Jean-Claude Killy (born 30 August 1943) is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer. He dominated the sport in the late 1960s, and was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete there. He also won the first two World Cup titles, in 1967 and 1968.
Émile Allais (25 February 1912 – 17 October 2012) was a champion alpine ski racer from France; he won all three events at the 1937 world championships in Chamonix and the gold in the combined in 1938. Born in Megève, he was a dominant racer in the late 1930s and is considered to have been the first great French alpine skier.
Allais won the bronze medal in the combined (downhill and slalom), the only alpine medal event at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch, Germany. These Olympics were the first to award medals in alpine skiing. The previous year, he had won the silver medal in the downhill and combined at the 1935 world championships. In 1937 he was a triple world champion at Chamonix, France, winning all three events (downhill, slalom, and combined). The following year at Engelberg, Switzerland, he won the combined, and took silver in the downhill and slalom. He created the École Française de Ski which taught innovative methods of Anton Seelos (who was his trainer and instructor), characterised by parallel turns, controlling the speed by sideslipping, and turning by ruade (French: kick, back kick), i.e. kicking the backs of the skis up and pivoting on the tips while rotating the body in the direction of the turn. The École du Ski Français (ESF) is now the biggest Ski school in the world in terms of numbers of ski teachers, and is present in every single French ski resort, and even abroad.
After a spell in North and South America (Squaw Valley, California and Portillo, Chile) Allais held the post of technical director at Courchevel from 1954 to 1964, where he introduced many ideas from the U.S. regarding slope preparation and piste security. He later worked as a technical consultant for other resorts, notably La Plagne and Flaine. One of the Saulire couloirs at Courchevel is named after Allais.
As a consultant to Skis Rossignol, Allais helped to design the laminated-wood Olympic 41 ski (1941), and the first aluminum skis to win major ski races, the Métallais (1959) and Allais 60 (1960). The Olympic 41 later served as the basis of Rossignol's very successful Strato (1964).
In December 2005, 93-year-old Allais made the trip to the French Senate in Paris where he was honoured, along with a number of other ski instructors. His life has been all about skiing; he learned his skiing early, raced all over Europe, then coached the French Olympic ski team for seven years. Allais fought in World War II on skis, and even courted his wife at a ski meet. He turned 100 in February 2012.Allais died after an illness in a hospital in Sallanches in the French Alps on 17 October 2012.
David Poisson (31 March 1982 – 13 November 2017) was a French World Cup alpine ski racer, who specialized in the speed events. He made his World Cup debut in 2004. Poisson represented France at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he placed 7th in the downhill. At the 2013 World Championships, Poisson made his first podium in top-level competition, taking bronze in the downhill. In 2015, Poisson took his only World Cup podium in a downhill in Santa Caterina, finishing third.Poisson died in a crash during training in Canada, at Nakiska near Calgary, on 13 November 2017. He caught an edge, went through the safety netting, and struck a tree.
Frédéric Covili (born 14 November 1975 in Moûtiers) is a French former alpine skier who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Christel Pascal (born 6 October 1973) is a former French alpine skier who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Léo Lacroix (born 26 November 1937) was a French alpine skier who competed in the 1960s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won a silver medal in the men's downhill event at Innsbruck in 1964.Lacroix took the Olympic Oath at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble.
Joël Chenal (born 10 October 1973 in Moûtiers) is a French alpine skier.Chenal won a silver medal in the giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. His other notable successes are first place in Alta Badia (19 December 1999), second place in Yongpyong (26 February 2000) and third place in Kranjska Gora (8 March 2000), all of them in giant slalom.
Steve Missillier (born 12 December 1984) is a French alpine skier and non-commissioned officer. Missillier represented France at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and won a silver medal in giant slalom at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Florence Steurer (later Penz, born 1 November 1949) is a French former alpine skier. She competed in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics in the downhill, slalom, and giant slalom events and won a bronze medal in the slalom in 1972. She also finished fourth and sixth in the giant slalom, respectively.Steurer also won two world championship medals; a silver in combined in 1970 and a bronze in giant slalom in 1966. She has 27 World Cup podiums, including six in downhill, seven in giant slalom, and 14 in slalom. This includes four victories – three in slalom and one in giant slalom. Overall, she finished second in 1969 and third in 1968 and 1970. After retiring from competitions, she became director of a communication agency Duodecim. In 2009, she was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Her husband Alain Penz and father-in-law Claude Penz are also Olympic alpine skiers.
Jean-Pierre Vidal (born 24 February 1977 in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Savoie) is a French alpine skier.
As a young skier, he focused mainly on downhill. After hurting his knee, however, he decided to go for slalom. In 2002, he had his best year, winning a gold medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics and taking a World Cup win in Kranjska Gora.
A song was called after him (Slalom dans la tête) and in the French ski resort Les Sybelles, a lift was named after his gold medal as well (Médaille d'Or in La Toussuire).
After this fantastic year, it took Vidal until 2006 to return to the highest level of skiing competition. In January 2006, he won a World Cup race in Kitzbühel. Barely a month later, on February 24, 2006, he broke his forearm during a training session in Turin. He then decided to stop his professional career. At this time, the 2006 Winter Olympics were not over yet.
He is the brother of alpine skier Vanessa Vidal and the nephew of alpine skiers Jean-Noël Augert and Jean-Pierre Augert.