2008 Woodie Awards
Pioneer experiences journey on and off slopes
Schweiger earns All-American honor along his career as a Pioneer
Brooks Kirchheimer
Issue date: 5/15/07 Section: Sports
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It is a journey that has many twists, turns, a crash and in the end an education.
The day was January 24, the sun was glistening off the silky, white snow and the event was a FIS super-g race at Beaver Creek. With his long brown hair waving in the cool air, graduate student and former DU skier Dominik Schweiger flew down the course at speeds of 70 plus miles per hour.
Just three gates from the finish, Schweiger and his skis lifted off into the air and hooked a gate.
After he hooked the gate Schweiger and his equipment continued to fly in multiple directions until he lay tangled in the orange mesh fence and in astonishing pain.
Two members of the first-aid unit quickly came to Schweiger's side and spent 10 minutes just getting the Austrian native out of the fence. They tried to relocate Schweiger's dislocated right shoulder then decided the process would be better suited in a hospital, where they diagnosed him with a greater tuberosity fracture in his right shoulder.
As Schweiger laid in pain and uncertainty about the future of his skiing career he knew one thing, "thank god I have an education. That was the first thought when I knew I was seriously injured, I knew I had something to fall back on."
An education for which he can thank his dad for getting him on a pair of ski's at the age of 3 in Reutte, Austria, about an hour south of Munich, Germany. Robert Schweiger was a ski instructor along with having a long history of skiing on his side of the family.
After the younger Schweiger's first race in kindergarten he joined a local ski club. His Dad then realized that the kid had some talent. Schweiger eventually joined the prestigious Austrian sports school, Schigymnasium Stams, and went on to finish sixth in the slalom at the 2001 Austrian Junior Championships.
"Skiing in Austria is like the equivalent of ball sports here in America. The World Cup and Olympic medalists are legends and are always in the news and it is a childhood dream to be a downhill champion in Austria."
The day was January 24, the sun was glistening off the silky, white snow and the event was a FIS super-g race at Beaver Creek. With his long brown hair waving in the cool air, graduate student and former DU skier Dominik Schweiger flew down the course at speeds of 70 plus miles per hour.
Just three gates from the finish, Schweiger and his skis lifted off into the air and hooked a gate.
After he hooked the gate Schweiger and his equipment continued to fly in multiple directions until he lay tangled in the orange mesh fence and in astonishing pain.
Two members of the first-aid unit quickly came to Schweiger's side and spent 10 minutes just getting the Austrian native out of the fence. They tried to relocate Schweiger's dislocated right shoulder then decided the process would be better suited in a hospital, where they diagnosed him with a greater tuberosity fracture in his right shoulder.
As Schweiger laid in pain and uncertainty about the future of his skiing career he knew one thing, "thank god I have an education. That was the first thought when I knew I was seriously injured, I knew I had something to fall back on."
An education for which he can thank his dad for getting him on a pair of ski's at the age of 3 in Reutte, Austria, about an hour south of Munich, Germany. Robert Schweiger was a ski instructor along with having a long history of skiing on his side of the family.
After the younger Schweiger's first race in kindergarten he joined a local ski club. His Dad then realized that the kid had some talent. Schweiger eventually joined the prestigious Austrian sports school, Schigymnasium Stams, and went on to finish sixth in the slalom at the 2001 Austrian Junior Championships.
"Skiing in Austria is like the equivalent of ball sports here in America. The World Cup and Olympic medalists are legends and are always in the news and it is a childhood dream to be a downhill champion in Austria."
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