Authors

John W. Lundin

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Document Type

Article

Description

Alf Engen (1909-1997) immigrated to the U.S. from Mjondalen Norway in 1929,becoming the country’s best ski jumper and Four-Way competitor in the 1930s and 1940s. Alf was the oldest of the remarkable Engen family, that included his brothers Sverre and Karre(Corey). Alf was one of the pioneers who led the transition from Nordic events that dominated skiing in the early years, to alpine skiing in the latter part of the 1930s, along with Birger and Sigmund Ruud, Roy Mikkelsen, Hjalmar Hvam and others

Publication Date

11-4-2024

Publisher

Central Washington University Library

City

Ellensburg

Keywords

skiing, norwegion, Sun Valley

Disciplines

United States History

Comments

By John W. Lundin, copyright 2024. John is a lawyer, historian and author; founding member of the Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum; and splits his time between Seattle and Sun Valley. He is the author of numerous magazine articles and four award winning books: Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass (2017); Sun Valley,Ketchum and the Wood River Valley (2020); Skiing Sun Valley: a History from Union Pacific to the Holdings(2020), (recipient of three national book awards); andSki Jumping in Washington State: a Nordic Tradition(2021). John helped organize two exhibits on ski jumping: “Sublime Sights: Ski Jumping in Nordic America”at Seattle’s National Nordic Museum in 2021; and “Skiers in Flight: Sun Valley’s Ski Jumping Roots” at the Regional History Museum in Ketchum, Idaho, in 2022. He won the 2023 Western Heritage Prize from the Far West Ski Association for his multi-year work to “Work to Preserve Ski Jumping History, Expressing Norwegian Identity, and its Role in the Development of Skiing in America.”

Spatial Coverage (for ex: Ellensburg, WA)

Sun Valley, Idaho

ALF ENGEN AT SUN VALLEY: NORWEGIAN IMMIGRANT PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN THE RESORT’S EARLY YEARS - LEADS THE TRANSITION FROM NORDIC TO ALPINE SKIING

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