Walter Steiner

For the Swiss Olympic rower, see Walter Steiner (rower). For the Swiss Olympic sailor, see Walter Steiner (sailor).

Walter Steiner
Country	Switzerland
Born	(1951-02-15) 15 February 1951 (age 74) Wildhaus, Switzerland
Height	184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Personal best	169 m (554 ft) Planica, Yugoslavia (15 March 1974)
Medal record Men's ski jumping Olympic Games 1972 Sapporo Individual LH World Championships 1972 Sapporo Individual LH Men's ski flying World Championships 1972 Planica Individual 1977 Vikersund Individual 1973 Oberstdorf Individual

Walter Steiner (born 15 February 1951) is a Swiss former ski jumper who competed in the 1970s.

Career

Steiner earned a ski jumping silver medal in the Individual large hill at the 1972 Winter Olympics. He also won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1974 and won the Ski Flying World Championships in 1972 and 1977. Steiner was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1977 (shared with Helena Takalo and Hilkka Kuntola). As of 2012 he resides in the Swedish rural town of Falun, working as a gardener.

On 9 March 1973, he crashed at world record distance at 175 metres (574 ft). ^[1] And again two days later he crashed at record 179 metres (587 ft), both of them achieved in Oberstdorf, West Germany. ^{[2] [3]}

On 15 March 1974 he set and tied ski jumping world record distance at 169 metres (554 ft) with Heinz Wossipiwo. ^{[4] [5]} Later that day he crashed at 177 metres (581 ft) world record distance, both distances were set on Velikanka bratov Gorišek K165 in Planica, Yugoslavia. ^{[6] [7]}

Steiner ended his career in 1978 after several knee injuries. ^[8]

Although being very successful in ski flying, Steiner often criticized this kind of sport as insecure and even called flying hills "monuments of foolishness". He later worked as a design engineer to make ski jumping hills more save to handle. ^[9]

Until present days he is known in Switzerland as the "bird man". ^[10]

Ski jumping world records

Date	Hill	Location	Metres	Feet
9 March 1973	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze K175	Oberstdorf, West Germany	175	574
11 March 1973	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze K175	Oberstdorf, West Germany	179	587
15 March 1974	Velikanka bratov Gorišek K165	Planica, Yugoslavia	169	554
15 March 1974	Velikanka bratov Gorišek K165	Planica, Yugoslavia	177	581

  Not recognized! Crash at world record distance.

Documentary

Steiner is the subject of the 1974 Werner Herzog German-language documentary film The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner , a.k.a. The Great Ecstasy of the Sculptor Steiner (German: Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner). Much of the footage shows Steiner and his psychological struggle at the International Ski Flying Week at Planica where Herzog also appears as commentator. ^[11]

References

1. "Zdaj Wosipiwo - 169 m (page 7)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 10 March 1973.
2. "Mesec - 158 m... (page 4)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 12 March 1973.
3. "Walter Steiner - Oberstdorf 1973 - 179 m - World record crash (see 6:17)". YouTube. 11 March 1973.
4. "169 m: izenačen svetovni rekord (page 1)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 16 March 1974.
5. "Walter Steiner - Planica 1974 - 169 m - World record". YouTube. 15 March 1974. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
6. "Walter Steiner - Planica 1974 - 177 m - World record crash". YouTube. 15 March 1974. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
7. "Še nikoli tako daleč (page 5)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 16 March 1974.
8. Philipp Reich (2024-02-11). "Die DDR stutzt dem Vogelmenschen aus dem Toggenburg die Flügel" (in German). watson.ch. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
9. "Über die eigene Todesangst hinauswachsen«" (in German). Der Spiegel. 1986-03-16. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
10. "Der Vogelmensch wird 70-jährig: Walter Steiner feiert heute Geburtstag" (in German). tagblatt.ch. 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
11. "The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner". YouTube. 15 March 1974.

External links

• Walter Steiner at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Holmenkollen medalists - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)
• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)