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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
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�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.