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HomeMy Public PortalAboutEngen, CoreySubject: Address: Date: Parma Corey Engen McCall Ski Coach Clippings from Statesman 4-11-71 Clippings from Magazine 4- -65 5-te Ne.w5 J-6(1.6 is, 099 5 Engens to move to Utah Mr. and Mrs. Corey Engen plan to relocate to Utah after 58 years in McCall. A farewell gathering will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at 253 Rio Vista Blvd. in McCall. Follow the "Engen" signs from Idaho 55 and Warren Wagon Road. Friends and acquaintances are in- vited to the pot luck dinner. Engen competed in the Winter Olympics for the United States in Nordic com- petition, and he was one of the founders of Brundage Mountain Ski Area near McCall in 1961. 8th Annual � Engen Cup .�._� 1111411fikr."1"...r Brundage Mountain, McCall, Idaho January 9-10, 1970 T Shalom 10 a.m. Saturday Giant Slalom 10 a.m. Sunday Race Chairman Bill Dorris Sia h ,'Vek,os i JYg-, Engd'n named to NW Hall of Fame, wins Masters BY PENNY EBERLE Since that time, Engen has spent countless hours coaching area youngsters, including 11 local skiers who represented the United States at various Olympic games. Among the Olympians were his son Dave, who took part in the 1952 games, and Jean Saubert, who won a silver and bronze medal at the 1964 Olympics. In 1940, Engen was picked to compete for the U.S. Nordic Team at the Olympics, but com- petition was cancelled due to World War II. Engen did compete in 1948 at the Olympics held at St. Moritz, Switzerland, and won a bronze medal in the "classic combined," which joins ski jumping and tour- ing. It was in the late 1950s that Boise industrialist Jack Simplot, who was then a regular visitor to the slopes of the Little Hill, first approached Engen with the idea of starting a larger ski area. Engen knew that with such an undertaking, he would need the help and support of his friend Warren Brown, who at that time was the owner of Brown Tie and Lumber Co. sawmill on Payette Lake. On Thanksgiving Day 1961, Brundage Mountain Ski area opened its slopes to the public. With the Main Street and Alpine runs open, people came to the new area to sample what has been called "some of the best powder skiing in the West." Throughout the years, Engen has remained involved in every For The Star -News Almost 40 years have passed since Norweigan Corey Engen first came to McCall and began teaching skiing at the Little Ski Hill, which was then the hub of winter sports in the area. In the years since, Engen has been involved in every aspect of skiing, from the conception of developing Brundage Mountain Ski Area to the coaching of numerous Olympians. This month, Engen's immense contributions to the sport of ski- ing have once again been recognized. On March 7, Engen was among nine people who were the first in- ductees to the newly formed Nor- thwest Hall of Fame of Winter Sports located at Mount Hood in Oregon. Induction into the hall of fame is open to anyone from Oregon, Washington and Idaho who has contributed in a major way to winter sports. It was Engen's second induc- tion into a skiing hall of fame. In 1973, he was placed in the Na- tional Skiing Hall of Fame. Others inducted into the Nor- thwest Hall with Engen included fellow Idahoan and 1948 Olym- pic ski champion Gretchen Fraser. Phil and Steve Mahre, Bill Johnson and Hjalmer Hvam also were among those honored. Brundage Mountain founder Warren Brown was responsible for talking Engen into coming to McCall in 1938 to teach skiing to local children at the Little Ski hill. Corey Engen aspect of skiing. Apart from his continued involvment with Brun- dage and still teaching people tc ski, he also finds time to remain in ski competition. He also participates in the Masters series, a U.S. Ski Association -sponsored circuit of races for competitors over 21. At 71, Engen competes in the 70-75 age group and is still a tough competitor. At the 1987 Masters race, held last week at Mammoth Moun- tain, Calif., Engen once again placed first in the downhill, a feat he has repeated several times over the years. Corey Engen presents the Engen Cup to David Kirk after his win in the giant slalom on Sunday McCall youth wins Engen Cup _ Competitve skiing has long been an interral part of McCall winter life, and David Kirk's Sunday Engen Cup victory a continuing tradition of local championship performances. Young Kirk, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Kirk and a McCall - Donnelly High senior, earned the eighth annual junior men's honor with a run -away F.I.S. point accumulation of only 4. 