Alf Marinius Engen (May 15, 1909–July 20, 1997) was a Norwegian-American

skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International ...

. He set several

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

world records during the 1930s and helped establish numerous

ski area A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...

s in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

. Engen is best known for his ski school at Alta in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and as the pioneer of powder skiing.

Background

Born in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in the town of Mjøndalen, in

Nedre Eiker Nedre Eiker was a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Eiker. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mjøndalen. The old municipality of Eiker was divided into ''Nedre Eiker' ...

municipality in

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

county, Engen was the first son of Trond and Martha Oen Engen. His two younger brothers,

Sverre Sverre, Sverrir or Sverri is a Nordic name from the Old Norse ''Sverrir'', meaning "wild, swinging, spinning". It is a common name in Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands; it is less common in Denmark and Sweden. It can also be a surname. Sverre ma ...

(1911–2001) and Corey (1916–2006), were also accomplished skiers. As the first-born son of a famous skiing father, Engen was naturally reared to ski. After his father died of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

in 1918 when he was nine, Engen's mother moved the family the short distance to the small town of

Steinberg Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH (trading as Steinberg; ) is a German musical software and hardware company based in Hamburg. It develops software for writing, recording, arranging and editing music, most notably Cubase, Nuendo, and Dorico. It ...

. In 1929 at age twenty, Alf and his brother

(age 18) emigrated to the United States, first settling in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, then relocating west to Utah in 1931 at

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. Their widowed mother Martha and younger brother Corey (age 17) joined them in 1933.

Career

Engen quickly gained a reputation for his world class skiing skills. Although primarily a

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

when he arrived in the U.S., he quickly mastered

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

and is credited for developing the technique of powder skiing, honed at the

Alta Ski Area Alta is a ski area in the western United States, located in the town of Alta, Utah, Alta in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, in Salt Lake County. With a skiable area of , Alta's base elevation is and rises to for a vertical gain of . One of the ...

. The following years he won numerous American and international titles. In 1940, Engen finished first in the National Four-way, held east of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Engen was also the recipient of numerous awards including the All-American Ski Trophy, 1937, Americanism Award in 1940, Helm's Hall of Fame Award in 1954; and Skier's Hall of Fame Award in 1956. He helped establish the ski school at Alta, and assisted in the creation of thirty other ski resorts in the western United States. The three Engen brothers helped to popularize skiing in the West, primarily in

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Alf's son Alan carries on the family tradition at Alta. Alf Engen died in Salt Lake City in 1997, at the age of 88; his two younger brothers both lived to the age of 90.

Alf Engen Ski Museum

The Alf Engen Ski Museum is located in the

Joe Quinney Winter Sports Center The Joe Quinney Winter Sports Center is a museum building within the Utah Olympic Park in Summit County, Utah, United States, that houses both the Alf Engen Ski Museum and the Eccles Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum, as well as the m ...

Utah Olympic Park The Utah Olympic Park is a winter sports park built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and is located in Summit County, Utah, Summit County ( east of Salt Lake City) northwest of Park City, Utah, Park City, Utah, United States. During the 2002 games ...

, north of Park City. It contains more than 300 trophies, medals, uniforms, scrapbooks, skis, boots, photos, films, and other collectables that span some 70 years in the career of the Engen family. The museum's educational component provides teacher lesson ideas and field trip stations for 4th grade students, updated in August 2024 to reflect the Utah Core Standards in Mathematics, Science with Engineering Education, English/Language Arts, and Social Studies. The Museum includes a Mountain Sports Simulator ride and the Take Flight virtual ski jump experience designed and built by Utah-based company Unrivaled. The ride takes visitors mountain biking through Deer Valley in the autumn, speedflying (paragliding with skis) from the top of Mount Superior landing near Snowbird Ski Resort, black diamond alpine skiing through Alta Ski Resort, and racing down the Utah Olympic Park bobsled track in the winter. The Simulator gives the rider an authentic experience with blowing wind and falling snow features.

Invalid ski jumping world record

Not recognized! He stood at WR, but this record never made it to WR official books.
Not recognized! He stood at WR, but Utah SC wasn't member of Western American Winter Sport Ass..
Not recognized! He stood at world record distance, but set at unofficial competition.
Not recognized! He stood at world record distance, but at practice session.

Video

Vimeo.com
– Alf Engen - The Old Man Of The Mountain - Powder segment

References

External links

Alf Engen Ski Museum

U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame
– Alf Engen
KUED.org
– Alf Engen: Utah's athlete of the century
Alf Engen Scrapbooks
– University of Utah's Marriott Library: Special Collections
Alf Engen Paper
a
University of Utah Digital LibraryMarriott Library Special Collections

Alan K Engen Papers
a
University of Utah Digital LibraryMarriott Library Special Collections

Alta Historical Society
– Early history of Alta
Alf Engen papers, 1915-1972
– Archives West
Alf Engen Ski Museum records, 1993-2007
– Archives West {{DEFAULTSORT:Engen, Alf 1909 births 1997 deaths Norwegian male alpine skiers American male alpine skiers Norwegian emigrants to the United States Skiers from Buskerud 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen