Sverre Engen, last of the three Norwegian brothers, Alf, Sverre and Corey, who made so much ski history in the U.S., died April 4 at the age of 90. Though older brother, Alf, has ended up with the lion’s share of the Engen legacy, the easy-going Sverre was, in the opinion of many, the finest skier of the three.
Sverre came from Norway in 1920. In his second winter in the States he came in second to brother Alf in the national four-way championships. Significantly, he was awarded a special trophy at the banquet for having been the skier who had the most fun. And so it always was with him.
Starting in 1945, he was director of the Alta Ski School and specialized in teaching his deep powder technique. Sverre Engen coached the university of Utah ski team, helping such Olympic stars as Jack Reddish, Dick Movitz and Dev Jennings. He also wrote a book, “Ski with Sverre.”
Edward “Scotty” Scott, the man who created and perfected the lightweight aluminum ski pole, died March 7. He was 83. Scott was born in Philadelphia, grew up in New York on Long Island and moved to Sun Valley in 1947. He never left and liked to call himself a Sun Valley ski bum. After opening his own ski repair shop in 1949, he wound up working on the equipment of a number of top U.S. and European racers and began contributing a ski equipment column to Ski magazine in 1950. He also started manufacturing steel poles that weighed less and handled better than bamboo and he fitted them with rubber grips and adjustable wrist straps of his own design.
The revolutionary aluminum Scott ski pole with one-piece rubber basket was a sensation after the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley when 13 medalists used the poles. Scott sold his company to Kingsford in 1969, a move he regretted for the rest of his life. In 1999 he was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame. A memorial gathering will be held during Wagon Days in Sun Valley this September.
