The man from canton Valais, who won silver in the downhill race at the Sapporo Winter Olympics in 1972, had been battling illness for two years. Ultimately the illness proved stronger than the thrill-seeking skier who loved to brave the planet’s steepest slopes. “The Dove has flown”, as the Valais newspaper Le Nouvelliste headlined. After overcoming throat cancer, Collombin faced liver cancer, and spent several periods in hospital. According to a post on Instagram by his family, the man with eig