Vladimir Peter Sabich, Jr. (October 1, 1945 - March 21, 1976) was an American alpine ski racer

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

. He was a member of the U.S. Ski Team

United States Ski Team

The United States Ski Team, operated under the auspices of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association , develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, adaptive alpine, freestyle skiing, cross country, adaptive cross country, ski jumping, and nordic combined....

 in the late 1960s and competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Grenoble, France. The six events were held at Chamrousse from February 9–17, 1968.Jean-Claude Killy won all three men's events, repeating Toni Sailer's triple-gold of 1956...

; he was the pro ski racing champion in 1971 & 1972.

Early life

The grandson of Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n immigrants, Sabich was the middle child of Vladimir and Frances Sabich. He was given his lifelong nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

 "Spider

Spider

Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...

" by his father, because of his thin arms and legs at birth. Spider's father was a patrolman with the California Highway Patrol

California Highway Patrol

The California Highway Patrol is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and also acts as the state police....

 and had volunteered in World War II as a B-25

B-25 Mitchell

The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...

 pilot in the Air Force

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

; he was held as a POW

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

 by the Soviets

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 for a year after his plane was shot-up over northern Japan and forced down near Vladivostok

Vladivostok

The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...

. After the war, Vlad was a test pilot

Test pilot

A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....

 and then returned to his job with the CHP in Sacramento, and in 1950 he was transferred to Kyburz

Kyburz, California

Kyburz is a small unincorporated community in El Dorado County, California. It is located along the South Fork of the American River and U.S. Highway 50, and is surrounded by the El Dorado National Forest...

 on Highway 50

U.S. Route 50 in California

In the U.S. state of California, U.S. Route 50 runs east from I-80 in West Sacramento to the Nevada state line in South Lake Tahoe. Portions within Sacramento are known as the Capital City Freeway and El Dorado Freeway...

, southwest of Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...

.

The three Sabich children (Mary, Spider, & Steve) learned to ski at Edelweiss ski area, about a dozen miles (20 km) up the highway, a mile past Twin Bridges

Twin Bridges, California

Twin Bridges is a small unincorporated community on U.S. Route 50 near the Desolation Wilderness in El Dorado County, California. It is located west of Echo Summit, at an elevation of 6115 feet . It has a population of 14 people according to census figures, however as of 2008 the road sign lists...

. They attended a one-room school in Kyburz, Silver Fork Elementary, and went to class in the summer and skied during the winter, frequently arriving in their father's patrol car.

Spider and Steve were altar boys

Altar server

An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian religious service. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell and so on....

 at the Catholic church across the highway from the ski area (Chapel of Our Lady of the Sierras), and would often strap on their skis immediately following Mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

. Their ski coach was Lutz Aynedter, a downhill champion from the 1940s who emigrated from Germany to California after the war. He taught the Sabich boys European-style ski racing, and Spider and Steve became junior stars among the fearless young racers of Edelweiss, who became known as the "Highway 50 Boys." The Edelweiss ski area closed in the early 1960s after a poor snow year; the location is now called Camp Sacramento.

Despite their outdated equipment, Spider and Steve established themselves as top junior ski racers in northern California in the early 1960s. Both were offered skiing scholarships to the University of Colorado

University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

, the dominant collegiate program of the era. Head coach Bob Beattie was also the coach of the U.S. Ski Team

United States Ski Team

The United States Ski Team, operated under the auspices of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association , develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, adaptive alpine, freestyle skiing, cross country, adaptive cross country, ski jumping, and nordic combined....

, and the national team was heavy with CU skiers. While at Colorado, Spider majored in aeronautical engineering and was selected to the national team. Steve's career was ended by a knee injury while at CU.

Olympics and World Cup

Sabich skied on the World Cup

Alpine skiing World Cup

The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...

 circuit for its first four seasons, and finished fifth in the slalom

Slalom skiing

Slalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...

 in the thick fog at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Grenoble, France. The six events were held at Chamrousse from February 9–17, 1968.Jean-Claude Killy won all three men's events, repeating Toni Sailer's triple-gold of 1956...

 at age 22. His sole World Cup victory came two months later in April, a slalom at Heavenly Valley at South Lake Tahoe, just east of his hometown of Kyburz. He finished 8th in the slalom standings for the 1968

1968 Alpine Skiing World Cup

The second World Cup season began in January in West Germany and concluded in April in the U.S. Jean-Claude Killy of France repeated as the overall champion, and announced his retirement from World Cup competition. Nancy Greene of Canada repeated as the women's World Cup overall champion.For the...

 season and was the U.S. downhill champion.

Sabich reached the World Cup podium

Podium

A podium is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podia can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of an orchestra stands on a podium as do many...

 (top three) three more times in the slalom in 1969. He finished seventh in the 1969

1969 Alpine Skiing World Cup

The third World Cup season began in December 1968 and concluded in March 1969. Karl Schranz of Austria won the first of two consecutive overall titles...

 season standings for the slalom & 11th overall, but fell out of the top ten in the slalom the following year.

