Histrionic and irreverent as applied at work, “the city skier” who carried piles of VHS tapes in his suitcase to break the boredom of retirement fell on the White Circus like a cyclone, marking an era not only with his many victories
Alberto Tomba marked an era of skiing in the world, but not only on snow. He also managed to make himself talked about in Africa; as? Playing himself. He was born a great communicator even with body language. At the beginning you had to interpret his sentences, decipher them, because while he was talking to you, he was already thinking about something else. He was in a hurry to live. He seemed like a slacker in his public statements, but at work he was scrupulous and fussy: it seems like a contradiction, but it isn’t. In the 1980s, skiing was cradled in the myth especially of Gustavo Thoeni and Ingemar Stenmark, considered silent, calm and shy heroes. Many had already forgotten that Pierino Gros had won a World Cup at a very young age and that Anzi and Besson had been the first ski trade unionists to discuss the risks of downhill skiing. Erwin Stricker, Crazy Horse, a whimsical skier with great ideas, was popular in Italy, but not passionate. The Blue Avalanche had rolled down the valley and little by little every echo had also died out.