Junior Bounous

Today's the day!

Before the Skiing History's ticketed dinner, when Junior accepts his lifetime achievement award, Junior and Ayja will be selling and signing copies of Junior's hardcover Centennial Edition biography at the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird from 5-6 pm. If you're in the canyon today, we'd love to see you there!

If you can't attend but would like to order a book, you can do so here: https://www.ayjabounous.com/purchase

The full schedule for the ISHA Celebration Week! Hope to see some of you at the events!

Skiing History Week starts today with the Film Festival and Welcome Party!

All events are open to the public.

Take a look at the full schedule and plan your week!

April 8–11, 2026 at the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird

From the ISHA Film Festival to the Awards Banquet, it’s a packed lineup celebrating the stories, legends, and legacy of skiing.

Don’t miss your favorite events and come celebrate the people and moments that shaped the sport. We can’t wait to see you there!

It's a big week for this guy! This week is the International Skiing History Association's Celebration at Snowbird's Cliff Lodge, and Junior has a packed schedule—including a Lifetime Achievement Award!

On Thursday (April 9th), Junior will participate in a panel about skiing in Little Cottonwood Canyon—the IHSA John Fry Presentation: How Little Cottonwood Canyon Influenced the World of Skiing (4-6 pm). This is a free event—all are welcome!

On Friday (April 10th), Junior and granddaughter Ayja will be selling Junior's award-winning biography during the ISHA Author's Reception (5-6pm). The special, limited Centennial Edition of Junior's biography will make its debut!

Later that evening, Junior will receive his Lifetime Achievement Award at the IHSA Awards Dinner from (6pm–8pm). What better venue for this Snowsports Legend to accept his well-earned award!

This is a paid event, and tickets are still available. Check out Skiing History's full schedule here: https://events.humanitix.com/ussshof-2026/tickets

As always, Junior's award-winning biography is available for purchase online here: https://www.ayjabounous.com/purchase

We'd love to share a fun opportunity to have lunch with Junior Bounous at The Forklift and enjoy a day of skiing at Snowbird Ski Resort! Junior and Snowbird have teamed up to contribute a special package to Wasatch Adaptive Sports' Highly Decorated Silent Auction, which honors veterans while raising funds for adaptive winter sports. Junior and Peter Mandler founded Wasatch Adaptive Sports almost 50 years ago to empower those with disabilities through outdoor recreation, and the program has since grown to serve over 1,100 participants each year, with 96% of lessons offered at no cost to students.

Junior's silent auction package includes:
* 4 lift tickets to Snowbird
* Lunch for 4 at The Forklift (Junior's favorite restaurant!) with Junior and his son Steve (former pro ski racer)
* 4 signed copies of Junior's award-winning biography

This is an excellent opportunity not only to spend time with 100-year-old Junior and hear stories from his 30 years as Snowbird's Ski School Director, but also to support a cause near and dear to his heart. (Junior might even wear his iconic red and yellow sweater to match the photo of him in The Forklift!)

And if you're looking for meaningful Christmas gifts—check out the other silent auction items being offered! All proceeds go towards providing free ski, snowboard, biking, paddleboarding, and yoga lessons to Utahns with disabilities.

Bid on Junior's package and browse the auction at: https://wasatchadaptivesports.org/highly-decorated

This 100-year-old had his first day skiing over the weekend at Alta! And boy, was he happy to be back on the sticks. Who else had their first ski day this weekend?

Happy 106th Birthday to Klaus Obermeyer! Who thinks we should get Junior and Klaus on the slopes together?

Happy 106th Birthday to the legendary Klaus Obermeyer!

Born December 2, 1919, Klaus has been shaping the ski world for more than a century with his creativity, innovation, and unmistakable mountain spirit.

Long before Obermeyer became a cornerstone of ski apparel, Klaus was a young boy in Bavaria, hand-making koogie pom-pom ties, colorful yarn ties worn by early skiers in the 1920s. That simple tradition followed him to Aspen in 1947, where he taught skiing for Friedl Pfeifer and, during the slow season, began selling those same pom-pom ties to local shops.

A few dozen hand-tied orders turned into hundreds, and even Hollywood icon Gary Cooper insisted on paying retail for one. That humble tie became the very first Obermeyer product, and the beginning of a brand that would go on to transform ski apparel forever.

Today, at 106, Klaus remains a symbol of innovation, passion, and joy in the sport. His legacy lives on not only through Obermeyer’s groundbreaking gear, but through his lifelong dedication to skiing’s culture and community.

We’re also proud to celebrate Obermeyer as a long-time sponsor of ISHA, supporting our mission to preserve and share the rich history of our sport.

Learn more about Klaus’s early story here:
https://www.skiinghistory.org/online-magazine/letters-klaus-luggi-stein-and-kokanee-glacier?check_logged_in=1

Happy Birthday Klaus!

Some fun old footage featuring Junior (dark hair and wearing a red sweater with white and black stripes on the upper arms) from Sundance back when it was called Timp Haven.
Junior's storied history at Timp Haven began all the way back in 1943, when Junior responded to an ad in the paper recruiting for the Utah County Division of the Civilian Defense Ski Corps for Mountain Rescue. At the meeting, he met Ray Stewart, the soon-to-be founder of Timp Haven. (He also met his future wife of 67 years, Maxine!) Junior and Ray became fast friends, and when Ray purchased a rope tow in 1945, Junior helped Ray with his dream of starting a ski area. They installed the rope tow in North Fork Canyon, on land that Ray's family had homesteaded since the 1800s, and Timp Haven was born. Junior went on to become a partial owner in Timp Haven and ran the ski school, after-school ski programs, and ski shop. When Robert Redford purchased the resort, Junior worked alongside Bob to transition Timp Haven to Sundance in the late 1960s.

You can learn more about Junior's history at Timp Haven/Sundance and other ski areas by reading his award-winning biography:
https://www.ayjabounous.com/purchase

https://www.amazon.com/Junior-Bounous-Joys-Skiing-biography/dp/B0BRTH47TW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2P1QTSDF8W57T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gvoFYyIpZLABKaXq5WZKjg.Zdh1pFcpXbVnptFDD-PhtpbrzmWcJnIKvnP3R0uI0rk&dib_tag=se&keywords=junior+bounous&qid=1762824847&sprefix=junior+bounous%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1

Recently, we got word from our friends at @altaskiarea that they’d unearthed some old film footage that had been previously lost. As they reviewed the footage, filmed between the 1930s and 1970s, they found this treasure—skiers at Sundance Resort back when it was Timp Haven, its first iteration! These scenes were most likely captured by Sverre Engen, champion ski-jumper and longtime ski school director at Alta. Watching the footage is a delightful little trip back in time. The beauty of this mountain remains forever the same … but we’re sure glad the lifts are a little faster and safer these days!  Footage credit: Sverre Engen of Alta Ski Area

Last week, 100-year-old Junior camped in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, sleeping in his RV and hiking every day. The first time he visited this landscape, he was in his 20s. This place has held a special place in his heart for about 80 years. When he wasn't hiking, he was heckling park rangers, wooing the camp hosts, and making friends with everyone who passed by his campsite. He was the talk of the campground!

You can find out more about Junior's remarkable life by reading his biography:

https://www.ayjabounous.com/purchase/p/juniorbounous

https://www.amazon.com/Junior-Bounous-Joys-Skiing-biography/dp/B0BRTH47TW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=31DJTOZGUVXPY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gvoFYyIpZLABKaXq5WZKjg.Zdh1pFcpXbVnptFDD-PhtpbrzmWcJnIKvnP3R0uI0rk&dib_tag=se&keywords=junior+bounous&qid=1761237327&sprefix=junior+bounous%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1

And you can preorder the limited "Centennial Edition" of his biography here:

https://www.ayjabounous.com/purchase/p/junior-bounous-and-the-joys-of-skiing-the-centennial-edition

Today would have been Maxine, Junior's wife of 67 years, 100th birthday. Please join us in celebrating her adventurous spirit and beautiful soul.