96 out of perfect zero scoring, as compared to 26.3 points for his nearest competitor, Steve Chamberlain of Mt. Ashland, Oregon. The champion won the tro- phy on the combined basis of a third -place in Saturday's high- ly competitive slalom, in which he netted a total of 90.8 sec- onds for two runs, and Sun- day's 1{12-second giant slalom performance. Saturday's first - place time was 90.0 seconds, and Kirk was closely followed Sunday by Mike Dorris' 103- second run. Linda Dorris wins slalom On the distaff side, a. r Dorris, junior expert narrowly lost the championship to hc, t.1.;. r skiing for Jackass Bowl. Lind:: turned in the winning 97.4 sec- ond slalom time Saturday, four and a half seconds ahead of Miss Stein, but dropped be- hind in the G.S.' to be edged by a .4 F.I.S. point total for the two-day event. Her Sunday time was 11.5.3, as compared to the winner's 110.8. Kirk becomes the third McCall youth to win the cove- ted trophy during its eight - year history, joining Norman Zachary and George Dorris for the honor. Two junior expert women, Ann Dorris, and Patty Boydstun have also been Eng- en Cup winners as a result of previous Brundage Mountain meets. The January 10th and llth meet was entered by just over 100 junior competitors from all over the Northwest, and was chairmaned by Bill Dorris. Other McCall Ski Club en- trants, all experts, were David Watkins, Gay Johnson and Dana Seydel. COREY ENGEN ... teacher of champions THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Stmday, April 11, 1971 COREY ENGEN: PAGE 39—E Helping Skiing Grow SKIING'S BIG in Idaho ... and here's a man who helped it grow from a start in the 1930s: Corey Engen of McCall. Corey's been skiing ever since the age of- two, when he struck out across the Norwegian countryside ... on a pair of barrel staves! His father was a famous Norwegian skier. Corey's brother, Alf, is director of the ski school at Alta, near Salt Lake City. Another brother, Sverre, teaches at Alta and is a professional ski photog- rapher as well. Originally a "Nordic" skier (cross country and jumping), Corey switched to Alpine skiing, now teaches only Al- pine and would rather ski downhill than cross country. He's one of the few ... very few ... skiers to hold the American national titles in both Alpine and Nordic skiing and skied on the U.S. team in Switzerland in the 1948 Olym- pics. HE BEGAN TEACHING at McCall in 1937, and is credited with the first ski program in the area; By 1946, Engen had produced 11 na- tional champions. In '46, he went to Snow Basin, near Ogden, as ski school director and held that post until return- ing to McCall in 1961 to start the Brun- dage Mountain ski area. Slates»Idk e.5; (171 Ptqd of ,7 Portrait of a Distinguished Citizen r - ^ ' fit Y �tdte 4kr july is 1473 Pat g� 0 i tip Corey Engen A member of one of America's most famous ski- ing families, Corey Engen, McCall, came to Brun- dage Mountain in 1937 and founded the ski school Which he presently directs. Born in Mjondalen, Norway, Engen came to the United States in 1933 to start a ski sport career. As a competitive skier, Engen has won over 200 trophies in alpine and nordic events including national championships and twice competing in the Winter Olympics. He and his skiing brothers, Alf and Sverre, make up one of America's top skiing families. Engen started his career in the Salt Lake City area but moved to McCall in 1937 to become a ski com- petitor and leader. He moved to Ogden for a short time to direct the Intermountain Ski Association Junior Ski Team. He was named an alternate to the U.S. Ski Jumping Team for the 1940 Winter Games and captained the team in the 1948 Olym- pic competition. He finished third in ski jumping. Engen returned to McCall in 1951 and has directed junior skiers to 11 national titles. Engen has kept up skiing competition, winning the National Vet- erans Alpine Combined Championships in 1959, 1962 and 1969. He was presented the Russell Wil- der Memorial award by the U.S. Ski Association for his contributions to junior skiing in 1963. A top national ski official, Engen has officiated at such events as the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics_ and the Senior National Alpine in 1965. Engen is past president of the McCall Rotary Club and was a member of the McCall Memorial Hospital Board for 11 years. He has served as a Boy Scout com- mitteeman and is a charter member of the McCall Area Chamber of Commerce. He has served on the McCall City Planning and Zoning Com- mission. He is an active member of the LDS Church. Engen, and his wife Norma, have a daughter, Mrs. Gary Beus of Orem, Utah, and a son, David, of Boise. They have six grandchildren. (J/i9/70 Directs Brundage Ski School By ROD HUNT Statesman Sports Writer McCALL — Corey Engen is going back up on the hill. The man who could be called "Mr. Brundage