The Mexican still known as Prince

… is rapidly going downhill at the age of 52.

Mexico’s top Olympic skier (OK, Mexico’s ONLY Olympic skier) in the 2010 Winter Games, Prinz  Hubertus von Hohenlohe-Langerberg, at the age of 52, qualified for slalom and the giant slalom in the Alpine World Ski Cup taking place this month in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.  There’s something very Mexican in the whole thing, the Prince managing to get himself into the Guiness Book of World Records as both the oldest contestant in the Alpine World Ski Cup, and the only Mexican (and the oldest Mexican).

Or, at least that’s what I can puzzle out of the German newspaper.  But he’s made the English speaking sports news, too… in a completely different field, as a fashion and environmental photographer. Joe Battaglia, (Universal Sports) writes:

…Maria Riesch of Germany, Tina Maze of Slovenia, Ingrid Jacquemod of France, Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria, and Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic… [t]he Ski Girls along with their sponsor, European chocolate maker Milka, have teamed up on a project called Alpine Beauties aimed at drawing attention to a cause next to no one would associate with Alpine wilderness – the extinction of rare flowers….

The Milka project cites changes to Alpine conditions due to drainage of wetlands and artificial fertilization, tourists and others encroaching on once uninhabited land. There is also the issue of global warming, which causes plant species to move from low-lying areas and invade higher locations, thus displacing those species that are indigenous at higher altitudes.

Each one of the five women has chosen an Alpine flower that is special to her. The five flowers stand as representatives of the endangered Alpine world and the women are campaigning for wise stewardship of nature in the Alpine regions.

As part of the campaign, the women gathered for a photo shoot before the season in a mountain pasture near Kirchgasser’s hometown of Filzmoos in Salzburg, Austria. Hubertus von Hohenlohe, the eccentric prince/Olympic Alpine skier for Mexico, was brought in as the lead photographer.

So the guy ALSO produced records.., and was the singer, on this 1993 homage to Andy (a different guy than the Prince formerly known as Andy Himalaya ):

Hurbertus,  “eccentric”?  NAH!  Ok, so he’s also an Austrian Prince, but no different than a lot of Mexicans who end up living abroad… suiting up and showing up — and managing to pull off a credible effort in whatever job presents itself.