Alan Engen was named one of the “Legends of Utah skiing” in 1988. He has also been inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 1991, the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 2004, and the University of Utah Crimson Club Athletes Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2007, Alan was given Utah “Best of State” honors as a professional athlete in sports and recreation and in 2009 he was inducted into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame.
His competitive ski career is extensive at the national and international level. He competed in all skiing disciplines (Alpine and Nordic), winning numerous championships in Junior, Senior, and Masters competition. He was an All-American skier in college for the University of Utah and was a member of the United States CISM Ski Team during the middle 1960s. He was also a six-time winner of the United States Ski Association-Intermountain Masters series title in the 1980s.
Alan is a recognized Utah ski historian and the author of the award winning book, For the Love of Skiing – A Visual History (1998) and co-author of the book First Tracks – A Century of Skiing in Utah (2001). He is Chairman Emeritus of the Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation; Chairman of the Alta Historical Society; a former member of the board of directors for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum; and a charter advisory member of the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library, Utah Ski Archives.
Alan has called Alta his skiing home since 1948 and retired as Alta’s Director of Skiing in 2011. He has been affiliated with the Professional Ski Instructors of America for over 50 years and was Alta’s ski school director during the years 1992 through 1998. Bob has skied most of the areas from Alaska to Colorado, over the past 60+ years, preferring the 2nd and 3rd tier ski areas. He and his amazing wife Judy have recently returned to their long time home town of Spokane, WA. He is now a "Landman" which takes him to varied locations for 3 to 6 month projects allowing him to sample what locations have to offer. 49° North has been his home hill the past two seasons First skied at age 46. Instantly hooked. Still no good at age 54. Then trained and became an instructor, meanwhile studying coaching, specialising in development coaching. Finally qualified as an English Ski Council, IVSI certified international coach and instructor tutor. In the last twenty years mostly helping senior skiers confirm that age is no hindrance; and instructors to teach better.
I've written two books: Skiing from Greens to Reds and Beyond;
and Ski In Control: How to ski ANY piste anywhere in full control (recommended by World Slalom Champion Tom Stiansen.) Both from Amazon. For many years, Cathie Judge was Fashion and Travel Editor of Skiing Magazine. When she left Skiing she formed a consulting business, working on ski-related projects with DuPont, Celanese and Goretex and produced advertorial inserts for Vogue, L'Officiel, Town & Country, Playboy, and other magazines. In the 90's, Cathie started Springs Publishing and launched the monthly magazine, eye on Saratoga. She now provides a variety of design, marketing, and communications services. She started on wood hand-me-downs and oversized Army surplus boots at the age of five. She went on to report on and influence the world of ski fashion, travel and culture. Cathie currently is editing and designing a series of children's books when not exploring and enjoying the landscape around Saratoga Springs. Connie recently retired following a long career at Alta. Connie received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Snowsports Association (NASJA). Connie continues to live close to Alta, volunteers for local and regional community groups, and still skis often at Alta. Dave Irons has been skiing for 75 or so years, and writing about the sports for close to 50. His background includes 20 years of ski patrolling and his work of more than 1000 articles and columns has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. He was elected to the Maine Ski Hall of Fame in 2007. He has written books on the history of Sunday River and Shawnee Peak at Pleasant Mt and his third, The History of Mt Abram in his home state of Maine came out right after the first of the year. Dr. David Sartwell is an award-winning writer with thousands of articles published in newspapers, magazines and books. Dave's column on the outdoors is published weekly in the North of Boston Newspaper group. His work appears regularly in the Virginia Sportsman, The Florida Sportsman, and many other outdoor-oriented publications. Dave was a college administrator, former bear and bird hunting guide, a licensed captain, avid skier, fly fisherman, skeet shooter, sailboat racer, golfer, poet, and photographer. He loves fly fishing, travel, bridge, good food and wine, and outdoor adventure of any kind. Don, a retired School Psychologist, has been skiing since the early 1960s. Most of his skiing is in New York and New England. He has been a ski instructor at Lost Valley, King Pine and Sunday River. Each season he likes to ski at areas he's never been to. Don also make it a point to support local and independently owned ski areas by skiing them several time each season. Though skiing is Don's main passion he also enjoys kayaking, windsurfing, inline speed skating, trail running and cycling. Evelyn Kanter is a NYC-based travel and environmental writer and a senior skier who would rather ride a chairlift, river raft or zipline than the subway, and has done so in the more than 100 countries she’s visited, skiing in many of them. In what she calls a “previous life”, she was a TV and radio news reporter for ABC News and CBS News, now a regular contributor to major publications, including airline inflights and AAA magazines, and has written or contributed to more than a dozen travel guidebooks. Her latest are “100 Things to Do in NYC Before You Die”, Fodor’s Essential Germany and Fodor’s New York City. Evelyn's websites are www.ecoxplorer.com and www.nyctravelguru.com. Harriet Wallis has been a ski writer, editor and photographer forever. She learned to ski on a dare when she was in her mid 30s and has been blabbing about it ever since. Her work appears in regional and national print and online publications. Ski Utah named her Journalist of the Year. You can see more of her articles here: https://www.alta.com/stories/102-year-old-powderhound.
