Sverre S. Engen (January 28, 1911 – April 4, 2001) was a

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

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

, ski coach, ski area manager, and film-maker.

Biography

Engen was born in the town of

Mjøndalen Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Viken county (formerly Buskerud county), Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva. History Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most ...

, in

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, the second son of Trond Sorli Engen and Martha Maranda Oen Engen. He had two brothers,

Alf Engen Alf Marinius Engen (May 15, 1909–July 20, 1997) was a Norwegian-American skier. He set several ski jumping world records during the 1930s and helped establish numerous ski areas in the Western United States. Engen is best known for his ski ...

(1909–1997) and Corey Engen (1916–2006), both of whom helped expand the sport of skiing in the intermountain U.S. Being the second son of a famous skiing father, Engen was naturally reared to ski. After his father died of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

in 1918, his mother and brothers moved the short distance to small town

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

. At age 18, Sverre and older brother Alf (age 20) emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1929, first settling in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, then relocating to

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

in 1931. Their widowed mother Martha and younger brother Corey (age 17) emigrated in 1933, joining Alf and Sverre in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. Sverre Engen brought credit to

as a national ski jumping champion, ski resort operator and consultant, student of avalanche control, and as a pioneer of ski patrol work. His exploits include serving as Alta ski school director and as the first manager of the then-new Rustler Lodge at Alta, after being the first snow ranger at the resort in 1940. He helped build ski jumps named Ecker Hill, Parleys Canyon; Becker Hill,

Ogden Canyon 300px, Ogden Canyon, August 2005 Ogden Canyon is a canyon in the Wasatch Range in eastern Weber County, Utah, United States, just east of Ogden. Geography Ogden Canyon is a roughly long canyon with a series of smaller side canyons in the Was ...

; and Landes Hill at Alta. Alta's Rustler Lodge was built by Sverre Engen and Howard Stillwell; opened in 1947, it was constructed on the site where the Alta General Store once stood. Sverre was inducted into the

National Ski Hall of Fame The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Ishpeming, Michigan, the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States. Located in the state's Upper Peninsula, the building includes the hall of fame and museum, as well as a t ...

in 1971 for his "tremendous contribution to the growth of the sport of skiing." Among his credits is that of being coach of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

ski team when it won its first national collegiate championship in 1947. He also produced a series of skiing related films. The Engen brothers helped to popularize skiing in the West, primarily in

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. All three are enshrined in multiple halls of fame, such as the

Ishpeming Ishpeming ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,470 at the 2010 census, less than it was in the 1950s and 1960s when the iron ore mines employed more workers. A statue of a ...

. Sverre Engen died in 2001 at the age of 90. His older brother Alf died at age 88 in 1997, and younger brother

Corey Corey is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a masculine version of name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in a caul ...

died in 2006 at age 90.

Films

References

* Atwater, Montgomery Meigs; Engen, Sverre (1947
''Ski with Sverre: Deep Snow and Packed Slope Ski Technique''
New Directions OCLC 3401603 * Engen, Sverre (1976) ''Skiing a Way of Life: Saga of the Engen Brothers'' Scotlo Enterprise OCLC 4797836 *Engen, Alan K. ''First Tracks: A Century of Skiing in Utah'' (Gibbs Smith, 2001)

External links

Alf Engen Ski Museum
– Sverre Engen
U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame
– Sverre Engen
Skiing History.orgAlta's Rustler Lodge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engen, Sverre 1911 births 2001 deaths People from Nedre Eiker Norwegian emigrants to the United States Utah Utes coaches Norwegian male alpine skiers American male alpine skiers Sportspeople from Viken (county)