Walter Hofer: Legendary FIS Ski Jumping Leader

TRANSCRIPT (NOTE time references are not accurate)

Ep 1 - Walter Hofer

Peter Graves: [00:00:09] Thank you very much, Tom Kelly, and welcome everybody to USA Nordic Ticket to Fly. We'll be talking to newsmakers in the sport of ski jumping and Nordic combined every month. And we're very, very happy to have all of you listeners with us. A very exciting show today. We are going to have Walter Hofer who for almost 30 years, was the FIS ski jump race director. He has done a wonderful job and at recently retired after a great tenure. First of all, Walter, let me welcome you to the show, and it's a joy to have you with us.

Walter Hofer: [00:00:59] Thank you very much for that invitation. Thank you.

Peter Graves: [00:01:01] Well, you are so welcome. So let me start at the beginning by asking you, how did you get into ski jumping? I don't believe you were a jumper. But is that right?

Walter Hofer: [00:01:17] No, but I was always involved in any kind of sport. Mostly in football (soccer) myself. But then I started to do a second educational system. I started to study physical education. And at the age of 25 when I was searching for a job to do work in between my study. And I was asked by the Austrian Ski Federation. They were looking for a physio. And they were looking for a kind of service men. And they took me. I saw this offer in a newspaper and I made a telephone call. And they took me just right away. And that was the first day of a full time job. For the next thirty eight years. So who was my stepping in as standing on the sideline watching ski jumping? I was always interested in ski jumping on TV. But I have never seen it onsite yet.

Peter Graves: [00:02:19] Very interesting. So you grew up in Austria, where did you grow up?

Walter Hofer: [00:02:25] In the southern part of Austria as ski jumping fans know it's nearby, Planica in Slovenia and nearby Villach, which is a small town nearby. My village is on the lake, Millstätter See, and the village is known. Seeboden.

Peter Graves: [00:02:48] Ok. OK. Well, Austria, of course, such a big hub of ski jumping activity. So you played such a decisive and important role in charting the course for ski jumping. And let me ask you to begin with what your you retired had plenty to. That was the final day for you. So it's near your home. And you must have been reflective of what you had achieved in the different things you did. Tell me a little bit about maybe your thoughts going in your mind that day and in the subsequent months about what you did for the sport of jumping.

Walter Hofer: [00:03:42] First of all, it brings me back to my first engagement in ski jumping when I was servicemen and the second coach for the Austrian Ski Federation, then I was asked by the Germans Ski Federation for another four year to be the second coach for the Rudi Tusch who was the head coach at that moment. So all in all, ten years I was standing on the sideline and I was watching ski jumping and whatever it takes, I saw that there is a certain value in this sport. It also very small, tiny side event - it was not very much taken by the popularity, by the spectators. And what I saw there is something in this sport which has to be shown, has to be wrapped up in another way because ski jumping was already. very interesting to see. But at that time, the TV coverage and access for the spectators onsite was very limited.

Peter Graves: [00:04:49] And you know, it's interesting to me, having spent time in the World Cup circuit and Olympic Games with with jumping and and I think this is during your tenure, the ratings. And this is particularly in Europe. But the ratings for ski jumping are simply off the charts. They are amongst the highest rated shows ever. And so maybe a two part question. What draws people in to watch it on television? And secondly, you must be very proud to have been part of that, a tremendous resurgence of what is a very old sport.

Walter Hofer: [00:05:32] I start to answer the second question. I never took it as my work. I had obviously feeling that I was just coordinating a group of people, mostly the members of the Jumping Committee of FIS. I had great support from the FIS. Yes, from from the president Gian Franco Kasper. And they let us work and do what we wanted to do. So it was teamwork starting from the athletes, the coaches, the officials. And finally, I was just kind of coordinating system and it was small enough - the discipline. So to do it n one table, this was very good in the very beginning because it started very, very deep with all the changes. Because when I started to to try and if I ask to join ski