Maxine was born in Provo, Utah, on September 18, 1925. She fell in love with horses at a young age and saved up babysitting money to buy a retired racing horse. It was while on a horse ride up Rock Canyon that she would meet her future husband, Junior. For their second date, Junior took Maxine up North Fork Canyon to Ray Stewart's cabin at the soon-to-be Timp Haven ski area to teach her how to ski. Since her tiny boots didn't fit in his bindings, Junior took his own boots off so that she could wear them, and taught her how to ski as he walked around the snow in his socks. From that moment, their seven decades together were filled with a shared passion for the mountains and skiing. Maxine became one of the first US Forest Service-certified female ski instructors and would leave her own legacy on the Utah ski industry.

You can read more about Maxine's life and their seven decades of love in Junior's biography: https://www.ayjabounous.com/purchase/p/juniorbounous

On August 24th, Junior Bounous hit an incredible milestone and completed his 100th year around the sun. We are so amazed and proud of his continued accomplishments. He is an icon for so many reasons, and we are so fortunate to live in a world with him in it. Please join us in wishing Junior a Happy 100th Birthday!

We invite you to enjoy this short video we made to help celebrate Junior's century of skiing. It features clips taken from Warren Miller films, Snowbird Ski Resort promotional footage, "Bounousabuse: 80 Junior Years" (a film made about Junior in honor of his 80th birthday—thanks to the Keller and MacLean families and Larsen Jay), Snowbird Ski School's "Don't Fence Me In", sound bits from Utah Legends PBS Special about Junior, and a Warner Archive clip of Roy Rogers:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yP_w-NI3s1PZpFXhSOfzvnfpIUQXY_fe/view?usp=sharing

Pay attention to what ski outfit Junior is wearing in these clips, because that will help tell you how old he is. If he’s wearing an old red sweater that will be circa late 1940s, and anytime he has a buzzcut hairdo, it was taken between 1940s to early 1960s, when Junior was anywhere between 20 to 40 years old. If he’s in an orange sweater, that was one of the first Snowbird ski school uniforms from the early 1970s, and he’s in his 40s. When he’s in a blue and green sweater that’s from the early 1980s, when he was in his mid-50s. If he’s wearing a full yellow one-piece suit with his yellow helmet, he’s 80 years old. If he’s wearing a red jacket, grey pants, and yellow helmet, that is all footage taken from this past season, when he was 99 years old.

Finally, in honor of his 100th birthday, we have made a "Centennial" hardcover edition of Junior's award-winning biography. At 12"x12", this coffee-table book has even more photos and stories from Junior's remarkable life. We are currently collecting preorders and hope to ship them out in early December. A portion of the book sales will go towards the Junior Bounous Legacy Fund for the Snowbird Sports Education Foundation. If you'd like to preorder the book, you can purchase it at this link:

https://www.ayjabounous.com/purchase/p/junior-bounous-and-the-joys-of-skiing-the-centennial-edition

Happy 100th Birthday, Junior Bounous!

Today we celebrate the centennial of a true skiing legend, Junior Bounous, born August 24, 1925 in Provo, Utah. From crafting his first skis at age eight to helping shape world-class resorts, Junior’s story is woven into the very fabric of American skiing. Over the decades, he taught at Alta under Alf Engen, became one of the first American-born ski school directors, helped develop Timp Haven (now Sundance) and Snowbird, and introduced innovative programs for kids, adaptive skiers, and seniors.

Along the way, he co-founded PSIA, advised industry committees, wrote ski technique guides, and earned a place in the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame. Even in his 90s, he kept breaking records, most famously as the oldest heli-skier ever at 95, and last winter, at age 99, he logged 73 ski days.

Help us wish Junior Bounous a happy birthday!