Bill Johnson RIP

[Warp Daddy]

read several accounts this am that our former Olympic gold medalist from the Sarajevo Olympics passed . Rip Bill , he was an enigma wrapped in a paradox who seemingly poked a finger in the eye of the skiing establishment in a goood sort of way . " The Kaiser ". Franz Klammer was particularly nasty when he called Bill a nasenbickler ( a nosepicker ) when ole Bill stuck it to the. Vaunted Austrian ski team and whooped their butts in Sarajevo .

Bill led a tortured existence hopefully he is now at peace

 

[joshua segal]

He was young - only 55 years-old. What did he die of?

 

[deadheadskier]

Ski in Peace Bill

 

[Funky_Catskills]

So sad... He was my hero..
Went against the grain.
Was his own person surrounded by Han's and Franz's....

 

[Warp Daddy]

He was severely injured in a horrible sking accident many yrs ago and was in a facility for decades and paralyzed. He was unable to to swallow for the past 3 weeks and was suffering the worst kind of oain imaginable according to accounts i read this am . Thus the multiplicity of his co morbidities couple with the inability to ingest and retain noureshment apparently led to the inevitable .

Sad ending indeed , but he fought till the. End in his heart of lion kind of way

 

[Warp Daddy]

So sad... He was my hero..
Went against the grain.
Was his own person surrounded by Han's and Franz's....

oh yeah Bill WAS an American original , a serious one of a kind maverick in a Steve McQueen kinda way ! He took no chit and just thumbed his nose at the stuffed shirt skiing hierarchy of the day ...... He sure as hell did it his way

 

[xwhaler]

I suggest folks watch this if you haven't seen it already. I watched it before the past Olympics----amazing/sad/confusing/interesting story of this guy's life.

https://vimeo.com/116886512

 

[WoodCore]

I remember being in Austria at the height of Bill's magical run in the mid 80's. The locals (Austrians) couldn't stand him, they were in disbelief that some American cowboy could come across the pond and beat their racers on their own ski hills.

 

[catskills]

Bill Johnson was the first racer from outside the Alps to win an Olympic downhill. Like Joe Namath he predicted he would win. For some reason the folks in Europe didn't like that. hahahaha

RIP Bill

 

[CrazyFingers]

His '84 Wengen run was one for the ages. RIP

 

[Funky_Catskills]

oh yeah Bill WAS an American original , a serious one of a kind maverick in a Steve McQueen kinda way ! He took no chit and just thumbed his nose at the stuffed shirt skiing hierarchy of the day ...... He sure as hell did it his way

He helped to create my views on skiing.

 

[Warp Daddy]

He helped to create my views on skiing.

I saw that parallel long ago , bud ......'sides which any axe man:dunce: with any sense KNOWS that drum monkeys are a different sort ..just gotta be or things wont be right in the universe :beer:

 

[Funky_Catskills]

I saw that parallel long ago , bud ......'sides which any axe man:dunce: with any sense KNOWS that drum monkeys are a different sort ..just gotta be or things wont be right in the universe :beer:

Thinking about you actually... My good friend Ed(ESki) had a heart attack in Dec..
He's down for the count as far as skiing goes.. Sad... Dude skied every day Hunter was open last year..

 

[Smellytele]

RIP Bill. I remember watching the Sarajevo Olympics and seeing him win. It was right after I started skiing and thought that the DH was insane. Still do actually.

 

[Abubob]

 

[Hawkshot99]

I group up just knowing the name Bill Johnson as some American who had previosly won the Olympics.
It wasn't till lastbyear when I watched a special on him, that I really learned of the man and was fascinated by him.
A adly the history of ski racing is ignored in America, even of Americans.

He seemed pretty bad in the specials, so I hope he and his family are at peace now.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Thinking about you actually... My good friend Ed(ESki) had a heart attack in Dec..
He's down for the count as far as skiing goes.. Sad... Dude skied every day Hunter was open last year..

Sorry to hear that D , man tell him to STAY POSITIVE , follow docs orders BUT keep going !!!

frankly i told my heart surgeon on the 2nd day after open heart that i intended to ski again and THat was my motivation all thru the rehab But i was extremely lucky and suffered no heart muscle damage since i acted quickly when the discomfort originally presented as a simple aching like a pulled muscle coupled with sweating


. Hopefully if he did not suffer serious muscle damage to the heart he may be able in time to ski ........but if not he still needs a goal to motivate him and survival. Instinct when married to a realistic stretch goal is a HUGE help . Having you as bud may help him too , i had my skiing buds pumping up my sneakers all thru the rehab process

 

[manhattanskier]

I suggest folks watch this if you haven't seen it already. I watched it before the past Olympics----amazing/sad/confusing/interesting story of this guy's life.

https://vimeo.com/116886512

Thanks so much for sharing this, really well made.

 

[catskills]

Thinking about you actually... My good friend Ed(ESki) had a heart attack in Dec..
He's down for the count as far as skiing goes.. Sad... Dude skied every day Hunter was open last year..

Sorry to hear that. Stuff like this reminds me to ski more often with my friend at Hunter and cherish each and every run. He is getting up there in age and only skis half days now. Back in the day he counted every run at Hunter to get the most runs in with only a few minute break for lunch. That was before the detachable lifts at Hunter.

The Bill Johnson movie had a lot of highs and lows for me. Good to see Billy Kid in that video. It is so very strange that Lindsey Vonn just broke the record for most downhill runs (37) two days after Bill Johnson passed away. I don't know the right words to describe what I am feeling about the timing of those two events.