Erich Sailer

Erich Sailer (November 7, 1925 - August 2025), a member of the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, is known for his work with Lindsey Vonn and other Minnesota athletes as the racing coach and director of Buck Hill in Burnsville, Minnesota where he coached from 1969 to 2022.

After a move to Vancouver, Canada, Sailer established summer ski racing in North America with a camp he operated in Oregon at Mount Hood and later operated another camp in Montana which grew into the largest ski-racing camp before moving to Minnesota in 1969. Among the Olympians for whom he was a youth coach are Vonn, Kristina Koznick, Julia Mancuso, Tasha Nelson, Sarah Schleper, and Resi Stiegler who competed in 2002, Salt Lake City and 2006 in Turin. Sailer also coached Vonn's father Alan. He was inducted into the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2005, the first development coach recognized with that honor.

Sailer was born Erich Josef Johann Sailer in Telfs, Austria, died in August 2025 in Edina, Minnesota from complications of falls. He is survived by his wife Ursula, a daughter, Martina, and two grandchildren.