From carpenter to CEO

Whether ski racer, carpenter, engineer, inventor, designer, patent owner, book author, expert, husband, father - Peter Riedel has implemented many projects and did many activities in his life so far. It's hard to believe that all of this fits in one life of the Oberwiesenthal original. 

Growing up in the town of Oberwiesenthal, he was practically born with the athlete's gene. His father Eberhard Riedel » was a successful skier and celebrated considerable national and international success. So it was only natural that Peter was raised just as sporty and performance-oriented. Little Peter was racing down the Fichtelberg already at the age of 3, and the first competitions followed four years later. In the following fifteen years he competed in several European wide races as a GDR racer, but he didn’t climb the sporting career ladder any further. Instead of the ski slopes technical things began to interest today's birthday boy.

In 1982, Riedel therefore began working as a carpenter. Six years later, he studied structural engineering in Leipzig, which he completed in record time. After a few years as a self-employed structural engineer, the born networker once again bridged the gap to the sports sector in 2003.

Riedel did pioneering work with a feasibility study for the construction of the ski tunnel in Oberhof. This as well as other valuable basic developments were decisively incorporated into the construction of the giant tunnel, in which cross-country skiing and biathlon can be practiced all year round.

The first project in the field of sports technology was thus successfully implemented. But in the visionary's head the next idea was already growing, which later turned out to be groundbreaking in the ski jumping field. Just one year after the construction of the ski tunnel, he presented the first combined summer and winter inrun track to the FIS ski jumping commission in Willingen. And that on a Friday, the thirteenth. But this day turned out to be a lucky one for the inventor. The system, which skilfully combines an ice track and a porcelain track, was as simple as ingenious and hit the scene like a comet.

From there, Peter Riedel's career skyrocketed. His company grew up to six employees, and inrun tracks were exported all over the world. In addition to the historic winter sports resorts of Sapporo, Holmenkollen in Oslo, Bergisel in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen, Riedel has supplied its technology from the company headquarters in Raschau to over a hundred ski jumping hills worldwide. The last project was the new construction of the jumping hills in Trondheim, where the next Nordic Ski World Championships will take place in 2025.

Over the years, Peter Riedel has developed another passion - that of being a writer and journalist. He loves to take on complex topics and examine them meticulously from several angles. Whether business topics, of which there are plenty due to his international work, or topics from his private life. Riedel absorbs everything, processes it and makes it available to the general public via a variety of his channels. So its not unlikely that alongside news articles from high class sports, there is also space for small stories from his hometown. And it is precisely this balancing act between the world of sports business on the one hand and family and tradition on the other, that Riedel loves so much. And what you love, you do well.

The two words - creative mind - probably describe Peter Riedel best. There is hardly a technical problem that he doesn’t know the answer to. Combined with his determination to get the most out of Nordic sports, the engineer lives for winter sports.

Jack of all trades Peter Riedel turns sixty!