Moun- tain" is leaving the manage- ment end of the area to others and will devote his full efforts as director of the ski school at Brundage. After a decade as manager of Brundage Engen is turn- ing those duties over to Shore Lodge manager John Edwards. Edwards will man- age both places and John. Boydstun will assist at the ski area. Engen has been manager of Brundage since he planned and built the area in 1961 but e v e r yea r management duties left less and less time for skiing. "I wanted to get back on skis again," he said this week, "I felt I could contrib- ute more as a ski instruc- tor." So when Brundage's Ski School director Franz Hamer quit to join a ski firm Engen decided the time was right to get back to teaching full time. "More or less T wanted to finish where I started out," Engen said. Where Engen started out was on barrel staves in his native Norway back when nordic (cross country and jumping) skiing was the big thing and alpine skiing was still waiting for a way to get up the hill. He first crossed the Norwe- gian countryside on skis when he was "about two years old" and since that time has competed in most of the major ski champion- ships in the world — in- cluding the 1948 Olympics. At one time or another he has won American national titles in both nordic and al- pine skiing and you can probably count on one hand the people who have done that. His father was famous in Norway as a skier and his two brothers have also made their mark in the sport. Alf is director of the ski school at Alta near Salt Lake City and Sverre also teaches at Alta and is a professional ski photographer. But Engen has probably made his greatest contribu- tion to the skiing as instruc- tor. Corey Engen Returns to Skiing Life He first started teaching in McCall in 1937 at a smal area near this lakeside city.' It was the first ski pro- gram in the McCall area an by the time he left in 1946 he had produced 11 national champions. In 1946 Engen went to Snow Basin near Ogden, Utah as ski school di- rector and held the post until returning to McCall in 1961. "There is something about this country up here that just pulls you back," Engen said,; noting that many good' friends in the area also spurred his decision to return' to Idaho. Engen was commissioned by the developers of Brun- dage to build a ski area. H had a mountain and trees' t work with — he even had t build roads to the site. "I crawled on my hand and knees to lay out lift lines," he noted. As a skier Engen wa probably most successful in nordic events — he was a nordic skier for the U.S. in the '48 Olympics in Switzer- land — but he now teaches only alpine and would rather ski downhill than cross coun- try. "I like a good fast ride down the hill," he said. Engen, who will be assist- ed by Darrel Hoss, plans to run a modern ski school at Brundage, "a real pro school, teaching all the mod- ern techniques." He admits that during the st few years he would eak off and teach a class hen he had time but now e intends to spend "as uch time as possible on the ill." And Engen has some ad- ce for those who might ish to give up skiing. "Start managing a ski rea." * * * COREY ENGEN ... back to the hill To the Victor, the Trophy T c5rnOri /- i--iri`7� COREY ENGEN, McCall skiing institution and veteran instructor, presents the Engen Cup to David Kirk, son of Mr, and Mrs. William Kirk, McCall. The youngster finished far ahead of his nearest competitor to take * * * * the cup for expert boys in the slalom and giant slalom Saturday at Brundage. Heather Stein of Jackass Bowl near Kellogg won the girls' Engen Cup. (Photo by Mary Jane Williams) * * * Heather Stein, David Kirk min Engen Cup Divisions at McCall By MARY JANE WILLIAMS Statesman Correspondent McCALL - Heather Stein of Idaho's Jackass Bowl and McCall's David Kirk sped down Brundage Mountain in winning time Sunday in the giant slalom to win the coveted Engen Cup for junior skiers. Corey Engen, veteran McCall ski instructor and founder of the races, presented the trophies to the youngsters on the deck of the Brundage Mountain Day, Lodge after the two-day event for the youngsters that saw the slalom run Saturday. Miss Stein collected 24.20 FIS points in the two events to edge hometown star Linda Dorris for the prized ski trophy. Miss Dorris had 24.60 for the two days. Young Kirk far outdistanced his nearest rival in FIS points when he won with 4.96 points. Runnerup Steve Chamberlain, Mt. Ashland, Ore., was second with 26.30 Kirk was third in the slalom Saturday, and won first place in the GS Sunday in the time of 102.0. COmberlaln won the Saturday event, and was third in the GS Sunday in 44.8 with McCall's Mike Dorris sec - and in 103.0. Miss Stein was onty nine - tenths