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Hubert Seigmann |
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Hubert Seigmann Bio Walk into any race room at any ski area in the southwest and you will find half-a-dozen kids surrounding Hubert Seigmann. The babbling voices are busy telling him their latest accomplishments, or their fondest memories of attending one of his ski camps in Austria. Hubert's interest in the junior racers is genuine. He always has a kind word for them or a word of encouragement telling them they can do better or race faster.
He is a soft-spoken man with an Austrian accent. He often mixes German with English or vice a versa. Sometimes you are not quite sure what language he is speaking. Once Hubert gets on the chair lift, his "bigger than life" persona lets out a yelp of half-cowboy, half-Austrian yodel Yeeeeeeahoohoohhoo that can be heard all over the mountain. A firm believer in the power of positive thinking, Hubert's outlook on life is sometimes hard to believe. He is rarely negative and usually has a kind word for everyone -- even if he doesn’t much care for them. Hubert is a "born-again-Christian" and will often offer a word of scripture or biblical analogy to encourage or teach. The one word he hates most of all to hear from racers in his charge is "can't". After hearing the word, he will say, "You are what you believe." To understand Hubert's zest for life you really have to look at the roads he has traveled. Those roads lead him to his unshakeable faith in God and himself. Born in Anif, Austria on July 29, 1960, Hubert was the second of four children. His mother Pauline and father Siegfried owned a small farm with 12 milk cows and 30 pigs. Life was physically hard. The family's two daughters and two sons always had chores to do but there was always plenty of food to eat.
When Hubert was five years old, he was exposed to a project that would later have a lasting effect on Austrian tourism. In 1963, a film production company came to Anif to film "The Sound of Music". The Seigmann's neighbors, the Friesacher family, owned the Hotel and Restaurant Friesacher. It was there that the production company stayed. Every day the Friesacher family made the lunches for the crew. Hubert and his friends would often hike the same hills or skate and play ice-hockey around the water castle, Schloß, Anif, that were portrayed in the movie.
Hubert also became a volunteer firefighter and EMT. He continued with his love of skiing and for the first time visited Filzmoos, which he maintains is "The most beautiful place in the world." The Tischlerei Wood Company would often participate in ski trips and "town championships" in which Hubert would participate. At age 15, Hubert, with his friend Michael Friesacher, went to see his first Formula 1 car race in Zeltweg, Austria. It was there that he fell in love with speed and the competitiveness of car racing. After that, nothing was safe around the tiny town of Anif. Whether it was on horseback, motorcycle or cars, Hubert and his friend, Michael, would race anything and everything. Hubert was never satisfied finishing second. In 1978, Hubert graduated from his apprenticeship and became a journeyman woodworker. The next year, he joined the Austrian Army under mandatory service. For eight months he trained in Salzburg under air defense and learned to drive trucks. After his tour of duty was up, he went back to work at the Tischlerei Wood Company. In 1982, skiing called again, and he participated in his first downhill race in Lungotz. He worked all night to finish a wood project then drove to the race the next morning with a couple of friends. They had never skied the area and never inspected the course. Hubert skied up to the start with borrowed equipment and got in the gates. He was off and everything was going great. He continued picking up speed, but towards the end of the course, he failed to stay left on a jump and skied through the side of a barn breaking all his equipment. His friends would later say that he was lucky he didn't kill himself.
In January 1983, Hubert had a bad skiing accident, which put him in the hospital for a week. The doctors told him not to ski the rest of the winter, but Hubert couldn’t stay away from his first love and checked himself out of the hospital. He drove to Switzerland with his best friend Andy and went bump skiing.
In May of 1984, Hubert enrolled in another EMT training course. After having ridden horses all day the day before, Hubert complained of muscle soreness and could not stand up. Thinking that there may be something more serious, doctors recommended he be taken to the hospital in Salzburg for x-rays. While in the hospital, doctors told the family a totally unexpected diagnosis -- testicular cancer. Hubert underwent an operation the next day, then waited while he recuperated. Two days later, doctors delivered another devastating pronouncement. The cancer had spread to his lymph nodes. They would have to do extensive surgery along his spinal cord to remove them. While he contemplated his options, Hubert stayed in the hospital 10 days before being allowed to return home. He told the doctors that he was not willing to undergo another surgery. A week later, Hubert went back the hospital. This time, stitches from the first operation were infected. He stayed a few more days in the hospital then went home, still not willing to have his lymph nodes removed. His grandmother, whom he was very close to, told him not to worry. She told him "when you go, I will go with you." Hubert was torn with his decision not to have another operation. Two weeks later, he went back in the hospital to have his lymph nodes removed.
