Obituary Hansjörg Hosch: SMBC member and monobob pioneer

17. February 1946 – 1. January 2024

Even as a young boy, Hansjörg was a daredevil and did the craziest sports: always brave, but never overconfident. The Basel native started with Cresta in his 40s. Even before his daughter Barbara, Hansjörg rode skeleton in the Olympia Bob Run and mastered the horseshoe, which was even tighter at the time, lying on his stomach. The first time he even did it with Cresta shoes - much to Werner Camichel's annoyance.

When his son-in-law Samuel Huber launched monobob riding in St. Moritz, he naturally wanted to try this sport too. In 2007, when he was over 60, he completed the monobob school with Donald Holstein. He really enjoyed piloting and was carried away by the monobob pioneering spirit. In 2008, he founded the IMBC (International Monobob Club) together with Samuel Huber, Rolf Sachs, Filippo Guerrini Maraldi and Fernando Rueda and was its president until 2013. In 2009, Hansjörg launched the IMBC President's Race and sponsored it for years.

In the pioneering days, monobob was still a red rag in the established bobsleigh scene and there was fierce resistance. Hansjörg promoted monobob and his IMBC in many discussions. The world's first monobob club was soon established in St. Moritz and the number of members steadily increased. In these early days, monobob was still driven with normal two-man bobsleigh runners and a few serious accidents occurred. He was always concerned about safety and made a significant contribution to the further development of the sport. For example, special monobob runners were developed together with Renzo Podar and Samuel Huber, which had a narrower "jump" and were shortened at the front.

Hansjörg not only rode monobob at the Olympia Bob Run in St. Moritz. He also prepared for the home track several times at the SMBC training camp in Igls and then competed in various monobob races throughout the season. His chronic illness was mild for years, but when it became more aggressive in 2022 and increasingly weakened him, he gave up monobob riding. In February 2023 he completed his last Cresta ride from "Top". For the Wahlgadiner, death was not the end, but the fulfillment of life. So Hansjörg left this life on New Year's Eve 2024 with a clear head and a body emaciated by long-term bone marrow cancer.

Hansjörg Hosch was a SMBC member and president and founder of the International Monobob Club.