For the Love of Skiing: A Visual History of Skiing

Shows the development of skiing in the United States, with a special focus on Utah

The early days of competitive skiing were a time of broken bones and broken records as ski jumpers thrilled crowds across the country, from the East Coast to the upper Midwest to California.

Many ski pioneers were influential in establishing skiing as a major sporting event in the United States. Among them were the Engen Brothers--Alf, Sverre, and Corey--whose collective skiing feats were unrivaled. Alf eventually became an Olympic skiing coach, and this history of competitive skiing in the United States from the 1930s through the present is told here mainly through Alf's experiences.

For the Love of Skiing relates many of the wildest early ski adventures. Alf and Sverre Engen recall a "barnstorming," or summer jumping competition in Omaha, where snow was sparse and straw and soap had been added to the track to make it slicker. A bale of hay awaited the skiers at the end of the track. Stopping was difficult, and Sverr recalls, "I broke my toe trying to sop, and that toe still hurts on occasion to this day." Those were the barnstormer days, "when men were men, and most were crazy as hell."