Erich Pletzer

A life straight out of a photo book: colourful, full of snapshots, and with a unique story behind every picture. For his 60th birthday, he wanted to be given a photo book made from his, as he puts it, “rather extensive” collection of photographs. An impossible task, his sister realised.
Erich Pletzer has experienced a great deal, lived in a wide variety of places and learnt the lessons of life in all sorts of ways. His life resembles the disciplines of the ski circuit, which he himself helped shape over many years as a professional skier: fast-paced, exciting, masterful.

Family, sport, freedom – these are the cornerstones of life around which everything revolves in Mittersill. Family is the only thing that lasts. Everything is simple when the family pulls together. Erich is convinced of this: “That was already the case with my parents, and it’s still the case now.” He grew up in relatively modest circumstances – learning a great deal from his parents about the basics. “Say hello – shake hands, please – thank you, don’t chat during meals. If you live your life by those principles, you’ve already gained a lot.” Erich was a professional ski racer.

After completing his training, he spent several years in the USA pursuing his career. “The Americans loved us Austrians,” he laughs, “we were well-mannered, fun-loving and always up for a laugh.” He tells us how he “swam across” the Rio Grande and went bear hunting. He and his friend “Jungle Jim” nearly got stuck in Calgary, Canada… but that’s another story
(as there are so many from Erich).
It’s 1974, and the setting is Kitzbühel. That year, on his 17th birthday, he conquered the legendary Streif in the slalom. In the first run, he came fourth. His long-time sporting mate Hansi – “you know, the lad from Hinterseer” – took the gold. “I messed up; otherwise I’d have won,” he smiles.

As a teenager, he’d always get angry when he’d ‘messed up’. A coach once said to him: ‘If you want to win, you must first be able to lose.’ He took that to heart; those words shaped him. In his view, sport is the number one school of life. Sporting athletes travel far and wide, meeting people from all sorts of cultures – skin colour and religion don’t matter at all. “Either you get on with someone, or you don’t – it’s as simple as that.” That’s the beauty of it, and people should realise this much more often, especially in this day and age.

He wants to share one more anecdote – in light of recent events – although there are so many to choose from… It was on a glorious sunny day in March 2020. “The café was closed, but we were selling ice cream to take away. Lots of people were queuing up for a Pletzer ice cream – all keeping their distance, I must say. Suddenly the police turned up and we had a notice put up. The charge: too many people in one place.” Everyone knows what that was all about. Yet, according to Erich, it’s quite simple: “Get out into the fresh air, keep your distance and create moments of happiness. Martin Luther said as much over 500 years ago, and he survived two plague epidemics,” says Erich thoughtfully. As a businessman from Mittersill, he was also active on the tourism committee in his younger years. “We did a study once: why visitors love coming to the Oberpinzgau so much. Everyone thought it was because of the ski lifts, the golf course and the many attractions. Do you know what the result was? Visitors come because the people here are so friendly.” What Erich hopes for is that people from the different villages will stick together even more. “We’re one valley, part of a whole.” In the Pinzgau, there are so many beautiful places and opportunities to experience moments of happiness. “I’ve travelled a lot, but our region is number one – worldwide.”