He holds the record for most days skied at Mont Tremblant — and uses status to support others

It is a bluebird forenoon at Mont Tremblant ski resort hotel, with the edward white peaks reaching into a top sky. 

Tremblant staple fiber Ken Bull is easy to spot with his bright yellow and blue one-piece snowsuit. A giant puffy hood wraps around an equally big smile.

Bull greets the lift operator at Tremblant by name and wishes him a great day. He knows the name of every worker that crosses his path, be it the lift attendant, the ski patrol or the president of the mountain.

"Whether you're Billy the dishwasher or Danielle in customer service or Rene at the top of the flying chair….Each and every person up here is an integral part of our own family here on the mountain," Bull said.

This is a well-earned familiarity. Bull holds the record for most days skied in a season at Mont Tremblant, with 152 days in 2013-14. Bull, an Ottawa resident, achieved this goal following his retirement from a career as an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer.

Every day the hill was open, Bull was there — most of the time alongside the love of his life Carol. Well, alongside until they exit the chair lift, that is. 

Then they have the brief exchange they have at the top of every run: “Meet you at the bottom!” and Ken is gone in a blur of yellow and blue.

Bull was originally awarded the top spot for most days skied last season, until a recent recount dropped him into third place. He took the demotion with class.

“I congratulated the first person. I congratulated the second person. So I got dropped off the podium from first place to third place, but I'm not going to get dropped off my sort of fun and mindset of why we're here on the mountain.”

To reflect the updated results for last season, a second ceremony to re-present the plaques took place Feb. 26. Deb Keep claimed top position with 127 days skied — seven more days than Bull, who still holds the all-time record from 2014.

It’s a title she was not about to surrender to Bull, regardless of his celebrity status on the hill.

“It's great! I worked hard to do this in the cold and the wind and the rain and everything else, but yeah, it's fabulous,” she said. 

Keep may take top position for last season, but Tremblant president and COO Patrice Malo says Bull remains the most committed skier on the mountain and recognizes the impact of the positive energy he leaves in his wake.

“Ken is a legend here. He knows everybody. He skis, he's on the mountain every day. He speaks to all of the employees, so he's such a well-known figure, appreciated by all employees, all guests. He's kind of, yeah, he's a legend for us,” he said. 

For Bull, the record and the status are secondary to connecting with the people he sees as his second family. 

One of those family members is Lily Kunstadt, once a promising 13-year-old ski racer with Club de Ski Mont-Tremblant who was left paralyzed from the waist down after a training accident in Switzerland in August 2024. 

Bull wears a giant Ski For Lily patch on the back of his snowsuit. He tells her story to anyone who asks about her and passes the well wishes onto her parents.

“It's for Lily, but it's also for her mom and dad,” he said. €œIt lets [them] know that the mountain hasn’t forgotten.”

Lily is currently working hard at the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute in Louisville, Ky.

And with an honorary family member like Bull, nobody is going to forget about her ongoing battle any time soon.

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