Erika Mahringer

In 1948 Erika “Riki” Mahringer won bronze medals in the slalom and combined at the Sankt Moritz Winter Olympics. At the 1950 World Championships in Aspen, Colorado, Mahringer added silver medals in the slalom and downhill. Her greatest year was likely 1951 when she won Austrian titles in all four events – downhill, giant slalom, slalom, and combined, for which she was named Austrian Sportswoman of the Year. She competed at the 1952 Winter Olympics, but failed to win a medal. Mahringer competed through 1954, being awarded the Skier d’Or that year, and then retired.

Mahringer and her husband, Ernst Spieß, settled in Mayrhofen where they founded the Mayrhofen Ski School and in 1955 started the first children’s ski school – Riki’s Skikindergarten. Their daughter NIcola Spieß participated in the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics.

Spieß was a ski and mountain guide and in the later 1950s started a mountain touring program, employing up to 12 mountain guides. The ski schools also employed up to 170 people, and the Spieß family became known for their contribution to the Austrian tourism industry.