Deseret Morning News/KSL Radio Ski School

The first class was held on the gentle slopes of Bonneville Golf Course on Dec. 27, 1948, so people could use ski gear given them for Christmas. Joining Engen as accomplished ski teachers were Sverre Engen, Alf's brother, and Jack Reddish, an Olympic skier from Utah.

It was, to both Engen and Durham, a shocking revelation. They came to the golf course that morning expecting, maybe, 400 students and planned accordingly.

"It was more like 2,000," recalled Durham.

Engen once said that he showed up with a table, clipboard and a microphone — "And without the microphone, we never would have made it" — to a sea of waiting students and handful of instructors. ...

"But, by golly, we taught them all," he recalled.

In advance of the class, the first "how-to" booklets on skiing was written. Titled "How to Ski," the booklet was written by Alf and Sverre and published by the Deseret News.

It covered such subjects as equipment, even coming up with a chart to help select the right length of ski, the care of ski gear, waxing, which at the time was a key part of skiing, skiing positions and even a section on falling. Before the introduction of safety bindings, learning the right way to fall was the best way to avoid injuries.

Skiing back then was new and exciting, and got the imagination of city residents. There was even a song written about the first class. It was penned by Mique Moffet and was sung to the tune of "Ach, du leiber Augustine."

There was even a "Snow Queen," Sharlene Brewer, who reigned over the first session of the ski school and even took her position in the lineup as an instructor.

Nothing, though, could come close to the creative combinations put together by the students who so badly wanted to learn to ski.

As mentioned, there were mismatched skis, kids wearing their dad's coat and ski hat that were way too big, rubber boots for ski boots and even skis with no bindings. The skis were tied to the feet with leather straps.

It wasn't uncommon for skis and boots to be left on the ski ramp after a skier had been whisked away on a chair lift.

So successful was the first session, the school went on the road in 1949-50. After a five-session split between Alta and Brighton, Engen took the school to Snowbasin in Ogden, Timp Haven in Provo and Beaver Mountain in Logan. The following year it was taken to Twin Falls, Idaho, and south to Cedar City.

People were eager to learn to ski, and Engen was more than willing to teach them, and Durham was happy to deliver the service to both subscribers and non-subscribers.

And, while Engen was more than happy to teach anyone, of any age, he always said it was most rewarding to see "the little ones ski. They are the future of skiing," he would say.

The overall look of the ski school has changed in 59 years, but the objective is still to teach first-timers how to ski and snowboard.

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E-mail: grass@desnews.com