Sabich had 18 top ten finishes in Olympic and World Cup competition: two in downhill, three in giant slalom

Giant Slalom skiing

Giant slalom is an alpine skiing discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles spaced at a greater distance to each other than in slalom but less than in super G....

, and 13 in slalom.

World Cup podiums

Season	Date	Location	Race	Place
1968 1968 Alpine Skiing World Cup The second World Cup season began in January in West Germany and concluded in April in the U.S. Jean-Claude Killy of France repeated as the overall champion, and announced his retirement from World Cup competition. Nancy Greene of Canada repeated as the women's World Cup overall champion.For the...	07-Apr–1968 1968 Alpine Skiing World Cup The second World Cup season began in January in West Germany and concluded in April in the U.S. Jean-Claude Killy of France repeated as the overall champion, and announced his retirement from World Cup competition. Nancy Greene of Canada repeated as the women's World Cup overall champion.For the...	Heavenly Valley, CA California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... , USA	Slalom Slalom skiing Slalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...	1st
1969 1969 Alpine Skiing World Cup The third World Cup season began in December 1968 and concluded in March 1969. Karl Schranz of Austria won the first of two consecutive overall titles...	12-Jan–1969 1969 Alpine Skiing World Cup The third World Cup season began in December 1968 and concluded in March 1969. Karl Schranz of Austria won the first of two consecutive overall titles...	Wengen Wengen Wengen may refer to:*Wengen, a village and winter resort in Switzerland*La Val, a commune in South Tyrol, Italy with the German name "Wengen"*in Germany:**Wengen , a village in the municipality of Nennslingen in Mittelfranken... , Switzerland	Slalom	2nd
	26-Jan–1969 1969 Alpine Skiing World Cup The third World Cup season began in December 1968 and concluded in March 1969. Karl Schranz of Austria won the first of two consecutive overall titles...	Megève Megève Megève is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.Megève is a famous ski resort near the Mont-Blanc in the French Alps... , France	Slalom	3rd
1970 1970 Alpine Skiing World Cup The fourth World Cup season began in December 1969 in France and concluded in March 1970 in Norway. Karl Schranz of Austria won his second consecutive overall title. Michèle Jacot of France won the women's overall title....	21-Dec–1969 1970 Alpine Skiing World Cup The fourth World Cup season began in December 1969 in France and concluded in March 1970 in Norway. Karl Schranz of Austria won his second consecutive overall title. Michèle Jacot of France won the women's overall title....	Lienz Lienz Lienz is a medieval town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative centre of the Lienz district, which covers all of East Tyrol. The municipality also includes the cadastral subdivision of Patriasdorf.-Geography:... , Austria	Slalom	3rd

Pro Tour

Sabich turned professional after the 1970

1970 Alpine Skiing World Cup

The fourth World Cup season began in December 1969 in France and concluded in March 1970 in Norway. Karl Schranz of Austria won his second consecutive overall title. Michèle Jacot of France won the women's overall title....

 season, following his friend Billy Kidd

Billy Kidd

William Winston "Billy" Kidd is a former alpine ski racer, a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 1962-70 and a pro racer from 1970-72...

, who joined the pro tour in mid-season 1970 and won the first title. Pro ski racing was conducted in a dual slalom format, with racers going head-to-head in elimination heats. It was staged primarily in the United States, rather than Europe, and was headed by his former coach, Bob Beattie.

The attractive and charismatic Sabich helped popularize skiing

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

 in the U.S. in the late 1960s and early 1970s; he was the suspected inspiration (along with Kidd

Billy Kidd

William Winston "Billy" Kidd is a former alpine ski racer, a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 1962-70 and a pro racer from 1970-72...

) for 1969

1969 in film

The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...

 film Downhill Racer

Downhill Racer

Downhill Racer is a 1969 film and the first to be directed by Michael Ritchie. A drama about ski racing, it stars Robert Redford and Gene Hackman.Tagline: How fast must a man go to get from where he's at?-Plot:...

, starring Robert Redford

Robert Redford

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...

 (although Sabich was much more light-hearted than Redford's Dave Chappellet). Sabich won the pro championship in 1971 & 1972. The prize money was modest (he took home $21,189 as champion in 1971), but handsome endorsements for the era followed, which pushed his annual income well over $100,000. This allowed him to move from his collegiate (and World Cup

Alpine skiing World Cup

The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...

) base of Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

 to the ski resort

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...

 of Aspen

Aspen, Colorado

The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...

 in 1971.

With his brother's help, Sabich built a house in 1971 in the gated Starwood area of Aspen, near the home of singer John Denver

John Denver

Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

.
(Sabich's chalet was originally built for $90,000; its estimated value was $3 million by the mid-1990s.) A lifelong appreciator of aviation

Aviation

Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

, Sabich earned his pilot's license and owned a twin-engine Piper Aztec

Piper Aztec

-Accidents and incidents:*On 18 April 1974, Aztec G-AYDE was involved in a ground collision with BAC One-Eleven G-AXMJ at London Luton Airport after the pilot of the Aztec entered the active runway without clearance. He was killed and his passenger was injured...

 that he flew to his pro skiing events in North America.

