Ski stars from Castelrotto Denise Karbon & Peter Fill

“Another great time”

Peter Fill was just a normal lad from Castelrotto until he discovered his passion for Alpine skiing in him – and that’s when his success story began.

Today, the nature-loving man of the dark eyes and winning smile is a famed ski champion far beyond the borders of his home land, and has gone down in history as a ski racer. He was the first male athlete in the Italian team to win the Crystal Globe in the Downhill World Cup, and the winner of the 2018 Alpine Combined World Cup.

• success story

  Peter was born on November 12, 1982 in Castelrotto, second child of Luzia and Alois Fill, 2 years before his younger sister Bettina.

  Peter Fill was practically born skiing; His sister Sara, two years older than him, was also an outstanding skier but had to retire from the sport due to back problems, and his cousin is the champion ski racer Denise Karbon. The bright young lad developed an interest in alpine skiing at an early age, and it was not long before his parents recognised his talent for the sport. They give him a great deal of encouragement and support.

  After leaving school Peter began an apprenticeship as a panel beater, and continued to train hard – and his efforts were not in vain. In February 1999, at the age of 17, he took the gold in all four disciplines at the Junior National Championship, and in 2001, he won his first medal on the international scene: Bronze medal in the Giant Slalom Junior World Championships

  One year later, he won the Super-G Junior World Championship. This was to be his great breakthrough, securing him a place in his first World Cup on March 7, 2002, where he took twelfth place. In the same year, he came sixth in the Giant Slalom at Val-d’Isère, his first World Cup top-ten ranking and cause for great celebration. His uncle Norbert Rier, singer of the Kastelruther Spatzen, dedicated the song “Wieder mal a super Zeit” (“Another Great Time”) to him, an auspicious portent of the success that his nephew would go on to achieve.

  Nowadays Peter skis for the Carabinieri sports team, and can make a living from his sport alone. Aside from this passion, his heart belongs to his wife Manuela and his 3 children, and he spends as much time as possible with them.

  In the summer months, when he has a little time for himself, in addition to his regular stamina training the 1.75m tall family man loves going out on his motorbike and mountain bike, and playing golf and football. And before the first snow hits the ground in winter, he gets his skis out once again and gives his all during his training sessions and races.

  His greatest strength is his speed, which is why he performs so well in downhill, super-G and Alpine combined. Just how successful was clear to be seen in one year in particular: 2015/2016 will forever be Peter Fill’s season: With just one exception in Santa Caterina, he made it into the top ten in all downhill races.

  On January 23rd 2016, he astounded his team-mates and spectators alike when he hurtled to victory in the Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel. The notorious “Streif” is considered to be one of the most difficult and dangerous downhill slopes in the world; this is one of the reasons why the race was blighted by a number of serious falls, and had to be called off after 30 starters. However, the ranking still counted and Peter Fill was crowned King of the Streif.

  At the end of this successful season he became the first South Tyrolean and Italian to win the World Cup downhill season title. An incredible moment. When he realised that he had made downhill history, Peter fell to his knees with joy and yelled ‘yes!’ over and over again.

Denise has won the title of Giant Slalom Junior World Champion, taken two World Championship medals, six World Cups and one Giant Slalom World Cup.

Denise took the silver medal in the at the 2003 Giant Slalom World Cup in St. Moritz and bronze medal at the 2007 Giant Slalom World Cup in Are. She won the overall Giant Slalom World Cup season title in 2007/8, and has won 6 other World Cup races.