of a second fastet win- ning Sunday's giant slalom over Miss Dorris Sunday, but she fin- ished second in Saturday's sla- lom run. Spokane girls finished.,one-two in Sunday's event ii1"tht inter- mediate girls, with Maureen Quinn taking first in 122.3. Top honors -in Sunday'akS for intermediate boys went io Chris Sens 1 e e , Spokane Snowflake Club. Expert girls - 1. Heather Stein, Jack- ass Bowl, 110-8; 2. Dori Kite, Bend, Ore., 111.7; 3. Carmen Bogdan, Mission Ridge, Wash., 113.1; 4. Barb Talbot, Mission Ridge, 114.8; 5. Linda Dorris, McCall, 115.3. Expert boys - 1. David Kirk, McCall, 102.0; 2. Mike Dorris, McCall, 103.0; 3. Steve Chamberlain, Mt. Ashland, 104.8; 4. Greg Snider, Skyliners, Bend, 105.9; 5. Steve Prugh, Spokane, 106.1. Intermediate girls - 1. Maureen Quinn, Spokane, 122.3; 2. Molly Hutsinpiller, Spo- kane, 126.9; 3. Marian Hallock, Bogus Basin, 127.4; 4. Tracy Fisk, Bogus Basin, 127.5; 5. Gwendie Stuart, Spokane, 128.0; Intermediate boys - 1. Chris Sensiee, j Spokane Snowflake, 111.4; 2. Jeff Rob- berson, Bend, 112.2; 3. Tom Allen, Bogus„ 113.0; 4. Jeff King, Mt. Ashland, 113.9; 5. Dena Armstrong, Spokane. 114.8. Stcl Feb T /q6, Y McCall skiers net honors From the World Cup to the Cran- ston Cup, McCall's top skiers are continuing a season of active par- ticipatino and their share of honors in meets around the country. Patty Boydstun garnered a tenth place in the women's downhill dur- ing National Alpine Championship races at Bear Valley, Calif., last weekend, and then went on to Squaw Valley to practice for the f/ / Engen wins Corey Engen, of ma en for 1969 at Rnnuc 69 of Bogus "grand old man *untain," wing ev- 's class .in the _)ionships a wit.akand. OBEY ENGEN Corey, a thirty-five year McCall skier and former Olympic contend- er, won the initial downhill event on Friday with a time of 90.5 sec- onds, over six seconds ahead of his closest competitor, and completed Saturday's slalom in better than three econds ahead of the second place racer. His Sunday giant slal- om victory was again a wide one, eight seconds bette thn his closest challenger. Over 1 from all over the United Sta e paricipated in the three-day meet, the first na- tional event to be staged at the Boise area since the 1948 first an- nual Junior National Races. February 27-March 1st World Cup events ,in which she will compete. Representing their junior expert Alpine team, Tom Zachary, Ron Watkins and Mike Dorris took high places in the weekend's Cranston Cup meet at Bogus Basin, while young Pat Allen netted a 2nd and 3rd in the two days' Mighty Mite events in the boy's to and under class. Zachary followed a 3rd place in Saturday's slalom with a 3rd in the Sunday giant slalom, while Watkins and Dorris had 2nd and 6th places respectively Saturday. Joe Dorris, junior expert Nordic contender, and Mack Miller, vet- eran cross-country racer, both en- tered the Snoqualmie Pass, Kongs- berger cross-country meet Satur- day, but official results of the ev- ents, a qualifying race for the Ju- nior Nationals :for Dorris, had not been received Tuesday. A former McCallite, Frank Brown now of Boise, also top skiing pr pia the ond�slal ed continued ith a third downhill, sec - fourth in :giant slalom. Another formerQiympic contender as well as Junior Nation- al ch . �_ , 13tOWn le the son of Water{Brown 4 classes in the men's di- visio°ere based on age of the entrants. A BRIEF SUMMARY OF COREY ENGEN'S SKIING CAREER In 1933, at the age of sixteen, I came to the United States from Norway and settled in Salt Lake City, Utah with my family. I started right out that summer playing on one of the major soccer teams and then ski jumping in the wintertime. For the following four years, I competed in many ski jumping tournaments in the United States, re- presenting the State of Utah. In December, 1937, I went to McCall, Idaho, a small lumber town in the west central part of the state, to develop their community ski program at a small ski area just three miles out of town, where I taught all phases of skiing and coached the kids' racing and jumping teams. In the following twenty-five years, we produced eleven Na- tional champions and six Olympic skiers. I have always enjoyed working with young people, not only as athletes, but in helping to develop their character as well. I was also coach for many Junior National teams for the Intermountain Ski Association (which inci- dentally included Spencer Eccles, Marvin Melville, Jack Reddish and others), and for the Pacific Northwest Ski Association. In 1960, I was presented the Russell Wilder Memorial Award by the National Ski Association for "furthering the sport of skiing in the minds and hearts of the youth of America". My first experience in