Hans Enn

Hans Enn

Personal information
Full name	Hans Enn
Nationality	Austria
Born	(1958-05-10) May 10, 1958 Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer, Salzburg, Austria
Height	167 cm (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Skiing career
Sport	Alpine skiing
Club	SC Saalbach Hinterglemm
Retired	1989
World Cup debut	1976
Olympics
Teams	2 – (1980, 1984)
Medals	1 (1 bronze)
World Championships
Teams	4
Medals	0
World Cup
Seasons	14 – (1975/76–1988/89)
Wins	6 – (5 GS, 1 SG)
Podiums	22
Overall titles	0
Discipline titles	0
Medal record Representing Austria Men's alpine skiing Olympic Games 1980 Lake Placid Giant Slalom

Hans Enn (born 10 May 1958) is a retired Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer who competed internationally from 1976 to 1989 and won the bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Specializing in giant slalom while also racing downhill, slalom, Super-G, and combined, he won six World Cup races and finished on the podium 22 times over a 14-year career, placing seventh overall in the 1979–80 World Cup season, his best year. He also competed at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, where he failed to finish either the giant slalom or the slalom, and at four FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, with a best result of fifth place in the giant slalom at the 1985 World Championships in Bormio.

Enn raced throughout his career for SC Saalbach Hinterglemm, representing his home resort alongside lifelong friend and fellow racer Bartl Gensbichler, and won five Austrian national titles between 1977 and 1983. His career was repeatedly disrupted by knee injuries; a further knee injury during the 1989 World Championships in Vail ended his season and effectively his competitive career. He formally retired after the 1989 season and underwent five knee operations between 1989 and 1991.

After retiring, Enn opened a hotel, the Rosentaler Hof, in his home village of Hinterglemm, later run by his son, and continued to work in the ski industry as a product tester and developer for the equipment manufacturer Blizzard, which had sponsored him since his youth. He was named Salzburg Sportsperson of the Year in 1984 and 1988, and in 1996 he was awarded Austria's Golden Order of Merit by Federal President Thomas Klestil for his services to Austrian sport.

Early life

Enn was born in Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer in the Austrian state of Salzburg and grew up in the nearby resort village of Hinterglemm, where he raced throughout his career for SC Saalbach Hinterglemm. He began skiing at the age of six.

According to Olympedia, Enn won several Austrian youth and junior championships between 1974 and 1976 before making his World Cup debut in a downhill race at Morzine in January 1976, finishing ninth.

World Cup career

Breakthrough (1976–1980)

Enn established himself among Austria's leading technical skiers in the late 1970s. His first World Cup podium came with a second-place finish in the giant slalom at Lake Placid in early March 1979, followed eight days later by a third place at Heavenly Valley, California. On 26 February 1980 he won his first World Cup race, a giant slalom at Waterville Valley. That 1979–80 season proved to be his best in the overall World Cup standings, in which he placed seventh, and he also finished runner-up in the season-long giant slalom discipline standings, behind Ingemar Stenmark.

Domestically, Enn won five Austrian national titles: the giant slalom in 1978 and 1983, the slalom in 1978, and the combined in 1977 and 1978.

Consolidation and injury setbacks (1981–1985)

Enn returned to winning form in the early 1980s, taking a giant slalom at Kranjska Gora in January 1983 and a Super-G at Val d'Isère in December 1983. His best season for victories came in 1983–84, when he won giant slaloms at Åre and Oslo within a week of each other in March 1984, as well as a parallel slalom, also at Oslo. He added a further giant slalom win at Adelboden in January 1985, and a parallel-event win at Heavenly Valley in March 1985. In total, Enn won six World Cup races counted toward official discipline totals (five in giant slalom, one in Super-G), plus two further wins in parallel events, and reached the podium 22 times in the counted disciplines, plus three more in parallel events.

Late career and comeback (1986–1989)

Enn returned to form late in his career after a series of knee problems: in the space of three days he finished third in the Super-G at Schladming on 27 November 1988 and third in the giant slalom at Val Thorens on 29 November 1988, before adding a second place in the Super-G at Laax on 8 January 1989. At the 1989 World Championships in Vail, he placed 13th in the Super-G. A further knee injury sustained around this point in the season effectively ended his competitive career.

