Utah Ski Pioneer Junior Bounous Celebrates 100th Birthday

At Snowbird, Bounous cut new trails and even designed the ski resort’s first map, later serving as the mountain’s ski school director. Afterwards, when Bounous became Snowbird’s Director of Skiing, he sought to expand programs that encouraged seniors to spend time in the mountains.

Bounous’s knack for supporting students and sharing his love of skiing goes back further. In 1948, he became one of Utah’s first certified ski school instructors, working alongside fellow snow sports luminary Alf Engen. Before Snowbird, he taught at Alta and Sugar Bowl. 

In 1996, he became a member of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame. The organization, in a profile of him and his accomplishments, said, “He built a solid reputation as an innovative and progressive teacher of skiing with the instinctive quality of helping people realize the joy and excitement of skiing.”

For Bounous, one common teaching refrain was “Fear and stiffness are the enemies of good skiing.”

While some quit skiing as they grow older, Bounous’s passion for the sport has proven persistent. 

In April 2021, he set a new Guinness World Record, becoming the oldest person to go helicopter skiing at age 95. It had been 60 years since Bounous first went heli-skiing on Mount Timpanogos during a Ski Magazine photo shoot.

“I stand here and feel so sentimental that it’s almost hard to talk about it. It was such a special day that was never anticipated or expected,” he said afterwards, according to Deseret News. 

Few skiers have stayed on the slopes as long as Bounous. Even fewer have shaped the sport in the way that he has. If there was ever any doubt that skiing helps you stay younger, look to Bounous for proof.