As the 2025-26 ski season winds down, I’m reminded of a quote:
“I have always loved skiing and never had a bad day. Some may not have been as good as others, but nonetheless, I have never had a bad day.”
Alf Engen said that and I fully agree with it! Even on those “one-and-done” days, I always feel better for having tried! Now granted, Alf Engen is known as the “Father of Powder Skiing” so maybe he didn’t have many one run days!
Alf Engen championed a new technique for skiing powder. Conventional wisdom had always been to keep the skis working independently and make wide sweeping turns. Alf believed that keeping the skis close together to act more like one surface provided more stability and allowed for shorter turns. Most Retro-Skiers learned to ski powder in this manner.
Alf Engen was a bear of a man, but on skis in powder he was a light, graceful dancer. Seeing him disappear completely enveloped in snow only to reappear for the next turn inspired a generation of skiers to join in that dance.
In 1929 at the age of 20, Alf came to the United States to actually play professional soccer. Apparently there was some professional soccer in the U.S. back then. However, Alf drew more attention with his ski jumping than he did with his soccer. He joined a group of mostly Norwegians who toured around the country putting on jumping exhibitions.
By 1931 Alf Engen had settled in Salt Lake City where over the next two years he would be joined by his two brothers Sverre and Kaare(Corey) and his mother Martha. Also in 1931 Alf began competing in ski jumping and cross country competitions. Alf would win the United States National Jumping title eight times between then and 1946. In the process of winning those titles, Alf set world record distances multiple times. He also won the combined jumping and cross country U.S. title twice.
Alf was selected to go to the 1936 Winter Olympics ski jumping for the United States, but none other than Avery Brundage stepped in to block his participation. No, it wasn’t because he was an immigrant (had to get that dig in.) Alf had appeared on a box of Wheaties so Brundage said that made Alf a professional. The fact was that Alf received no money for his appearance, but did receive lots of Wheaties. He said, “I think I gave everyone in Salt Lake City free Wheaties!” Alf got some measure of revenge since in competitions following the Olympics he would beat both the Gold and Silver medalists.
In the early 1930s Alf was the foreman of a CCC crew whose mission was the reforestation of the Wasatch range in Utah. This led him to explore Little Cottonwood Canyon and recognize its advantageous location for snow and downhill skiing. Alf was instrumental in working with the National Forest Service to design and build the Alta ski area.
While undoubtedly Alf had done some downhill skiing at least on his cross country skis, he was not an accomplished downhill skier. But by 1938 Alf had become a good enough downhill skier to be hired as a ski instructor at Sun Valley. He also began competing in downhill and slalom races. In 1947 Alf was the United States National Champion in both downhill and slalom which were the only events contested in those days. While I didn’t confirm this, I believe Alf Engen is the only person who won national titles in all four disciplines: cross country, jumping, downhill, and slalom.
Alf was named coach of the United States women’s ski team for the 1948 Olympics. That was the Olympics where Gretchen Fraser won the first ever Gold medal for the United States in alpine skiing.
1948 was also the year Alf returned to Alta to head up the ski school, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1989.
Alf Engen passed away in 1997 at the age of 88.
This brings another Retro-Ski season to a close. Thank you to all my readers. I particularly appreciate your feedback both online and in person. It keeps me going! Have a great summer and we’ll see you for the next ski season!
April 18, 2026 at 10:46 pm
Back in the early 80’s my boss and I managed to combine a west coast business trip with a long weekend at Alta where we stayed in a dorm room at the Goldminer’s Daughter. During our first ski day, on which we were blessed with 8-10 inches of powder, we were befriended by a part time member of the ski school who introduced us to Alf Engen at the ski school lunch table. After learning of my ski school association, he invited us after lunch to go for a run with him which we were honored to accept. It was a fairly cold day and he met us at the lift wearing his Gerry Slope Coat which was a down coat that extended to just below the knees. Clearly, fashion was not as important to Alf as it was to that other Norwegian ski instructor over at Deer Valley. At the top of the lift he was off like a shot and we struggled to keep up long enough to see where he was leading us.
Heading steeply down hill, he literally left us in a cloud of white dust and was out of our sight in the first hundred yards of the trail.
That trail, of course was the High Rustler. This winter on a visit to Park City I was able to visit the new Alf Engen museum which brought back many great memories. Have a great off season. See you soon.