Beltrametti returns to the slopes

Beltrametti cheers on a former colleague. swissinfo.ch

Just over a year after a horrific crash in Val d'Isère left him paralysed from the chest down, Swiss skiing star Silvano Beltrametti is launching a career in sports management.

The 23-year-old is due in St Moritz at the weekend to watch the world championship races – and to start the next phase of his life.

Under the guidance of his own manager Giusep Fry, Beltrametti is learning more about the business side of the sport and preparing to use his experiences to advise the ski stars of the future.

“I know what goes through the skiers’ heads as they wait at the starting gate,” Beltrametti told swissinfo during January’s Lauberhorn race weekend, “and I already have some knowledge of the business and sponsoring aspects.

“Now I hope to use the next three or four years to study this new career and make a success of it.”

Although confined to being a spectator at ski events, it’s clear that Beltrametti’s passion for the sport remains undiminished.

Indeed if it wasn’t for the wheelchair beneath him, Beltrametti could be just another ski fan in the crowd, as he whistles in support of a good Swiss performance or swings his upper body around in an unconscious mimicry of the racers.

Emotional

“Of course this is an emotional time for me,” admits Beltrametti. “Normally I would have been the one at the start, focusing entirely on the race ahead.

“Having to just sit here and watch produces some strong feelings, but I still love the World Cup and now I can even enjoy all the accompanying events and the atmosphere in the village.”

While some might think it strange to see a young man willingly seeking a new role in a profession which left him crippled, Beltrametti says it would be even stranger for him to turn away from the world of skiing.

“I love this sport and it was always more than just a job for me. As a former racer, I am also an expert in this profession, so why shouldn’t I be here?

“There was no way I could have come back to the sport straightaway last winter, because I still needed a bit of distance. But I’m certainly happy to be back now and I’m looking forward to working on the other side of skiing.”

In the spotlight

Although he had stayed away from the men’s World Cup circuit until the Lauberhorn meeting, Beltrametti has rarely been out of the Swiss media spotlight since his accident.

As well as publishing an online diary of his experiences, Beltrametti allowed a television documentary crew to follow his life in the months after the crash. Even the operation on his severed spine was televised.

But the former athlete has little time for those who suggest he has been exploited or that he himself is addicted to fame.

“I’ve been surprised by the level of interest as well,” he insists. “I keep thinking that it’s finished, that I’ve said all that needs to be said. But people keep coming back to ask me more. That’s not my choice, though, that’s the television channels.

“What I have been able to do is educate Swiss people about life in a wheelchair and to get out the message that it is possible to live like this. The biggest problem isn’t the wheelchair itself, but the lack of decent access to many buildings and that’s something I’d like to inform people about further.”

Down-to-earth

Beltrametti’s celebrity status has made him much more than an ambassador for the physically disabled, however. His swift acceptance of his condition and desire to move on have been seen by many as an almost miraculous testament to the human spirit.

Beltrametti himself, though, is more down-to-earth when explaining the reasons for his current contentment.

“I have always had my friends and family and they have become even closer to me in the past months and helped me to keep strong. There have been times when I have been very, very low but the fight itself has also made me much stronger.”

Although he is not a church-goer, Beltrametti has also found comfort in his belief that his accident was pre-ordained.

“I do believe in God, and I think he wanted me to stop skiing and to give me this opportunity to do other things. There have been times when I look up at the sky and ask why this had to happen,” he says.

“But I always get an answer, and more often now I look up while enjoying all the nature around me and just say ‘thank you’.”

Moving dreams

And while the irreversible nature of Beltrametti’s injuries mean that he will never walk, or ski, again, he is now finally enjoying the memories of movement that come to him in his sleep.

“For the first couple of months after the crash I would have these dreams where I was skiing or walking,” Beltrametti recalls.

“Waking up after that to the realisation that I couldn’t move was just horrible to begin with. Now though I can enjoy those dreams because I can wake up and enjoy reliving the experience.”

Beltrametti knows that his fame, like his nightmares, is likely to fade over time. But as he makes the transition from sports star to sports manager, the former athlete cheering in the finish area seems to be adjusting well to life after skiing.

swissinfo, Mark Ledsom

Key facts

December 2001: Beltrametti crashes during a World Cup downhill race in Val d’Isère.
He is paralysed from the chest down as a result of the accident.
July 2002: Beltrametti launches a new fitness project for talented young skiers.
January 2003: Beltrametti announces he is to launch a new career in sports management.