Archives West Finding Aid

Engen was born in Mjondallen, Norway, the oldest of three boys. Their father died when Engen was nine years old. The boys learned to ski jump as youngsters, and became well known for their Nordic ability in their homeland. In 1929, at age twenty, Engen immigrated to the United States with his younger brother, Sverre. They settled in Chicago, where the two brothers joined the American-Norwegian Athletic Club to meet fellow Norwegians. Engen and several members of the club traveled to Westby, Wisconsin, to participate in a ski jumping meet. With his first jump in the Westby Nordic event, Engen broke the world's distance ski jump record, and was asked to join a group of professional jumpers that toured the North American Nordic circuit. In 1931, he settled permanently in Salt Lake City. His youngest brother, Kaare, and their mother, Martha, immigrated to the United States in 1933 and the three Engen brothers traveled the United States as professional jumpers, breaking Nordic records and gaining recognition wherever they went.

In 1937, Engen married Evelyn Pack, of Centerville, Utah, regained his amateur standing, and ranked among the top Nordic skiers in the world. During this time he worked for the United States Forest Service as a winter sports advisor, planning and developing ski areas in Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming. In 1938, Engen was invited to represent the Sun Valley Ski Club in Nordic jumping. While living in Idaho, he performed in several movies and newsreels, and taught himself how to Alpine ski. In 1940 Engen finished first in the National Four-way (jumping, cross country, slalom and downhill) held in Seattle, Washington. He was an international figure in the ski world, having won some five hundred trophies and medals in events around the world. His first son, Alan was born in 1940 (and became an outstanding skier during the 1960s, see box 4, folders 15-20). During World War II, Engen served in the Quartermasters Corp of the United States Army at Ogden, Utah. He worked as a consultant in snow and avalanche conditions and a technician in winter warfare clothing and equipment.

After the war Engen established the Alf Engen Ski School at Alta, Utah, and became director of the Deseret News and Telegram Free Ski School. In 1948, Engen and Walter Prager were co-coaches for the United States Olympic ski team. Jon, Engen's second son, was born in 1951. Engen was inducted into the United States Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, Michigan, in 1956. He continued as head of the Alf Engen Ski School in Alta until his retirement in 1989. The Deseret Ski School continued as a yearly tradition, with Engen as its director until the late 1970s.