She's a senior-age skier based in Salt Lake City and she enjoys nearly a gazillion ski days each winter. She also enjoys two stainless steel knees.
Harriet loves to be outdoors, so during other seasons she swims, bicycles and kayaks. She also single handedly rips up her yard, converting it to an arid and low water landscape with indigenous plants that she propagates. Skiing is a lot easier! Herb Stevens has been skiing for a very long time, since he could barely walk. One of the original on-camera meteorologists at The Weather Channel, Herb is known as The Skiing Weatherman, having hosted a syndicated television snow report in 30+ markets from the late ‘80’s until just a few years ago. He has skied at more than 400 resorts and looks forward to adding many more to that list as he approaches his seventh decade sliding down hills. Jackson, aka Pontiff of Powder, has played more roles in the ski trade than Eskimos have words for snow. They include ski designer, binding and boot product manager, freestyle competitor, boot-fitter, ski instructor, marketing director, writer, and ski and boot tester. He contributes to a variety of ski magazines, including SeniorsSkiing.com. Jan Brunvand, born in 1933, was taught to ski by his Norwegian parents in Michigan. As an undergraduate at Michigan State University he skied Aspen and A-basin during spring breaks. After earning a PhD in Folklore at Indiana University he taught at the University of Idaho four years, skiing in local areas. After a skiless year at Southern Illinois University, he moved his family to Salt Lake City, teaching at the University of Utah for thirty years during which he published a textbook in American Folklore and a series of books about urban legends. He and his wife Judy have skied most of the resorts in Colorado and others in Idaho, Wyoming, California, and even Vermont. They have also skied in Norway, Chamonix, Zermatt, and for one memorable week in Portillo, Chile. In retirement, they ski mostly Alta, but also all the other fine resorts of Utah. They are active members of the International Skiing History Association. Joan Wallen is a freelance writer who lives in Andover, NH. She began skiing at age 12 but became completely absorbed in the sport when she was a ski bum in North Conway during a year long break from college. After graduation and a couple of years of teaching she was made Patrol Director at King Ridge in New Hampshire. For the following 25 years she held positions in operations, marketing and management at a number of New England ski areas. She continues her involvement with the sport by writing about all aspects of it and skiing as much as possible. Joan is past President of the East region of North American Snowsports Journalists Association. Her writing assignments have included magazines, newsletters, trade journals and websites. The off-season finds her sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding, biking, hiking and attempting to become a good golfer. John Brown is a long time ski patroller at Ragged Mountain, NH. His patrol history began in 1979 at Boston Hills in North Andover Massachusetts, then in New Hampshire at Ragged Mountain, King Pine and a year at Bretton Woods. Today he's patrolling 1-2 days per week at Ragged Mountain. He retired in 2014 after 46 years as a firefighter. John Nelson is a refugee of the journalism world, having worked as a designer, art director, editor and writer at newspapers in Seattle, Memphis, Spokane and Colorado. He has been hooked on skiing since he saw a film of Stein Eriksen when he was 6 years old. Now nearing age 60, he’s trying rack up as much vertical as possible and documents his ski days on the blog SkiZer.Wordpress.com. He skis primarily in Washington, Idaho and Montana. Jonathan began life alpine skiing but fell totally in love with cross-country, after a downhill accident in Austria where he lost his ski suit. (It’s a long story, best related over several hot, highly alcoholic drinks.)