Snow Basin, Utah was during the winter of 1941-42 where we ran the ski school and the concessions. Because of the outbreak of World War II, we moved back to McCall. After the war was over in 1945, we returned to Snow Basin where I directed the ski school and my wife helped run the food concessions, which we continued for the next six years. I have been active in competitive skiing all my life and while living in Huntsville, Utah anti working in Snow Basin, one of the highlights of my skiing career was representing Utah and the United States in St. Moritz, Switzerland on the 1948 Olympic Nordic Combined team in cross-country and jumping. I was elected captain of the team and placed highest of the Americans in that event, 3rd in Jumping and 29th in Cross-country. I still prize the letters and acknowledge- ments I received from Governor Maw and other state officials at that time. In the middle and late 1940's, I won the prestigious Alta Snow Cup giant slalom race three years in a row. Besides winning the Nation- al Jumping & Cross-country championships in 1951, I have since won nineteen Senior National titles in slalom, downhill and giant slalom. After being persuaded to move back to McCall in 1951, and after work- ing several more years with the ski racers, we realized that we really needed a larger ski area. I was approached by some local business people to look for a suitable place and so for one or two winters we hiked all over the hills in the Payette National Forest and finally decided on the place that is now Brundage Mountain Ski Area. I start- ed from scratch and laid out the whole area, lifts, ski runs, power lines, roads and sites for the first lodge and ski patrol buildings in the spring and summer of 1961, and by snow time that fall, we were in operation. I operated and managed the area for the next twenty- five years and also directed the ski school for many of those years. Today, at the age of seventy-two, I am still active as the Director Page 2 of Skiing at Brundage Mountain. Other important milestones in my skiing career were reached when in 1973 I was inducted into the United States National Ski Hall of Fame and then in 1987 to the Northwest Hall of Fame of Winter Sports. I feel that probably the greatest award I received from the State of Utah was when I married one of their native daughters, my wife, Norma, in 1938. We were blessed with two fine children, Carol and David, who both loved to ski and started racing as young children. David went on to compete in national junior races and in 1962 won the Junior National slalom championships in Whitefish, Montana. He then went on to college at the University of Utah and was an All American for the U. of U. Ski Team, while earning his BSIN and MEA degrees there. Our daughter returned to Utah too, attending Brigham Young University and now lives in Orem with her family. (/i 1974 U.S. A, B alpine teams named DENVER — U.S. Ski Team coaches Tom Kelly and Hanspeter Rohr have announced the competitors who will represent the United States during the 1973-74 ski season. Kelly, head women's coach, named 12 skiers to the A and B teams as a result of their standing in international FIS points. Heading the women's con- tingent are four A team members who are in the first seed in at least one event according to the most recent FIS point lists. The four A team members, all veterans of the national team, are Cindy Nelson, Lutsen, Minn.; Marilyn and Barbara Ann Cochran, Richmond, Vt., and Sandra Poulsen, Olympic Valley, California. Missing from the team are Susie Corrock, the Olympic medal winner from Ketchum, Idaho, and Patty Boydstun, a four-year veteran from McCall, Idaho, who retired following the 1973 season. Eight skiers have been named to the U.S. women's B team, with the basic selection criteria that of being in the second or third international seed. Heading the list are Susie Patterson, Sun Valley, Idaho, and Gail Black- burn, Brunswick, Maine. The two are currently high in the second seed in downhill and downhill and giant slalom, respectively, and could move into the top 15 when the November FIS lists are released, thus earning berths on the national A team. Completing the women's B team are Lindy Cochran, Richmond; Jane Rollins, Orange, Conn.; Sheila McKinney, Steamboat, Nev.; Cece Teague, Moretown, Vt.; Leith Lende, Castle -on -Hudson, N.Y., and Debi Handley of Colorado Springs and Vail, Colorado. Lindy and Jane are returnees to the B team, while the other four have been promoted for '74. McKinney, Teague and Lende were members of the '73 talent squad and Handley earned her B team berth by strong showings in the spring race series. Head men's coach Rohr named 16 men to the A and B team for