Olympic Games

Enn competed at two Winter Olympic Games.

1980 Winter Olympics – Lake Placid

At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Enn won the bronze medal in the giant slalom on 19 February, finishing behind Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden and Andreas Wenzel of Liechtenstein, and placed fourth in the slalom four days later.

Because the alpine events of the 1980 Winter Olympics also served as that year's World Championships, some sources count this result among Enn's World Championship appearances; this is discussed further under § World Championships.

1984 Winter Olympics – Sarajevo

At the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Enn did not finish either the giant slalom or the slalom.

The men's giant slalom was held at Bjelašnica on 14 February 1984, with 108 competitors from 39 nations; Enn was one of several skiers, including Pirmin Zurbriggen, who did not finish the race.

World Championships

Sources differ slightly on how many World Championships Enn competed in. Olympedia credits him with four appearances (1978, 1982, 1985, 1989), while Ski-DB and a biography on Enn's own website count five, additionally including 1980, since the alpine events of that year's Winter Olympics also served as that year's World Championships.

His best World Championship result was fifth place in the giant slalom at the 1985 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Bormio, Italy. He also placed sixth in the giant slalom at both the 1978 Championships in Garmisch and the 1982 Championships in Schladming.

At the 1989 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Vail, Colorado, held shortly after a run of podium finishes on the World Cup circuit, Enn placed 13th in the Super-G, in what proved to be his final major championship result before a knee injury ended his season.

Rivals, teammates, and relationships

Enn's closest relationship within Austrian ski racing was with fellow Saalbach-Hinterglemm racer Bartl Gensbichler, a childhood friend from the same village who later became president of the Salzburg regional ski association. The two were described in a 2025 retrospective published by the Salzburg state government as childhood friends ("Sandkastenfreund") and former racing colleagues, who later recalled their shared experiences on Saalbach's Zwölferkogel race hill.

Saalbach-Hinterglemm's official resort history similarly places Enn and Gensbichler together as representatives of the resort's World Cup era.

Injuries and retirement

Enn's career was interrupted on several occasions by knee injuries. Following his 13th-place finish in the Super-G at the 1989 World Championships in Vail, a further knee injury prevented him from continuing his season, and he did not return to World Cup competition.

Over the following two years he underwent five operations on the affected knee, and formally retired from ski racing after the 1989 season. The Olympics.com athlete profile similarly states that Enn's long World Cup career ended after the 1989 season, following several knee injuries that led to five knee surgeries between 1989 and 1991.

Post-competitive life

Business and hotel

After retiring from racing, Enn opened a hotel, the Rosentaler Hof, in his home village of Hinterglemm; the hotel is now run by his son.

Ski industry work

Enn continued to work in the skiing industry as a product tester and developer for Blizzard, the ski manufacturer that had sponsored him since the start of his career.

Honours and legacy

Enn was named Salzburg Sportsperson of the Year in 1984 and 1988.

In 1996 he was awarded Austria's Golden Order of Merit by Federal President Thomas Klestil for his services to Austrian sport.

World Cup results

Victories

Season	Date	Location	Discipline
1979–80	26 February 1980	Waterville Valley, United States	Giant slalom
1982–83	29 January 1983	Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia	Giant slalom
1983–84	10 December 1983	Val d'Isère, France	Super-G
1983–84	17 March 1984	Åre, Sweden	Giant slalom
1983–84	23 March 1984	Oslo, Norway	Giant slalom
1984–85	15 January 1985	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant slalom

Enn also won two parallel-event races not counted toward his official discipline totals: at Oslo, Norway, on 25 March 1984, and at Heavenly Valley, United States, on 24 March 1985.

Season standings

Season	Overall World Cup position
1975–76	56
1976–77	35
1977–78	38
1978–79	12
1979–80	7
1980–81	14
1981–82	13
1982–83	20
1983–84	11
1984–85	19
1985–86	36
1986–87	74
1987–88	26
1988–89	35

Source: Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database.

External links

• Hans Enn at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
• Hans Enn at FIS (alpine)
• Hans Enn at Olympedia
• Hans Enn at InterSportStats