With the massive doses of chemicals the doctors fed to Hubert, the inevitable happened. His hair fell out. Hubert's friend Andreas Graf's mother, Hanelore, gave Hubert a Salzburger hat (one which Hubert wears to this day) to hide his chemo treatments. The chemotherapy treatments lasted through December of 1984. Throughout his many bouts with cancer, Hubert never allowed himself to say he was sick. He thought it, but he never said it. If he was going to get himself though this, he had to will himself well. On top of his physical trials, life threw some personal hurdles into the mix. During the past year, his parents divorced, and two hospital friends died of cancer. He had lost a lot of weight and he had no strength. Now he doubted that he would ever ski again. But Hubert didn’t give up. His friends drove him to Hintertux to try skiing again. Ravaged by the effects of cancer and chemotherapy treatments, but not beaten, Hubert believed he could ski again. Upon the urging of Andrea's mother's friend Linda Plut, Rupert Schörghofer, the chairman of the Salzburger Professional Ski Instructors Association hired Hubert as an instructor. Skiing every day for a living, Hubert began to regain strength. Within two months he was strong as a horse, and things were looking up.
Hubert continued as a ski instructor, but things were not going well with Lisa and little Stefan's health. In the cold, damp European climate, they were continually plagued by asthma. Lisa's mother in Texas offered them a house in Ruidoso, New Mexico, where the climate would be high and dry and more beneficial to someone with allergies and asthma. They accepted the offer and in November 1987, they flew to Midland, TX to meet Lisa's mother. As the plane landed at the airport, Hubert felt strangely moved. He later described the feeling as being touched by the "Holy Spirit". After going through so much, Hubert felt that he could accomplish anything he set his mind to.
In the spring, after the ski area closed for the season, the Seigmanns opened a store in downtown Ruidoso selling carved wood items, furniture, painted pictures, and Austrian chocolates among other things.
In January 1990, while filming a commercial, a skier ran into Hubert on the hill and "blew out" his knee. Hubert described it as being "...worse than cancer." Hubert was down for two weeks. Not wanting to let the 50 kids on the Ruidoso Ski Team down, Hubert hobbled up the hill on crutches. Within six weeks, he was back on his skis. Because of his knee, he skied on one short and one long ski. Hubert ended up skiing mostly on one ski that winter and learned the value of balance and flexing with one ski -- a method he uses to this day with his ski team. That same winter, Juan Carlos went on to ski in the Albertville Winter Olympics and finished 50th in the slalom. It was the best showing on the Mexican Ski Team. In 1991, Hubert formally gave his life to Christ. He had finally come to a realization that everything he had been through would not have been possible -- his cures from cancer, his wife, his child -- without the miraculous healing power of God. In 1993, Hubert and Lisa started their first ski camp on the glacier of Kitzsteinhorn in Austria. That summer, they took seven kids from the Ruidoso area to Austria. The camp was a great success.
