What friends tell about Peter:

„I wish I would have been brave enough to live my own life“ – this sentence you will never hear from Peter. When I met Peter first in 2002, he just came back from Nepal and had this quaint beard. The quirky old gentlemen had accepted the challenge to turn around the business of my former employer. First step was to move his pendulum clock in the new office. The ticking sound was in a way calming, but it also remembered us that time is running. And while we the employees were wondering every evening if the company is still alive the other day or if it would make sense to take the computers with them to work from home, all of a sudden we felt the wind turning direction. It has become true: there was somebody who made the impossible possible. Somebody who didn’t fear anything and who stays calm like in the eye of a hurricane. Somebody who sets goals and achieves them step by step, irresistibly. Somebody who is behaving, thinking and acting anti-cyclical. Bearded. Bristly. Cross-grained. Thorny. Rough-and-ready, “strubby”. In short: a lateral thinker. With all its advantages and disadvantages. No matter if it’s related to skiing tours, hiking, mountain biking: Peter follows his own rhythm. Along with turbulences he appreciates consistency: every morning at half past six 2 fried eggs (sunny side up), for lunch a nice piece of meat and in the evening a good bottle of Tour de Pez with wife and friends. I’ve learned an awful lot from him: that change is an elixir, generosity the salt in the soup and trust the foundation of being partners in crime. In the meantime the pendulum clock is at home in Peter’s and Gabi’s house demonstrating that at Peter and Gabi the clocks work differently. And both tick in a similar way: they are brave enough to set boundaries and to do what they believe in and what they value: living in a self-determined way and make their dreams come true. So pay attention when you meet them: they are 2 adventurer in sheep’s clothing!

Thommy: The friend. Peter, it’s about 40 years now that we know each other. It all started at Pius’ in Allschwil, where we met to organise joint skiing holidays. It was at that time when I drove to Arosa with my VW-beetle with summer tyres through a snow storm. You organized snow chains and saved Simone and me from frostbites. The uncountable skiing experiences: thanks to you I’ve indeed learned skiing, your perfect style did impress me. Oh and the many poker evenings: you were the cool gambler – never losing his poise, even when losing the game. And never arrogant when winning. Then you moved to Geneva and back to Oberwil. We started playing Piccolo, joining the carnival, did sessions in your apartment with Christoph and his accordion. After 3 times joining the Basler Fasnacht it was only the two of us left. You finished the HWV and moved to Coire. With my beloved car I moved your family bed up there. After the move we went to a bar and much later I saw you for the first time losing your upright position; if you would have been sober you didn’t like it… but it was ok. Chalet Burtsli is/has been your pride and joy. It took us a while to move the corner bench in! So many memories and great experiences are linked with it. I remember a wonderful autumn day when you convinced me to join you on a “super easy” mountain bike tour (your words). The other day I couldn’t sit anymore – all of a sudden there seemed to be a lot more between my body and the chair – really easy – ouch! Oh and our first tour back on motorbikes: you with a little chopper – possibly to be on the safe side, but it was just cool. Once back on the road again we did some wonderful trips to Andorra, Sardinia, Croatia etc. You are the one who is in the driver seat, the one who initiates and I liked to follow. Why. It was thought through, well planned and nothing left to chance. I was always massively impressed how focused you work to achieve your goals. Setting milestones and assessing and balancing risks. Your philosophy: no mistakes, no crash, no weaknesses. You don’t like to lose. If it happens you can get really angry. And if something is not working out like you wanted or you face troubles you can become nasty. Traveling around the world with you? I would do that without hesitation; you inspire trust. And last but not least: you follow your plans with rigour without pushing the people around you – it’s all about your discrete – though explicit – authority. Peter, the driving force, innovative, calm, cool-headed.

Marc: Thunder and bolt belong to each other as everyone knows. Sometime end 2010, beginning 2011 I’ve got the bolt only: cannot remember the exact date, but I guess this was my subconscious preventing me with a partial amnesia from this enlightening experience. The bolt – in the face of Peter (at that time in his beardless phase) – hit me during a wine degustation: he stood there a bit aside, easy, wearing a leather vest, hair like Albert E. (at least the color), observing with his expert’s and connoisseur eye the fashionable female perfume volcanos (who seem to know each other from the waiting areas of Doctor Botox and Professor Collagen) as well as the pushing, bullying, solarium tanned and really important manager who offer loudly their opinion to their peers and the rest of the world (and more often Parker-copy-paste than not) about the wines they were drinking – and he didn’t hide his thoughts at all. And because this scene reminded me so much – completely out of the blue – of myself I’ve approached him and even took the chance to talk to him. No arrogance, lordliness or haughtiness was the reaction, but just this kind of serenity that tells you that you don’t have to jump on every topic (even if you could add value) paired with the certainty that people will come to you if it’s burning. The upcoming conversation uncovered the fact that we both speak the same language, even the same dialect and further more brought to light that we are interested in the same topics. Even when we met the second time we didn’t feel bored to death so we decided to involve our better halves (okay I purely wanted to demonstrate to my wife that I am not the only one – contrary to her strong believe – who is not a fan of walking like sheep and follow the herd). Furthermore Peter and I have more or less the same dilemma: Bordeaux is absolutely fine, but from time to time we need an extra dose of adrenalin be it from the air or under water, on the road with 2 or 4 wheels or in the snow.

Urs: Imagine: we are on our way from Etzel heading towards Zurich, of course with GPS. Which guides us directly to the burial ground of Wollishofen and finally in front of a 3 meter high wall. We can even see the street we were looking for. We ALWAYS drive with GPS!!! Let’s say it this way: Peter always knows what he wants. This asks for a bit of flexibility of those surrounding him. He is tolerant, a good listener. With horse power and wine you can certainly please him.

Susi: I think it’s annoying that Peter doesn’t deviate from his principles. But I guess what I think is annoying is it what made him so successful.

Rinaldo: There are tons of joint memories and experiences. But if I had to pick one I would chose the glacier skiing event from the Monte Rosa summit. This event – his leaving event from EURO RSCG – was really something unique and unforgettable. Peter is a brilliant negotiator, who eats his meat preferably rare accompanied by Pauillac or water, but never white wine. He loves his bikes: be it the motorbike or the mountain bike.