Luis Arias was an Alpine skier who represented Club Peñalara in Madrid and competed for Spain at three Winter Olympic Games. Arias made his first appearance at the Olympics at the 1952 Oslo Games, where he had a best finish of 47th place in the slalom. Four years later in Cortina d’Ampezzo he once again has his best performance in the slalom, this time placing 31st. Arias also had the honour of being the flagbearer for Spain at the Opening Ceremony. In 1960 he competed at his final Olympics, finishing 24th in the slalom at the Squaw Valley Games.
In 1964 Arias founded the Baqueira Beret ski resort, with the location having more than 30 kilometres of ski slopes. The following year he married Countess Dorota Potocki, the daughter of Polish nobleman and diplomat Józef Alfred Potocki. Tragically, Arias was killed in a helicopter crash in April 1970 whilst searching for a possible site for another ski resort. He was only 39-years-old.
Spain