Hubert continued coaching during the winters and working with wood and building furniture in the summers. In addition, Hubert and Lisa started working with Worldwide Dream Builders. In March of 1997, after months of not feeling well, Hubert took a trip to a doctor in Ruidoso. Fearing the worst, Hubert's suspicions were confirmed when the diagnosis came back -- testicular cancer. Hubert drove home and announced the bad news to Lisa. Lisa could not believe her ears. Hadn't Hubert suffered enough? Why again? Lisa could not accept the diagnosis. Distraught, Hubert left the house in his car and started driving up Ski Run Road. Hubert was also having a tough time dealing with the return of his "old enemy". He had made up his mind. He would drive off Windy Point and end his misery. On the way up the narrow mountain road, Hubert felt another strange feeling come over him. He felt amazingly calm, and the desire to end his life had vanished. Once again, he felt touched by the Holy Spirit. He turned the car around and drove back to his family who needed him. The next day, the Seigmanns drove to Midland, Texas. A cancer specialist, Dr. John Staub, had been recommended to them. The Seigmanns arrived in Midland at Lisa's family home. Some of the relatives were driving four-wheelers so Hubert joined in the fun. A little while later, Hubert jumped a dirt pile and the four-wheeler flipped in midair crashing down on top of Hubert. He could not move. The relatives gathered up Hubert and took him to the hospital. In the hospital, x-rays showed that Hubert had broken two vertebrae. Once again, Hubert had been spared a more severe injury. Doctors stitched up multiple lacerations and sent him home to wait for his cancer operation. Seven days later, Hubert went back to the hospital for his third cancer operation. A priest walked into the room in which Hubert was waiting to administer some comfort. The priest starred at Hubert, asked him a few questions, and announced that there was nothing he needed to do there and left the room. Hubert and God had it under control. The operation was successful. The thing the doctors had feared the most, that the cancer would spread, did not occur. Six weeks later, Hubert started radiation treatments. The radiation would prove worse than all the other treatments combined. Hubert would be in constant pain and discomfort. He learned to appreciate the thing that most people take for granted -- good health. Little things like a walk to the garbage bin became a major ordeal. He became terribly weak and would break out in a sweat. In May 1997, while recovering from a radiation treatment, Hubert had a clear vision and scrambled to write down some things he wanted to accomplish in his life. Life had dealt Hubert a series of blows which would have killed many or left them no desire to live. With each setback, Hubert knew he was not by himself. His strong faith in God gave him the will to survive and to dream. His life would now become the power of the dream. Within 10 minutes, Hubert's list consisted of 100 goals. Of those 100 goals, there were two in particular which held special significance. He would help someone to participate in the World Cup of Ski Racing and in the 2006 Winter Olympics. That winter, Hubert started back at Ski Apache with the Ruidoso Ski Team. Despite his weakness, he persevered. Both parents and children were understanding and supportive. By the spring of 1998, almost a full year since his last bout with cancer, Hubert had started to feel some of his old strength come back. That summer Hubert and Lisa did not have a Ski camp in Austria. Hubert needed to fully recover. He spent some time working on his house and helped someone build two homes. By September of 1999, the Seigmanns
returned to Austria. This time it was personal. Hubert need to see his
native country again. Hubert and Lisa also wanted their son Stefan to
spend some time with his relatives getting to know them and be exposed
to the Austrian culture. In Spring 2000, the Seigmanns set up the first Austrian ski camp since his cancer. That summer, one of Hubert's original ski team members, Kelly Leslie, became an assistant at the camp. In 2001, the Seigmanns expanded the camp to one in the summer and one in the fall. In 2002, the camps expanded once again to two in the summer and one in the fall. This January, Hubert will again forerun the series of World Cup races at the 65th International Hahnenkamm Race. This World Cup race will be staged in Kitzbühel, Austria Jan. 21 through 23, 2005. Please see the this link for Hubert's results from Hahnenkamm 2004. At 43 years of age, Hubert is probably one of the oldest racers to ever forerun the race. However, his convictions have convinced him that it is the only way to show his young ski team that they can follow their dreams. He also does not believe in theoretical coaching but by coaching by leadership. Hubert says it this way, "No compromise, no regrets."
Hubert also met Ross Anderson while training at Ski Apache in December 2003. Anderson, who is the fastest Native American on skis at 146.694 mph, gave Hubert some insights to speed. While at his fall training camp at Kitzsteinhorn in November 2003, Hubert casually met the head people, including Siegfried Voglreiter, for Fischer Skis. Their subsequent sponsorship of his equipment was a direct result of that meeting. In addition, Hubert met the Director of Racing for the Hahnenkamm, Michael Huber, while showing his ski camp racers the racecourse this summer. This meeting allowed Hubert entry into one of the most elite group of ski racers. The path to this race has been long and arduous. Most people would not be up to the task, but Hubert's faith in God and himself have led to the realization of his dream. |
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Colorado
Fall Camp: TBA Coach
Hubert Seigmann |
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Hubert
is not a large man. He stands only about 5' 9" tall. He has the
physique of a racer - muscular and lean, and his barrel sized chest
houses a heart as big as the outdoors he loves so much. His amazing
hands are the size of draft horse hoofs. His eyes are a piercing blue
and have a twinkle in them like Santa Claus. Perched on his head is his
trademark Salzburg hat, which has considerable significance. He usually
wears a grin from ear to ear on a well-tanned face and is often up to
playing a practical joke....or two.
