Max Gartner

As Director of “Own the Podium-projects”, Alpine Canada chose Max Gartner to create a competitive edge to produce alpine skiing medals at the XXI Olympic Winter Games, Vancouver. As Ken Read, President of Alpine Canada Alpin, commented “In a highly competitive sport where
the blink of an eye is the difference between 4th place and mounting the podium, Max knows how to create winners.”

Born in Linz, Austria on October 19, 1958, Max Gartner, spent 5-years at the Stams Academy in Austria, the premier academic school in the world for producing world-class skiers (At the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino, Italy, many of Austria’s unprecedented medal count, 14 of 30 in total, were won by alumni or students of Stams Academy including the 2006 World Cup Champion, Benjamin Raich.) Gartner was an accomplished ski racer in Austria as well as playing soccer professionally in Germany and Austria from 1977 to 1981. At the University of Innsbruck, he studied physical education and psychology prior to pursuing studies in training science at the University of Vienna.

His involvement in the development of world-class training programs has enabled Canadian alpine skiers to achieve success at many competitive levels, Olympic Winter Games, the World Cup circuit, World Junior Championships, the Goodwill Games as well as several Nor-Am titles. In 1991, he was named Coach of the Year by the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation (CSCF).

Among the highly successful athletes participating in his development programs were Kerrin LeeGartner (Gold Medal, Downhill, 1992 XVI Olympic Winter Games, Albertville, France), Thomas Grandi (two-time World Cup Champion), and successful World Cup competitors, Cary Mullen and Edi Podivinsky (Bronze Medal, Downhill, 1994 XVII Olympic Winter Games, Lillehammer, Norway).

Under his guidance, the Canadian alpine ski team (CAST), experienced a resurgence in the technical disciplines with an all-time record in of 2589 World Cup points in 2004/05. That record was broken again in the 2005/06 season when the CAST team accumulated 3260 World Cup
points including 39 Top-10 finishes (just two short of the record of 41 in 1987/88) and 12 podium finishes (just one short of the 1981/82 record of 13). Since 2002, the CAST world ranking has moved from 12th place to 6th.

Coaching biography
1981-1982
Ski Coach, Dutch National Team

1982-1983
Assistant Coach, Canadian Women’s Alpine Ski Team

1983-1986
Head Coach, Canadian Alpine Ski Team, women’s technical events

1986-1991
Technical Director & Head Coach, Alberta Alpine Ski Team

1991-1992
Head Coach Western Regional Ski Team

1992-1994
Personal Coach to Kerrin Lee (Kerrin Lee-Gartner), Olympic Gold Medallist

1994-1995
Technical Director, Alberta Alpine

1995-1998
Independent Sport Consultant

1998-2000
Team Manager, Canadian Men’s Alpine Team

2003-2004
Vice-President, Canadian Development Programs, Alpine Canada Alpin

2004-2006
Chief Athletic Officer, Alpine Canada Alpin

2006
Director, Own the Podium project, Alpine Canada Alpin
Named Canada’s representative on the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup sub-committee.

Please Note: The ski information gathered here is compiled from a number of sources; it may not be inclusive of all accomplishments.
Copyright © 2021, Canadian Ski Museum. For Personal/Educational use only. All Rights Reserved.