While chasing Jean-Claude Killy

Jean-Claude Killy

Jean-Claude Killy was an alpine ski racer, who dominated the sport in the late 1960s. He was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete there...

 for the 1973 pro title, Sabich incurred a back injury (compressed vertebra) on the final weekend of the season at Aspen Highlands

Aspen Highlands

Aspen Highlands is a skiing mountain in Aspen, Colorado. It is famous for the Highland Bowl, which provides some of the most intense skiing in the state. The lift system has recently been redone and provides quick transport around the mountain.-History:...

. In the semifinals of the giant slalom, he hurtled over the second jump at 50 mph (80 km/h) and caught his arm on a gate, and somersaulted onto the back of his neck in an explosion of snow and skis. He struggled to stand up, but was too stunned to walk and was hospitalized. Sabich was out of the next day's slalom, and Killy won the season title in his only season on the pro tour.

Unfortunately, this back injury curtailed Sabich's success in the next three seasons. His last victory on the pro circuit was at Mount Snow

Mount Snow

Mount Snow is a mountain and ski area in southern Vermont located in the Green Mountains. It is Vermont's closest big mountain to many Northeast metropolitan areas. It was cohost of the first Extreme Games in 1995 and host of the Winter X-Games in 2000 and 2001...

, Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, in January 1974 at age 28. Sabich was featured on the cover of GQ magazine that November as "pro skiing's richest racer", holding his tri-color K2

K2 Sports

K-2, Corporation. was founded in 1961 by brothers Bill and Don Kirschner on Vashon Island, near Seattle, Washington. K2 is known for pioneering fiberglass ski technology, which made skis significantly lighter and more lively than their wood and metal contemporaries...

 skis.

Death

Late in the afternoon on March 21, 1976, Sabich had returned from a day of skiing in Aspen and was preparing to shower. He was shot in the bathroom of his Starwood home by his live-in girlfriend, singer-actress Claudine Longet

Claudine Longet

Claudine Georgette Longet is a French singer and recording artist who was popular during the 1960s and 1970s. She is also an actress and a dancer.Born in Paris, France, Longet was married to pop singer Andy Williams from 1961 until 1975...

, then age 34. The two had met at a pro-celebrity event four years earlier in 1972 in Bear Valley

Bear Valley (resort)

Bear Valley is a ski area located on highway 4 between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite—about three hours southeast of Sacramento, California. It is about one hour from Angels Camp, California. It has been owned by Canadian company Dundee Realty since 2005....

, California, and were quickly an item. She claimed the gun discharged accidentally, when he was showing her how it worked. He was hit in the abdomen

Abdomen

In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...

 and lost a significant amount of blood before the ambulance

Ambulance

An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...

 arrived. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, with Longet at his side. Spider Sabich was 30 years and 5 months old.

Longet was arrested and charged with the shooting. At the trial, Longet repeated the claim that the gun had accidentally backfired when Sabich was showing her how to use it.

The Aspen police made two procedural errors that aided Longet's defense: without warrants, they took a blood sample from her and confiscated her diary. According to prosecutors, the sample showed the presence of cocaine in her blood, and her diary reportedly contradicted her claim that her relationship with Sabich had not soured. In addition, the gun was mishandled by non-weapons experts. As they were unable to cite any of the disallowed material, prosecutors did use the autopsy report to suggest that when Sabich was struck he was bent over, facing away, and at least 1.80 m (6 feet) from Longet, which would be inconsistent with the position and relative distance of someone demonstrating the operation of a firearm.

The jury convicted her of a lesser charge—misdemeanor criminal negligence—and sentenced her to pay a small fine and spend 30 days in jail. The judge allowed Longet to choose the days she served, believing that this arrangement would allow her to spend the most time with her children, and she chose to work off most of her sentence on weekends. (Critical reaction to the verdict and sentencing was exacerbated when she subsequently vacationed with her defense attorney, Ron Austin, who was married at the time; Longet and Austin later married and still live in Aspen.) After the criminal trial, the Sabich family initiated civil proceedings to sue Longet. The case was eventually resolved out of court, with the proviso that Longet never tell or write about her story.

Burial

Spider Sabich is buried at Westwood Hills Memorial Park in Placerville

Placerville, California

Placerville is the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,389 at the 2010 census, up from 9,610 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, since there was no cemetery in Kyburz at the time of his death in 1976. The presence of Claudine Longet and her supporters at Spider's funeral was awkward for the Sabich family.

Spider is buried next to his older sister, Mary, a physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 who died of brain cancer in 1988 at the age of 45.
Their younger brother Steve died of melanoma

Melanoma

Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...

 in 2005 at age 57, following the deaths of their parents.

External links

• FIS-Ski.com - World Cup - top ten results - Spider Sabich
• Ski-db.com - Spider Sabich
• TruTV.com - Crime Library - Claudine Longet & Spider Sabich
• AP photo - circa Jan-1974 - Claudine Longet (age 32) & Spider Sabich (28)
• skimuseum.net - Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum - Hall of Fame - Spider Sabich