Since then he’s been in the Nordic business as an instructor, international trips planner and guide, trails planner/designer (www.nordicgroupinternational.com), author, writer, and resort owner (Royal Gorge near Lake Tahoe). He’s found that cross-country is fun, social, romantic, grand exercise, takes place in gorgeous surroundings, justifies seconds on desserts, and helps arthritic knees. He’s been known to race, but only on assignment. He’s also come to enjoy modern snowshoes, since mice don’t snack on the rawhide in the off-season. Josh Foss is an accomplished outdoorsman, who has taught at Vail and Deer Valley and guided for Steamboat Powder Cats in Steamboat Springs. He’s also a pilot whose career was in aviation and real estate. He prefers sports whose names include the letter “S”: skiing, surfing, sailing, equestrian, and fishing. Josh lives in Heber City, Utah. Dr. Thulin has been practicing dermatology for over 20 years in Salt Lake City, Utah, and skate skis 80-100 days a year. Karen Lorentz 'earned her turns' when she learned to herringbone on a Connecticut golf course using her father’s 1930s hickory boards (1958). She progressed to skis with edges and areas with lifts, taught high school English (NJ) and advised the ski club, taking teenagers to Europe and Colorado before moving to a Vermont mountaintop (1978). She’s written 5000 articles, 8 books, including histories of Killington and Okemo, received a Lifetime Achievement Award for ski writing, and is still trying to master “the carve." Keller picked up skiing as a child while growing up in St. Louis. His passion led him to Colorado where he studied Journalism at the University of Denver. He soon discovered 40 days a year on the hill was not enough and moved to the mountains to become an instructor. He is now a PSIA certified instructor at Vail, and enjoys alpine skiing, backcountry exploring, and is starting to dabble in the Nordic world. Letters to the Editor: Seniorsskiing.com welcomes letters to the editor of 300 words or less. The letters may be edited for clarity, legal ramifications, length or general taste at the editor’s discretion. We also reserve the right to refuse to publish submitted letters for the same reasons. All letters must be signed. Letters published do not necessarily reflect the views of SeniorsSkiing.com, its Publisher, its staff or its advertisers. Marc is a former Associate Editor of SKI Magazine and certified ski instructor. Today he is an award-winning novelist with nine books in print, four of which are Amazon #1 Best Sellers. Mary Jo Tarallo is an award-winning public relations/communications specialist who has more than 40 years working in the snow sports industry. She currently is the creator and editor for Sun and Snow Adventures, a web site/blog that covers health, fitness and lifestyle topics. She also is a freelancer and contributing editor for The Snow Industry Letter. She previously served as the Ski Editor for the Baltimore Sun. Mary Jo spent almost 19 years with SnowSports Industries America and ten years as executive director of the industry's Learn to Ski and Snowboard initiative. Matt Lindon was born and raised in New York, skied New England and was reborn in his 22nd year when he moved to Utah. For the past 40 years, he's plied Park City powder and worked as engineer and hydrologist for the development of Deer Valley and other resorts. Discovering moderation in middle age, he retired his Tele’s and long boards and focuses on powder and corduroy with friends and family on sunny days. Matt secretly loves skiing deep in big Rocky Mountain storms. Mike Roth is a ski journalist who writes a regular ski blog for the Albany Time Union. He is also a talented cartoonist and and architect. Sandman (72) started skiing at Mt Ruapehu N.Z. in 1952.
His journey includes ski racing in New Zealand, Australia and Europe in the late 60's-70's, global ski travels in the 80's, and professional teaching and year-round coaching in the 90's & 00’s.
Now he skis for fun and writes about his travels, skiing, and unusual sleep-overs. In the Northern Hemisphere, he has enjoyed most U.S. and Japanese resorts. He now concentrates on Europe's steep and deep. Down Under, he skis Australia and New Zealand.
When not playing in the snow, Murray enjoys living in Queensland's warm Whitsunday Islands with sand between his toes. Pat McCloskey is a Level III PSIA Full Certified Ski Instructor. He has skied in 110 different areas around the world and has worked with blind skiers for over 34 years. He is an avid mountain biker, trail runner and road cyclist. His blog chroniclesofmccloskey covers all his outdoor adventures. Pat Moore has been a TV weatherman, gymnast, springboard diver, ski racer, snowboard racer, college instructor, USAF airborne weather observer, computer geek, insurance salesman, small business owner, law student, rock climber, golfer, recruiter, web designer, photographer, videographer, artist, flyboarder, bungee jumper, unicyclist, barefoot waterskier, parachute rigger, pilot, skydiver and author.