next season based on their international seeding and FIS points. He em- phasized, however, that both teams are subject to change in the fall after the November FIS list is issued, the Australian summer race circuit is com- pleted and when the coaches make their optional team selections. The men's A team consists of all U.S. skiers who are currently in the first or second seed in at least one event. Bob Cochran, Richmond, heads the A team by making the first seed in all three alpine disciplines. Mike Laf- ferty, Eugene, Oregon, and Dave Currier, Madison, New Hampshire, qualify in downhill. Completing the four -man team is Craig Gordar, Salt Lake City, who is new to the A squad for '74, based on his seeding in slalom. Ten men named to the U.S. B team include all domestic competitors who qualify for World Cup competition, i.e., under 30 FIS points in at least one event. The racers are: Cary Adgate, Boyne City, Mich. (SL, GS, DH); Geoff Bruce, Corning, N.Y. (SL, GS); Eric Poulsen, Olympic Valley (GS, DH); Andy Mill, Aspen, Colo. (GS, DH); Don Rowles, Sandy, Ore. (DH); Whit Sterling, Aspen (SL, GS); Steve Lathrop, Amherst, N.H. (DH); Greg Jones, Tahoe City, Calif. (GS); Karl Anderson, Auburn, Maine (GS), and Ron Biedermann, Stowe, Vt. (GS). Also named to the B team, based on top performances in the spring series, were Philip Mahre, Natchez:. Washington, and Kelly Drake, An- chorage, Alaska. Rohr pointed out that both Rowles and Poulsen could well qualify for the A team when the November FIS book is issued. He also noted that Adgate, Bruce and Mill, who will be competing on the Australian circuit, could make the A team because each of them needs only one more low -point race. The men's coach commented that, at the beginning of last season, the U.S. had only eight men who qualified for World Cup competition, but that the number has risen to 14 now. He explained that this was quite an im- provement considering the com- petition. In international competition, only 100 men qualify for the World Cup in downhill, 85 in slalom and 115 in giant slalom. Currently the cutoff for first seed in any event is around seven points and for second seed, it is only 12 points. Rohr pointed out that, although giant slalom has traditionally been the team's weakest event, there are currently nine U.S. men who make the 30-point cut. There are eight that qualify for World Cup competition by their downhill points and five in slalom. The men's and women's talent squads were to be named within the month. riI plewazirtn 3- /I9 -Vact P A.( o f z. f �a q vs WESTERN Er 0� This item is from "SKIINGT1 Magazine, March -April, 1965 PUTTING McCALL ON THE MAP Corey Engen has brought fame to McCall, Ida., with his coaching skill. The country around McCall, Idaho, is above all else a sportsman's paradise. Every morning during the summer and fall, water skiers will be found carv- ing silver wakes, as fishermen and hunters prepare for a day's sport. Usu- ally, a group of cyclists will also be seen in the vicinity. Cycling isn't really one of McCall's major sports, however. It is just Corey Engen's way of keeping his skiers on their legs all year around. When they're not cycling, he has them play- ing soccer. Perhaps this partially explains the success of the stocky, 47-year-old Norwegian. Although McCall can count only 1,400 residents, Corey has produced a dozen national junior champions and several Olympic skiers since he took over there in 1951. Two of them, Frank Brown and Mac Miller, were members of America's 1960 Winter Olympic team. Among his other champions have been David Engen, his 20-year-old son, who won the 1962 Junior Na- tional Alpine title; David Butts, Stan Harwood, Rex Scrogham, Ralph Turn- er, Ted Nelson, Murray Numbers, Bill Brandenburg, and Bill Thompson. Now that he's made little McCall big on the ski map, Engen has turned his attention to the University of Utah, where his son competes. He has aided in recruiting several promising Nor- wegian boys for the Redskin team. Engen's coaching feat is the more Corey Engen (above) began skiing at the age of four in his native Norway, now uses his remarkable in that all his champions talents to coach juniors at McCall and nearby Brundage Mountain. His students are winners. (continued on next page) MARCH, 1%5 W1 tiq Ilagaz I �Qo 41� o fi P47e, . were developed on a 300-foot bunny hill three miles from McCall. It has no chair lift. When the area was started, two sleds operated on a shuttle, later being replaced by a platter -pull type of lift. It has a good jumping hill, however, equipped with a steep take- off. Engen always has held jumping as the secret to ski success. "My kids learn to handle speeds of 50 miles per hour on the