Alf Engen
By Jocelyn Rodriguez
One skier who has had a huge impact on Utah is Alf Engen. They say “he was a man who demonstrated and positively influenced the sport of skiing competition and promotion”. He was born in Norway in 1909. In 1929 he immigrated to America where he built great athletic skills in both competitive skiing and soccer. Although he focused more on skiing. He is one of the most decorated ski jumpers, won the majority of his events and set multiple records. During Engen’s competitive years he was employed as a technical advisor. He would assist and plan the development of winter sport areas in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming according to his biography. Then him and his brothers helped popularize skiing in the West especially Utah and Idaho. He helped create 27 other ski resorts in the western United States. He is most famous for his ski school at Alta in Utah. In his school he served as a Ski School Director who taught thousands of people how to ski. Engen was also a director at the Little Mountain Ski School, and the Deseret News Free Ski School. When people describe Alf Engen skiing they describe him as “The Father of the Powder Skiing Technique” because Utah is known for their powdered snow. They also said he was light and looked like a dancer when he skied. Alf Engen has indeed developed Utah’s areas and made winter sports really famous in Utah.
Some of the recognition Alf Engen received is as follows. In 1949 Alf Engen qualified as Master Instructor. The year after Engen received the Skier of the Century Award. 1954 was the year he got The Helms Hall of Fame Award and ALF got the Utah ski cup in 1966. He received more than 500 cups in the athletic spectrum of skiing, ice skating, hockey and soccer in both America and Europe. He was then added to the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1959. Finally in 2000 The Salt Lake Tribune elected Alf Engen’s “ Utah’s Athlete of the 20th Century”.
Alf Engen has become so important to Utah that a group of ski history enthusiasts created an Alf Engen Ski Museum. According to their website they “realized the need for a facility recognizing those ski and snow sport pioneers and athletes who had made significant contributions to winter sports in the Intermountain Region.” The museum was made in 1989 and was first full of a collection of Engen’s trophies and awards then grew bigger as the years went by. Alf also has a collection at the University of Utah. Just like the museum the collection has photos and videos showing Alf Engen teaching ski lessons to the people. The collection also shows him ski jumping at Alta, some ski jumping with his son. Below are links and a brief photo example of the videos of Alf Engen being interviewed and skiing at Alta. The full videos consist of interesting findings and teaching that Engen does. They are very enjoyable to watch as well.
Alf Engen Skiing Video
https://uofu.app.box.com/s/9ianm1aes0pxqwjpsv73ji88f9ho20gi
Alf Engen Ski School Video
https://uofu.app.box.com/s/a3xsdbr4wys8svssmj8fvq2gixgv9nvi
Jocelyn Rodriguez
Hi I’m from Los Angeles, California. My favorite part of this class is learning how there are different parts that go into my wellness. Each aspect is a big contributor to my general wellness whether it be mental or physical. I enjoy learning about this because it can help me keep up my wellness too.