Chris Klebl grew up alpine skiing and snowboarding in Austria. Participating in many other sports, he also competed in running and rowing in high school. A broken wrist caused him to narrowly miss the U.S. Junior National team for rowing. In 1995, Chris broke his back jumping off a cliff on his snowboard in Colorado. After a few years living in Kauai, Hawaii, and working as a massage therapist, he moved to California and worked in the Software industry where he started racing hand-cycles. After moving back to Colorado, a hand-cycling friend introduced him to sit-skiing, and three months after his first day on snow he raced his first World Cup.
After racing for six years where he competed in two Paralympics, and racked up more than one dozen IPC World Cup podiums, and 11 U.S. national titles, Chris moved to Canmore, Alta. to race for Canada. His two biggest accomplishments in Para-Nordic skiing are his two World Championship medals, including a gold in 2011. Chris looks forward to more great results, which he sees as a direct result of the much more comprehensive support that is available on the Para-Nordic Team in Canada. It is much more gratifying for Chris to be part of a group of dedicated professionals who are all working for the combined goal of high level international success. Chris was able to get on World Cup podiums for a number of years with minimal support, but the results somehow felt empty….not anymore since racing for Canada.
While he still contemplates what he’ll do after ski racing, Chris enjoys photography, travel and warm weather when not skiing.
For Chris’ full bio visit: http://www.cccski.com