left the skis in the workshop, but always took them to his room as a precaution. "They are safe there from any sabotage," he repeated. 

Sometimes we used to play hockey together. We Swedes were all good hockey players, but Jurij turned out to be an excellent goalkeeper. 

In fact, I still don't know if our first meeting was luck or fate. It was probably a combination of both. But to this day, I am immensely grateful that our paths crossed that day in the High Tatras. Even today, when my career seems like a distant memory, Jurij is still my friend. And every time my journey takes me to Slovenia, I visit him in Radovljica with the greatest of pleasure.