08/14/2026
ISHA Pioneer Spotlight: Ornulf Johnsen
The International Skiing History Association honors Ornulf Johnsen, one of the most influential and innovative ski-school directors of Canada, inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in 2024.
Born in Bergen, Norway, in 1934, Johnsen grew up in a culture where skiing was part of everyday life. He carried that passion around the world, teaching skiing everywhere from Chile to Whistler, where he became the resort's very first ski-school director in 1965. A year later, he moved to Grouse Mountain, where he would go on to shape western Canadian skiing for over two decades.
Johnsen guaranteed no more than four students per instructor, built community ski programs that brought thousands of Vancouver-area schoolkids onto the mountain, and combined his teaching talent with an accounting background to run one of the most profitable ski schools in the industry teaching over a million lessons and generating more than $40 million in revenue.
Standing 6'5" and famously skiing with 54-inch poles, Johnsen believed anyone could learn to ski, and built an entire ski-school empire around that idea.
ISHA celebrates Ornulf Johnsen's legacy as a true architect of Canadian ski culture.
Read the full ISHA article by Steve Threndyle at https://www.skiinghistory.org/article/pioneers-ornulf-johnsen-head-class