In 2008 he was the first person to win age group National Championships in both ski racing and snowboard racing. Now retired and living in Vermont, he's still not sure what he wants to be when he grows up. His motto: “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room”. Author "Bad Decisions Make Great Stories" available on Amazon.com Phil Johnson began his career as a sports writer for the Leominster (Ma) Enterprise then the Rochester (NY) Times Union. He wrote his first ski column in 1972. Leading up to the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, he wrote regularly for UPI and Adirondack Life magazine. As a freelance writer in the 1980’s, his articles appeared in Sports Illustrated, Travel & Leisure, Skiing, Snow Country, Women’s Sports, The Conservationist and Field & Stream. Since 1994, he has written a weekly ski and winter sports column, first for the Amsterdam (NY) Recorder then, from 2011 through 2023 for the Daily (Schenectady NY) Gazette. Randy Johnson is author of Southern Snow, the New Guide to Winter Sports from Maryland to the Southern Appalachians, which recently won an honorable mention in the International Ski History Association’s Skade Awards. The new University of North Carolina Press edition is the updated version of Johnson’s 1986 original from the Appalachian Mountain Club (called a “cult classic” by Warren Miller). Richard’s first time on skis was in the Taunus Mountains in Germany as a sophomore in High School. Sixty years later he is still skiing, now days mostly at Tamarack, Idaho. Richard is a gastronome, oenophile, amateur chef, bread baker, member of PSIA and a Chevalier of La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a gastronomic society that traces its origins back to the old French royal guild of goose roasters in the 12th century, and The Société Mondiale du Vin. Mostly retired, he writes a blog about skiers and food, The Well-Fed Skier Thewellfedskier.substack.com Skiing most of my life. Got WW 2 surplus skis from Boy Scouts. Boots skis with bindings and poles for $9.00. Joined Ski Patrol at Little Switzerland in 1960. Became SP trainer/examiner. Organized a regional SP medical training seminar at the University of Wisconsin Medical college. Went on the ski school and was co-director for a time. PSIA certified instructor. Over the years at Little Switz I did a lot of jobs, painted chair lifts, help build a new chair lift, made snow and operated a Pisten Bully groomer, worked in the ski shop. All part time.
Over the years I was associated with Lange, Rossignol and Fischer as a “Pro Rep” and “Tech Rep”. Also part time.
Currently live in Eden Utah in the winter and ski at Powder Mountain and Snowbasin. Roger Lohr, founder and editor of XCSkiResorts.com is a writer and marketer, who lives in Lebanon, NH. He’s also been published as a Nordic skiing and snowshoeing expert on SnoCountry.com, MSNBC.com, SnowshoeMag.com, WhitebookSki.com, NSAA Journal, CCSAA Nordic Network, Cross Country Skier, SkiTrax, Ski Area Management, NASJA, Green Energy Times, and others. Lohr also wrote the Board Report snowboard column in SnowEast Magazine. He conducted the CCSAA Skier Visit Study and created the Best XC Ski Area Poll and worked for industry trade organization SIA. He loves skiing on xc ski trails, telemarking in the backcountry, and snowboarding in powder. Rose Marie Cleese first made ski journalism tracks in the 70s as an assistant editor at SKIING magazine in Manhattan and then back on the West Coast as the magazine's western regional editor. A two-term president of the Northern California/Nevada Ski Media Association, the "starter dough" of today's NASJA (the North American Snowsports Journalists Association), she was the San Francisco Examiner sports department's first female writer, filing a weekly winter sports column, and covering the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. In recent years, her articles have appeared in metropolitan newspapers, monthly magazines, and national wintersports and travel websites. After taming some high-performance skis on boiler-plate a couple of seasons ago at Sun Valley, she knows she's nowhere near hanging up her skis or ceasing to write about this most sublime of sports! She lives in San Francisco, CA Stanley Rubenstein learned to ski on a slope at the city golf course on Staten Island in New York City. He was a founding member of the ski club at Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. After immigrating to Israel in 1971, he worked as a ski instructor on Mt. Hermon for more than ten years. As chairman of the Israeli Ski Federation for 20 years, he took Israeli athletes to the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, and was with the first Israeli ski racer to participate in the Winter Olympic Games in Torino in 2006 and Whistler Mt. in 2010. He lives with his partner in Caesarea, Israel. Steve Hines is a sales associate at Outdoor Outfitter, REI, Inc. (Steve’s views do not necessarily reflect REI’s views). He has been a wilderness guide, a Wilderness First Responder and a volunteer trip leader for the Appalachian Mountain Club. Tamsin Venn is a freelance ski writer based in Ipswich, Mass. In the off-season, she trades in slopes for waves and publishes Atlantic Coastal Kayaker Magazine. Yvette didn’t even see snow until she was 25. That’s because she grew up in snow free, frost free South Miami Beach. In fact, she says, “When I finally got to see frost for the first time at age 13, I thought it was mold all over the cars. (Some of us were more sheltered than others).”
She finally got into skiing at age 30 and claims she has “probably the world’s most exhaustive collection of ‘dumb Florida gal discovers snow’ stories” in the world. That includes her first heli-ski trip when someone gently pointed out to her that maybe it was time to retire the novice ski angle. Yvette now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, Bill Hirsch, 30 minutes from the nearest slopes and she skis at least once a week during the season. Her ski stories have taken her around the world, including India and several trips to South America.
