Hans Jenni

Born in the Swiss resort town of Davos in 1931, Hans Jenni learned to ski with his father at age three. Too poor to buy lift tickets, father and son ascended mountains on skis fitted with climbing skins, then swooshed downhill using the Telemark technique.

In the 1950s, Jenni emerged as one of the top racers in Europe, three times taking the giant slalom trophy at Les Carroz in France. His racing career ended in 1954 at the same time he launched his teaching career by earning his Swiss certification for ski instruction.

In 1956, Paul Valar, a fellow instructor from Davos who ran the ski school at Cannon Mountain, recruited Jenni to join him. After two seasons at Cannon, Pleasant Mountain General Manager Russ Haggett invited him to take over the ski school, which was an independent business at that time.

When Jenni arrived at Pleasant he turned lots of heads for lots of reasons. For starters, Jenni was the first European to run the school, plus the handsome young man stood out for his distinctive style and his advocacy of the distinctive reverse-shoulder technique that was visually defined by the wedeln “wiggle.” And despite his fractured, German-accented English—a strong selling point in those days—Jenni was known for his ability to communicate with students and staff.

In 1960, Jenni’s ski school partnered with the Down East Ski Club to offer lessons in a unique format. Two dry-land sessions were offered at the downtown Portland YMCA, followed by two on-snow lessons at Pleasant Mountain. Widely publicized, hundreds turned out and the queue outside the “Y” extended up the sidewalk for blocks.

In the mid-1960s, the Down East Ski Club’s youth program proved another notable success. The club started a decade earlier as a singles-oriented social organization, but it struggled to find a new purpose after the original members started marrying and having families. Teaching children helped redefine its mission, and the youth program mushroomed.

Other Jenni initiatives were novel. One was a Tuesday morning class for local women. Advertising copy suggested a light-hearted tone: “House Wives Unite!!” it read. “Throw down your dustmops. Kick the laundry into the closet and slam that door!! THIS IS FOR YOU. Get away from it all and come ski with us.” Classes filled quickly, and they’re still fondly remembered.

Another special class targeted working women from Portland, plus Jenni ran race camps for up-and-coming competitors. The ski school also taught groups of mentally handicapped children preceding Special Olympics by several years.

As a pied piper of skiing, Jenni started thousands of Mainers on the track to a lifetime of fun. As an early advocate of specialfocus programs for women, youth and special needs populations, Jenni was a pioneer in broadening the sport’s appeal and redefining the sport’s role in the Maine lifestyle. These lasting contributions have earned Hans Jenni a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.