approach," says Engen''It gives them downhill ex- perience. Once they're airborne, they learn the control and balance needed in racing. When they appear on great mountains of the big ski centers, the steepness of the downhill courses never bothers them since they've flown through space. Speed and bumps just don't scare them." The natives look upon Engen as something of an affable Nordic god. A dedicated skier, he has the body of a man in his 20's, and even when he's not on skis he still seems to glide. As a competitor himself, he came in third in the Classic Combined Jumping in the 1948 Olympics and has been a National champion in Al- pine as well as Nordic events. He never smoked, drank, or used profan- ity. When he became coach of Mc- Call's youngsters, he expected his juniors to follow his example. If he learned that any boy violated his train- ing rules, the youth was immediately dropped from the squad. Practice begins in the fall. Although McCall got a new ski area, complete with a Riblet double chair lift, on Brundage' Mountain in the 1961-62 season, Engen continued to train his team on the short hill for slalom and jumping and took them to nearby Brundage, only seven miles from town, for downhill practice on weekends. As a member of the Pacific North- west Ski Association, the McCall jun- ior team competes mostly on the Northwest coast. Each year four or five of his charges have ranked among the first 10 of the PNSA. The boys' families provide their own cars for the trips. Money for the journeys is provided through the McCall Ski Club, which sponsors such activities as sum- mertime wood -cutting ($20 a cord) and social events, and by donations from interested local businessmen. After every meet, Engen points out the mistakes made by each skier and endeavors to correct them at once. "My racers are always practicing," he says. "Even when they're skiing for fun they can't go by a s or little tree without pretending it's a slalom pole and using it to improve their turning technique. "You can't beat practice. I don't think you can be taught to ski by books or magazines or lectures or slides. It becomes more understand- able through these media, but really to ski you've got to get out on the hill. You must feel the rhythm of weight distribution as freely as the river feels its way around the natural turns. Youngsters learn faster because they haven't yet become conscious of themselves and their inadequacies. Their coordination is natural rather than acquired.We should concentrate on them to produce the champions and teach'ers of tomorrow." • Bespectacled 17-year-old Mike Rowles was asked what Corey Engen meant to him. "I'd say he's been a wonderful in- fluence on all of us," replied Mike. "I started skiing under Corey when I was in the fourth grade. He drove us hard. But we loved it. We could ° our im- provement from day to c We saw the older boys become champions, and we felt we could do it, too. I've seen Corey's home. Two rooms are full of trophies he and his son have won. I'd say all of us idolize him. My parents are moving to Boise, but I couldn't stand to leave Corey and ski- ing. So my folks have permitted me to stay here with friends." It was Warren Brown, a dynamic ex -ski racer in his early 50's, who se- cured Engen for McCall. But it wasn't easy. Twice Engen was wooed away by Snow Basin, Utah, but twice Brown was able to entice him back. He re- turned to McCall to stay in 1951. In Norway, Engen was skiing at the age of four —on barrel staves. His older brothers, Alf and Sverre, already were outstanding skiers. In 1933, when he was 17, Corey came to America to join his brothers in ski exhibitions across the nation. Engen is a quiet man with a dry sense of humor. But, when I 'files, it nearly reaches the tips of lib ass. That's the way it was now as he talked of the new run on Brundage Mountain, which extends nearly six miles to McCall, and of the possibility that his young jumpers will be able to show their skill before the home folks. Scott SKIING Sfax Neuf M4L-0-14),iyg' Erik Engen, Melanie Knight. Engen, Knight wed on Feb. 4 Erik Epggp formerly of McCall, and Melanie Knight were married in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Feb. 4. The groom is the son of David and Cathy Engen of McCall and a 1991 graduate of McCall -Donnelly High Schou. The bride is the daughter of Lyle and Torii Knight of Las Vegas, Nev. The couple is making their home in Salt Lake City where they both are employed by First Interstate Bank and are completing their college edu- cation. An open house will be held in their honor at the LDS Church on Elo Road on Saturday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. All friends are cordially invited.