Interview mit Adi Unterberger

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In the Tirolean Lodge in Whistler there is a photo album from the 60ies. It documents how the first skiers Austria came to conquer Canada’s mountains and lay the foundation for today’s winter sports dorado on Whistler Mountain. In 1960, Adi Unterberger left his home country to settle in Canada, but in his heart he has always remained true to his Tirolean roots. Adi came to Canada to start a career in ice hockey and became a professional musician instead. “The Canadian ice hockey cracks were too tough for me. I therefore decided to teach them yodeling instead”, Adi Unterberger explains in an interview with the Tirol Tourist Board. Mr. Unterberger has been yodeling his way through all major TV shows in Canada and the USA in an attempt to introduce his culture to theirs. “To this day we import paraphernalia and souvenirs from Tirol such as schnapps and cow bells.“

Every weekend the Tirolean and Austrian expats meet up at the Tirolean Lodge to celebrate and reminisce in their ski pioneering days of the 60ies. The Austria Ski Club in Whistler Mountain was founded in cooperation with Kurt Karka, a great Tirol fan from Vienna. “The Ski Club went a long way in the development of Whistler Mountain. When the world saw that Austrians and Germans went there to ski, this sparked a boom in winter tourism”, says Kurt Karka. Toni Sailer, Austria’s legendary Olympic ski champion, had been coming to Whistler every year for 15 years. According to Karka, Toni Sailer and Nancy Green, Canada's top ski racer through the 1960's, were training together during the summer race camps on Whistler.

Together with the skiing came the yodeling to Whistler Mountain. During the Olympic Winter Games Adi will perform every night at the Austria House. “I started to sing at the tender age of five. Today I’m a well-seasoned and established yodeler”, he said and gave a taste of his talent.

Tirol Werbung - Tirol Tourist Board
6010 Innsbruck, Austira

Mag. Anita Heubacher (in Vancouver)
Leiterin PR & Medien
Tel: +1 778 668 9198
anita.heubacher@tirolwerbung.at

Esther Wilhelm (in Tirol)
Tel: +43 512 5320 321
Handy: +43 664 805 321
esther.wilhelm@tirolwerbung.at

http://www.olympiatirol.at
http://www.presse.tirol.at