Richard Schabl

Richard Schabl (born 1959) is a German former freestyle skier, specializing in acroski. He won the gold medal at the first FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in 1986 and the FIS Junior World Championship 1980 in Chamonix and ended his competitive sports career right after when he became the World Champion at the age of 26. Schabl achieved a total of 12 victories in the World Cup and won the ski ballet Crystal Globe in 1983 and 1984 seasons. He invented the one-handed pole flip and owns a unique world record 22 flips in 60 seconds on a ski deck (a revolving carpet).^[1] He is also a two-time European Champion in ski ballet, winning the title in 1981 and 1984.

Born1959 (age 66–67)

West Germany

Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)

CountryGermany

SportSkiing

Quick facts Personal information, Born ...

Richard Schabl

Schabl performing a one-handed pole flip
Personal information
Born	1959 (age 66–67) West Germany
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Sport
Country	Germany
Sport	Skiing
World Cup career
Seasons	7 – (1980–1986)
Indiv. podiums	28
Indiv. wins	12
Overall titles	0 – (11th in 1985)
Discipline titles	2 – (Ski ballet: 1983, 1984)
Medal record Freestyle skiing Representing  West Germany World Championships 1986 Tignes Ski ballet

Close

Upon his retirement, Schabl began working on ski films as a producer and actor, and later worked as a photographer for various magazines, including Playboy and Maxim.^[2] His feature film project about the Kaprun disaster, Smoke in the Tunnel, has been in production for more than 10 years and scheduled to be released on the 25th anniversary of the catastrophe, 11 November 2025.^[3]