Leo Jeker, The Graubunden Tourism Director, Publishes “Book Of Life”

In Graubünden and in the cable car industry in the Alps, Leo Jeker hardly needs to be introduced to anyone. As the "snow pope" and former president of the canton of Graubünden, but also as a thoroughbred tourist and "green scarer", his reputation precedes him. In his newly published "book of his life", he and author Jano Felice Pajarola now tell of his childhood as a Walser boy in Churwalden, of his first ski turns on the local slopes and of his time as a business apprentice with his mentor Tobias Kuoni in Landquart. He looks back at the birth of the Savognin Nandrò mountain railways and their history, describes the creation of Europe's first large-scale snowmaking system in Savognin and the later fight against the snow cannon initiative in Graubünden.

He offers insights into his political career, from municipal offices in Zizers to his year as the «highest Bündner», but he also lets readers share in happy and sad events from his private life as a family man and husband, from the birth of his two sons Björn and Ivar to the untimely loss of his beloved wife Isabella.

But there are also amusing and unusual anecdotes from the eight decades so far. For example, you will learn about the special way in which young Leo visited the national exhibition in Lausanne in 1964, how the legendary "My destination Savognin" car sticker came about and what Peter, Sue and Marc had to do with it. You can read what made Leo and Isabella travel to the legendary "Game without Borders" in Avignon in 1970, why Leo was once interrogated in Smolensk or what the German comedian Hella von Sinnen associates with Savognin's slopes. Leo and "the Greens", Leo and sport, Leo and driving - there is a lot to tell about these too - and perhaps not just what you would expect. Last but not least, Leo Jeker also talks about those ideas and visions from his long time as a tourism worker that could not be put into practice - although he tried, of course. It is not for nothing that he gave his “book of life” a simple but clear title: “Do it!” His life motto could not be summed up in a shorter formula. Do it – because it could turn out well.

In addition, around a dozen companions have agreed to put Leo Jeker's work and their personal relationship with him into their own words - these guest contributions round off the work, as do short biographies of Isabella, Björn and Ivar Jeker. 80 photographs from the family album, media archives and the holdings of the Savogniner Bergbahnen provide illustrations of important stages in his life. And because even a "life book" can never cover all of the activities of a personality as versatile as Leo Jeker in sufficient detail, the appendix contains an overview of all of his professional positions, offices and commitments from 1960 to the present.

"A book of life is like a book of summits, with two-thousand-meter peaks, three-thousand-meter peaks, four-thousand-meter peaks, and even eight-thousand-meter peaks," writes Leo Jeker in his foreword, "with small and large, but reliable rope teams. Full of happy surprises, experiences and successes, and as diverse as our mountain world." As diverse as the Graubünden mountains - that's how the reading of "Machen!" should be.

authors

Leo Jeker and Jano Felice Pajarola. With contributions by Damian Bumann, Heinz Dudli, Karl Frehsner, Danielle Giuliani, Sep Guetg-Blaas, Theo Haas, Björn and Ivar Jeker, Helmut Lamprecht, Peter Lang, Dario Morandi, Peter Schröcksnadel, Gion Nutegn Stgier and Norbert Waser.

• Leo Jeker (1943) grew up in Churwalden and, after completing his commercial apprenticeship with lawyer Tobias Kuoni in Landquart, worked for the Savogniner Bergbahnen from its founding in 1962, as director from 1978 to 2008 and as a member of the board of directors from 1989 to 2022. From 1994 to 2018 he was a member of the Graubünden Grand Council, and in 2007/08 he was the highest Graubünden official as cantonal president. Leo Jeker is considered a pioneer of technical snowmaking in Europe and a tourism worker with broad involvement in the economy. In 2004 he received the "Swiss Cable Car Operator of the Year" award, and in 2006 he was awarded the Swiss Tourism Prize "Milestone" for his life's work. Leo Jeker has lived in Zizers since 1975.
• Jano Felice Pajarola (1973) is a full-time editor at the daily newspapers "Die Südostschweiz" and "Bündner Tagblatt" and is responsible for reporting from the regions of Central Graubünden and Surselva. He is also a co-author of hiking and cultural publications and has translated various literary works from Romansh into German. He lives with his family in Cazis.

Jano Felice Pajarola: «Leo Jeker – Machen! Life story of a tourism manager».
Somedia Buchverlag. 176 pages. 29 francs. ISBN 978-3-907095-91-1.

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