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Junior Bounous (born August 24, 1925, in Provo, Utah, United States) has been known as a "Pioneer in the American Ski Industry" (as quoted by Chuck Rowan in his nomination for Bounous into the National Ski Hall of Fame) and has been skiing the Wasatch Mountains and elsewhere for over 80 years. He is known for his ski accomplishments and teaching.
Junior Bounous was born on August 24, 1925, in Provo, Utah. He was the sixth child of Italian fruit farmers, and grew up learning how to ride horses, ice skate, and take care of the farm. Since farm life was busy, his parents never thought of a name for him at the time of his birth, so until well into his mid-20s his birth certificate read "Boy Bounous". [1] Being the youngest of a large family, his unofficial name became "Junior" immediately, and since then no one has ever thought about changing it.
Growing up in Provo Canyon, he was introduced to multiple winter sports at a young age. One in particular that he immediately became attracted to was skiing. At the age of 8, he made his own pair of skis out of barrel staves that his dad had cut out for him. He taught himself how to move on skis near home, where he would hike up a small hill in his backyard and then push himself down. Since it was not very big, he usually only got one turn from it, and it typically was a left turn as to avoid a pile of manure at the bottom of the hill. To this day, Bounous claims that his left turn is better than his right because of this. [2]
When he was 11 years old, his mother bought him his first pair of real skis. When he was still in his teens, Bounous became friends with Ray Stewart. Also a skier, Stewart's wealthy family had bought a large plot of land in Provo Canyon, and Stewart wanted help setting up a rope tow. At the age of 18, Bounous helped him set one up, and played a role in scouting for a place to put it and finding an adequate run that skiers of all abilities would be use. [3]
In 1943 Bounous joined the Civilian Defense Corps, created at Timp Haven as a group of individuals who were essentially the first ski patrol in the area. They did search and rescue efforts in Provo Canyon in both the summer and the winter during the war period. Bounous's ski talents were to be used for something else however, as a new prominent figure entered Junior's life.
In 1939, the second chairlift in the nation and the first in Utah opened in Alta Ski Resort. Bounous moved down from Sun Valley to work with Alf Engen and his brother Sverre to get the ski resort going. Bounous at the time was mainly interested in competing in cross-country skiing, and because Engen was the best cross-country skier in the nation at the time, Bounous went to him for lessons around 1945. [4] The reasons for the lessons changed quickly as Junior realized that was more interested in the techniques of teaching people to ski instead of competing.
Engen taught him his philosophy on ski instructing, one that highlighted the enjoyment of skiing in contrast to the strict ways of the Austrians that had been used before. In 1948 Engen encouraged Bounous to apply for certification of ski instructing. Bounous passed, and at the young age of 23 got his Forest Service Certification, being one of the first to achieve it. Engen hired him as a full-time instructor at Alta, and from 1948 to 1958 Bounous worked as Engen's professional assistant. [5]
In 1958 Bounous was offered a job at California's Sugar Bowl Ski Resort as their ski school director. He accepted, becoming one of the first American-born ski school directors ever. While under him, the ski school staff grew from five to 15 in seven years. He created Sugar Bowl's first children's program before moving back to Utah in the 1960s to go back to the now popular Timp Haven Ski Resort, where he became a part-time owner until Robert Redford bought the resort in 1969. Though the name was changed to Sundance, Redford kept Bounous there as ski school director for a few more years, during which Bounous helped expand the resort. [6]
In 1970 a new opportunity arrived. Ted Johnson and Richard Bass came to Bounous, asking him to help them map out the area for a new ski resort that they wanted to open up next to Alta Ski Resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. Bounous was hired to do the entire layout of ski runs for the resort and directed the cutting crews and bulldozer work. Once the new Snowbird ski resort opened up in 1971, Bounous became the first ski school director. Under him, Snowbird's ski school became ranked as one of the top in the nation, a position it still holds to this today.
As ski school director, Bounous created a children's program as well as a program for the disabled. In 1991, Bounous accepted the position of director of skiing, and created his most famous program, one meant for senior citizens called "Silver Wings". [7] Over his life he was also filmed in well over ten Warren Miller films. "I went out of my way to put him in the films for a long time because he was so much better than anyone else," Miller said in an interview for the documentary film Bounousabuse: 80 Junior Years. In one Miller film, Bounous puts his skis on backwards and skis down the hill with his back facing down, becoming one of the first to do so. [8]
Alta is a town in eastern Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 228 at the 2020 census, a large decrease from the 2010 figure of 383.
Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County with some portions extending into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is 32 miles (51 km) southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and 20 miles (32 km) from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 8,396 at the 2020 census. On average, the tourist population greatly exceeds the number of permanent residents.
The Wasatch Range or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about 160 miles (260 km) from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Great Basin region. The northern extension of the Wasatch Range, the Bear River Mountains, extends just into Idaho, constituting all of the Wasatch Range in that state.
Snowbird is an unincorporated community in Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains near Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is most famous for Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, an alpine skiing and snowboarding area, which opened in December 1971.
Sundance Resort, also known as Sundance Mountain Resort, is a ski resort located 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Provo, Utah. It includes more than 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range. Alpine skiing began on the site in 1944. Actor Robert Redford acquired the area in 1968, and established a year-round resort that would later spawn the independent Sundance Film Festival and the non-profit Sundance Institute. The resort was first listed as a census-designated place (CDP) before the 2020 census.
Alta is a ski area in the western United States, located in the town of Alta in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, in Salt Lake County. With a skiable area of 2,614 acres (10.58 km2), Alta's base elevation is 8,530 ft (2,600 m) and rises to 11,068 ft (3,374 m) for a vertical gain of 2,538 ft (774 m). One of the oldest ski resorts in the country, it opened its first lift in early 1939. Alta is known for receiving more snow than most Utah resorts, with an average annual snowfall of 545 inches (13.8 m). It is also regularly ranked as having the best snow in North America. Alta is one of three remaining ski resorts in the U.S. that prohibits snowboarders, along with nearby competitor Deer Valley and Vermont's Mad River Glen.
Little Cottonwood Canyon lies within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest along the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley, roughly 15 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah. The canyon is part of Granite, a CDP and "Community Council" designated by Salt Lake County. The canyon is a glacial trough, carved by an alpine glacier during the last ice age, 15,000 to 25,000 years ago. A number of rare and endemic plant species are found in the canyon's Albion Basin. Introduced Mountain goats inhabit the surrounding mountains.
Alf Marinius Engen was a Norwegian-American skier. He set several ski jumping world records during the 1930s and helped establish numerous ski areas in the Western United States. Engen is best known for his ski school at Alta in Utah and as the pioneer of powder skiing.
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Lift accessed mountain biking or Mountain bike park is a summer activity that is spreading all over the world. Using the chairlifts or gondola lifts at a ski area, mountain bikers can get up to higher altitudes quickly. The bikers don't have to ride up, and the ski area operators can keep the hill more profitable during the summer. Most bike parks have a mix of dirtjumping, downhill, enduro and freeride terrain on the trails.
Solitude Mountain Resort is a ski resort located in the Big Cottonwood Canyon of the Wasatch Mountains, thirty miles southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah. With 66 trails, 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) and 2,047 feet (624 m) vertical, Solitude is one of the smaller ski resorts near Salt Lake City, along with its neighbor Brighton. It is a family-oriented mountain, with a wider range of beginner and intermediate slopes than other nearby ski resorts; 50% of its slopes are graded "beginner" or "intermediate," the highest such ratio in the Salt Lake City area. Solitude was one of the first major US resorts to adopt an RFID lift ticket system, allowing lift lines to move more efficiently. It was followed by Alta Ski Area in 2007. Solitude is adjacent to Brighton Ski Resort near the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Solitude and Brighton offer a common "Solbright Pass" which provides access to both resorts for a nominal surcharge.
The 2003 Utah snowstorm was a major snowstorm that affected the state of Utah during December 25–31, 2003. Many areas of Utah were paralyzed by up to 4 feet (1.2 m) of snow. The Wasatch Front from the Salt Lake Valley northward saw generally 1–3 feet of snow (30–90 cm), with up to four feet on the benches, while the surrounding mountains generally saw 5–7 feet of snow (1.5–2 m), with up to nine feet in some areas. The storm even reached southern Utah with moderate snow amounts, with a few inches in some low-lying valley locations. At least five deaths were attributed to the heavy snow.
Corey Engen was the captain of the U.S. Nordic ski team at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. He was the youngest of the three Engen brothers that pioneered and popularized alpine skiing in the intermountain west, primarily in Utah and Idaho.
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Sverre S. Engen was a Norwegian-American skier, ski coach, ski area manager, and film-maker.
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State Route 92 (SR-92), also known in various portions as the Timpanogos Highway, and Alpine Loop Scenic Highway is a scenic state highway in Utah County, Utah that runs from I-15/US-89 in Lehi to US-189 in Provo Canyon. The route is 27.296 miles (43.929 km) long and is the only road with access to Sundance Ski Resort and the Aspen Grove Family Camp and Conference Center.
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