Johannes Strolz is getting ready for the descent, with white mountains rising behind him.

Johannes Strolz: More than just an Olympic champion for Warth-Schröcken.

From Heiba & Skifohra.

Johannes Strolz is standing in his racing suit, with the snow-capped mountains behind him.

Olympic champion.

A title that will last forever. Yet Johannes Strolz is so much more than his medals. He is a firefighter, a police officer, a mountain farmer, a son, a brother and part of a village community where solidarity counts for everything. A glimpse behind the scenes of a man whose greatest strength may not lie solely on the ski slopes.

Heard through the grapevine.

Summer 2024. We know that Johannes has been back in Warth for some time. We keep seeing him drive past – usually not on skis, but with farm machinery.

As his office neighbours, we hear the first stories from his sister Anna-Maria. It’s all about building a house, a lot of hard work, and the support provided by her brother Johannes and father Hubert. They’re constantly shuttling back and forth between their own work on the farm and Anna-Maria’s building site. Carpentry, concreting, bricklaying – pitching in wherever help is needed. It’s all done as a matter of course.

Johannes Strolz is taking part in a fire drill and is holding the fire hose alongside a colleague.

A new firefighter in Warth.

A few days later, a photo turns up: a firefighter holding a hose. Nothing out of the ordinary, really – and yet a small but special event for a village like Warth.

The Warth Volunteer Fire Brigade has gained a new member.
Who is it?
Johannes Strolz.

It’s something he’d apparently wanted to do for quite some time. Given that he’s often away, it had been difficult for him to take this step until now. But a solution was found together with the Warth Fire Brigade. A new member for the community.

Mid-June. Hubert pops into our office for a quick visit. We have a brief chat about the coming summer – and, with it, the busy period ahead for the Strolz family of mountain farmers. There’s plenty of work to be done on the steep slopes around Warth. Johannes also lends a hand whenever his schedule allows. Haymaking tasks are co-ordinated, and as much as possible is done whilst he’s at home.

“Doh geit eppas, doh isch Pfus dahintr.”
(Things move quickly; it’s done in a flash.)

A phrase that sums up Johannes and his family rather well. Roll up your sleeves. Don’t talk for ages. Just get on with it. In between, there are police shifts, call-outs, work in the barn – and, of course, training sessions for the next ski season.

Johannes Strolz poses alongside his father, Hubert Strolz, during a skiing photoshoot.

First-hand.

Winter 2023/24. A photo shoot with Johannes is planned. Of course, that’s hardly possible during the season. So we wait. Then, at the end of April, we get a surprise call: Johannes is in Warth for a short break. The winter season is already over here – but the snow is proving stubborn. Perfect conditions for a shoot on the slopes. Grooming the slopes, organising the Ski-Doo, getting everything ready. We actually wanted to keep it as straightforward as possible. Our plan: to organise and set up the slalom poles in advance. But we’d made that plan without consulting Hubert and Johannes.

“Des geit scho”
(That’ll do)

With the drill in their rucksack, they simply set about doing the job themselves. Not before, of course, helping the council workers to free a Ski-Doo that’s got stuck in deep snow. Even during the straightforward shoots, it quickly becomes clear that Johannes is still Johannes. Down-to-earth, helpful and always ready to lend a hand.

Johannes Strolz is in the process of raking his hay.

Between haymaking and World Cup training.

Summer 2024. A short video shoot about the Strolz family’s haymaking is planned. Between helping out other farmers, online meetings and the upcoming snow training in Chile, we manage to find a date. When we arrive, the family is already hard at work. With great respect, we accompany them as they tackle this physically demanding task on the steep mountain slopes. It’s work that requires a great deal of experience, strength and stamina.

We know that Johannes is flying to Chile the next day.
It’s only during a short break that we learn the working day begins at 2.30 am.

Despite this, Johannes seems relaxed. Calm. Focused.

Around 4.30 pm, the work is drawing to a close. One section is still left to do. Hubert wants to finish it on his own the next day so that Johannes can drive home and prepare for his departure.

But then comes this sentence:

“Des geit scho”
(That’ll do)

What title would truly do Johannes Strolz justice?
We don’t know.

Because for Warth-Schröcken, Johannes Strolz is, above all, one thing: a person at the heart of the community.
An Olympic champion, yes.
But so much more than that.

Would you like to find out more about his journey, his successes, setbacks and goals?

On his personal website, Johannes offers insights into his career, his home town and the stories behind his successes.

In the podcast episode ‘Wos dahinter steckt’ by Nici Schmidhofer and Conny Hütter, Johannes also talks about his Olympic journey, his thoughts following the greatest success of his career, and when the men’s slalom team finally gets to celebrate properly.

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