Roland Collombin

Roland Collombin was born on 17 February 1951 in Versegères, a village in the Val de Bagnes in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. His father was from Valais and his mother was Italian. He grew up skiing in the valley and was also a promising cyclist as a teenager before he committed to alpine skiing. He remained deeply rooted in the Val de Bagnes for his whole life and died in the same house where he was born.

Collombin's first World Cup top-ten result came on 12 December 1971, seventh in the Val-d'Isère downhill, followed by seventh at Kitzbühel in January 1972. Selected for the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, he won the downhill silver medal behind teammate Bernhard Russi, a result that also counted as a World Championship medal.

In the 1973 season he won four downhills: Val Gardena (15 December 1972), Garmisch-Partenkirchen twice (6 and 7 January 1973) and Kitzbühel (27 January 1973), and took the World Cup downhill title while finishing third overall. After two second places in December 1973, he won all four downhills in January 1974, at Garmisch, Avoriaz, Wengen and Kitzbühel, for six consecutive downhill podiums. The Wengen win was the first Lauberhorn victory by a Swiss man in 20 years, and the Kitzbühel run beat Jean-Claude Killy's 1967 course record. He won the downhill globe again in 1974 and finished fourth overall. At the 1974 World Championships in St. Moritz he fell in the downhill.

He finished his World Cup career with eight wins and eleven podiums, all in downhill, achieved in a little over two years.

On 8 December 1974 Collombin fell at Val-d'Isère on the Oreiller-Killy course and injured his spine, ending his 1975 season; Franz Klammer went on to dominate the discipline in his absence. On 7 December 1975, during his comeback, he crashed in training at the same jump, fractured two vertebrae and was paralysed for two days. He was treated at the paraplegic centre in Basel, did not walk again until February 1976, and retired at 24. The jump on the Oreiller-Killy run has been called the "Bosse à Collombin" ever since. Adolf Ogi later said that with his power and technique he would have won Olympic gold at Innsbruck in 1976.

After his racing career, Collombin took an extended break and then pursued a range of jobs close to home: a summer on an alpine pasture, restaurateur, winemaker, bar owner, and drinks and wine merchant. With his wife Sarah, a French-speaking Canadian from Quebec whom he met while running a bistro in Versegères, he operated a guest house and sold a line of wines. In the mid-2010s the family opened the raclette bar "La Streif" in Martigny. The couple had a daughter, Emmanuelle, and a son, Pierre, and two grandchildren. In 1989 he narrowly survived a head-on car accident that was not his fault. In 2018 he said he was enjoying the best years of his life, heading into the mountains with his wife almost every day.

Collombin was famous for his candour, humour and love of the good life. The Swiss press compared him to John McEnroe and joked that Fendant wine ran in his veins. He openly described himself as a slacker and said he wanted to work as little as necessary and get as much out of life as possible, although Bernhard Russi and others believed he trained hard in private and always knew when to give everything. Adolf Ogi said he spoke his mind, sometimes without thinking twice, and that this was why people loved him.

Collombin is remembered as one of the great downhillers of the 1970s and one of the most colourful personalities Swiss sport has produced. Valais racer Justin Murisier said at his funeral that Collombin belonged to the generation that inspired Swiss skiing and helped it become a professional sport. Valais State Councillor Stéphane Ganzer called him an icon of Valais and a legend of skiing whose life embodied courage, authenticity and loyalty to his roots. The "Bosse à Collombin" at Val-d'Isère keeps his name on one of the sport's classic courses.

Olympic silver medal, men's downhill, Sapporo 1972 (also a World Championship silver). World Cup downhill champion 1973 and 1974. Third in the World Cup overall standings in 1973, fourth in 1974. Eight World Cup downhill victories: Val Gardena 1972; Garmisch 1973 (two); Kitzbühel 1973; Garmisch, Avoriaz, Wengen and Kitzbühel 1974.

Collombin was a fixture of Swiss television and tabloid coverage throughout his life. The Swiss broadcaster RTS keeps an archive dossier on him, including later interviews in which he looked back on his rebellious spirit. His 1974 Wengen victory and his career-ending crash are widely shared in ski racing video compilations.

Collombin was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 2024 and, after overcoming it, with liver cancer, for which he had operations in 2025. He died on 10 July 2026, aged 75, peacefully in the house where he was born in Versegères, surrounded by his family. His daughter Emmanuelle announced the death on Instagram. In mid-June he had phoned Adolf Ogi to tell him he was leaving this earth and to ask him to speak at his funeral.

The funeral took place on 16 July 2026 at the parish church of St-Maurice de Bagnes in Le Châble, co-officiated by Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion. More than 600 people attended, with around seventy following on a big screen outside. Philippe Roux carried the cross, and Justin Murisier, Arnaud Boisset, Denis Corthay and a family friend carried the coffin. Mourners included Bernhard Russi, Pirmin Zurbriggen, FC Sion president Christian Constantin and Valais government president Christophe Darbellay. His burial place has not been made public.