Hubert
began skiing at age three under the instruction of his father. The local
ski area was Hirschberg Mountain, which was owned and operated by his
uncle, Hans. It was a small ski area (300 vertical feet) only 20 minutes
away from Anif. Even though there were over 120 ski areas an hour away,
the family did not have time to go that far with so many
responsibilities at home on the farm.
When
Hubert was 14, he left school and began a wood working apprenticeship in
Grödig that would last three years. The apprenticeship was with Hans
Haas who owned Tischlerei Haas Master Wood Company.
By
the summer, Hubert had grown tired of his job and had persistent
tendonitis. He enrolled in the U.N. peacekeeping force, trained in
Vienna and was shipped out to Syria. He was stationed there for eight
months where he traveled driving trucks between Syria, Lebanon and
Israel.
In
the spring of 1983, he traveled back home to the family farm. He would
later go on to travel in 14 different countries following the Formula 1
car races around Europe. It was at this same time that Hubert saw a
"Help Wanted" ad for ski instructors. He enrolled in the
Kitzsteinhorn Salzburger Professional Ski Instructors course. It was
there that Hubert learned the Beinspiel Technique. This technique
teaches that the upper body and lower body are separate during skiing.
The upper body stays still while the lower body is responsible for
edging moves.
During
this same time, Hubert met two brothers, Manfred and Sigurd Brandaue,
while serving as a volunteer EMT. These two bothers helped a lot of
people in ski racing. Manfred's twin sons also encouraged Hubert to keep
trying.
Hubert
woke in the hospital after the lymph node operation thinking he had
died. He had tubes coming out of every part of his body. The first week
he lost 40 pounds. Life became unbearable in the hospital. People were
dying on either side of him and he felt that he was just waiting there
to die. Ten days later his stitches were removed and he was allowed to
go home. Instead of going home, Hubert went to a nearby lake, rented a
rowboat for the day and rowed lengthwise across the lake. He had to do
something just to feel alive. However, the worse was yet to come. Now,
he had to endure chemotherapy.
In
October 1985, while in Anif, Hubert spotted a girl from Van Horn, Texas
who was working in Austria as an au Pare. Their eyes met, and as he
described it "the feeling was like a lightning bolt." Hubert
announced to his friends, and the town in general, that the pretty Texan
was the girl he was going to marry. Eight months later in June, Hubert
and Lisa Mitchell got married. They were told they would never have
children due to the effects of the cancer and chemotherapy. Hubert and
Lisa were devastated but resigned to the facts. However, against all
odds, Lisa became pregnant. Their son, Stefan was born in August 1987.
The
Seigmanns drove to Ruidoso, New Mexico and Hubert was hired as an
instructor by the nearby ski area, Ski Apache.
That
fall, Hubert continued instructing at Ski Apache. He became one of the
most popular instructors on the mountain. In the spring of 1989, the
Elizandos from Juarez, Mexico hired Hubert to coach their son Juan
Carlos for the Mexican Olympic Team. That summer, Hubert was hired as
the coach for the Ruidoso Ski Team.
In
September 1994, Hubert started his large Austrian house in Ruidoso,
doing most of the work by himself. By January, the house was completely
dried in. Taking a break from construction, Hubert drove to Aspen
Highlands in Colorado to ski in a 
USSA
downhill race. He had spent every waking moment, and not much time
sleeping to build his house. This left very little time to ski. Hubert
took second place.
Along
the way there has been confirmation of Hubert's dream from some of the
most unlikely places and people. People like former World Cup Champion, 
Please Note:
