Otto's Story
Life in Austria
Born in Vienna, Austria, Otto Hollaus was a lifelong skier, climber, and adventurer. Before coming to the U.S., he ran a gymnastics school in Vienna and traveled throughout Europe skiing, climbing, and even paddling the Danube to the Mediterranean in a fold boat. In 1939, he celebrated his birthday climbing Mt. Blanc, Europe’s highest peak. He loved the culture and lifestyle of Vienna in the early 20th century - violin, opera, coffee, and pastries were among his favorite things. When asked if he was Austrian, he would answer that he was “Viennese.”
World War II
Otto teaching US soldiers to ski at Camp Hale, Colorado, 1944
After being drafted into the Austrian army in February 1940, Otto skied his way out of Austria to Switzerland and eventually immigrated to America. He became chief instructor at the Sepp Ruschp Ski School in Stowe, Vermont. During the war, Otto served with the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale, Colorado teaching troops to ski. He also served in the Pacific.
Bringing skiing to Minnesota
After the war, Otto settled in Minnesota, where he saw the potential for skiing to grow. He started a ski shop at Schuneman’s department store in downtown St. Paul, then founded the Otto Hollaus Ski School in 1946. When the school started, about 30 adults would meet downtown on Sunday mornings and carpool to a local ski area. Otto soon added a Saturday youth program. The school was very successful - in the late 1950's, Schuneman's hosted their annual showing of Warren Miller's latest ski film. There were 7,000 tickets sold, filling the St. Paul auditorium to the rafters! By 1960, the school was based out of the Ski Haus on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul. Otto was Skimeister, and Greyhound buses were used to transport students to local ski areas every weekend.
Five of the original Otto Hollaus Ski School Instructors (mid 1950's). L-R: Pete Moreno, Otto, Joel DuRand, Bill Spriggs and Per Hereid.
Otto's Legacy
Otto & Karen
Otto married his wife Karen in the mid-1960's, and they ran the ski school together for 20 years. Karen became one of the first women examiners in PSIA-Central Division. Together they built a legacy of passionate teaching and lifelong skiers that continues to this day. Otto passed away in 1989 after a battle with cancer. Among the cadre of Austrian ski instructors teaching at mountain areas in the US, Otto was known for “teaching city kids to ski.”