Alf Engen newspaper clippings, photographs, and telegrams, 1934 - 1942

Page 37

:THK SEATTLE, TIMES TOKLE, ENGEN ARRIVE FO'~~ TORGfR lAHflS 2 lOUNGSlfRS llllf lHRfAlS C-HAMP, CHALLENGER AT BREAKFAST By CIDCK GARRETT Ski jumpers were dropping from the sky and rolling into Seattle on the trains today. National Champion Alf Engen llitepped off a train at King Street Station this morning at 6:45 o'clock, worked down to a trim 182 pounds by lots of cross-country work and "feeling great" for Sun­day's defense of his national ski­jumping title at Olympian Hill, Snoqualmie Ski Bowl. Torger Tokle, who'll be shooting over the big Bowl slope as the chief threat to Engen's championship, rode a plane down out of the c louds last night in company with two men whom he rates as his keenest rivals, Art Devlin and Jay ;) '1\)l\\. )\ ·jj)l~) Rand of the Lake Placid Ski Club, New York. It appears that Tokle and Engen, hammer-and-tongs rivals when ;)'{;;}o/ ''(o:;;o:;;; riding through the air for fo rm and r;' .. ::::,:·::-'[·;[ distance, are pals off the competi- t tive stage, for they sat at opposite ends of the Peter Hostmark break­fast table today, stowing away ham and eggs before departing for the Olympian Hill site. "You're going to have a mar­velous tournament, no q uestion about it," said Alf. when informed that the entire Bietila jumping family from the Central United States Ski Association. Brothers Walter and Roy in Class A, and Ralph Bietila in Class C, are com­ing west for the meet. Both Tokle and Engen were asked to name the men they respected most as threats to their ~~~~e~:c~~J!dw~e~l~~r~~~e ~~~d Alf Engen (left), national ski jumpinc cha~pion, and Torger smoked salmon (Pete Hostmark's own delivery from Puget Sound) • in his "big four." ,Tokle, young distance-shooting New Yorker and chief chall,en,ger to this morning than in their forthcoming jumping duel over Olympian Engen's crown in next Sunday's national championships at Snoqual- Hlll. Mrs •. Mollie Hostniark seems to be holdinc center stage. Both . These two Lake Placid boys, Dev- mie Ski Bowl. appeared more interested in scrambled eggs and- jumpers later were to Join entrants practicing· a.t the Bowl. lin, 18 years old, and Rand, 19, were ----~-__:._.:..:_-;;::::;;:;:::==::=::=::=:=:======~===~=~======~~~r----- ------- just names on the entry list to most of the sponsoring Washington I Ski Club's tournament commit!tee s e · k I until Tokle sounded off. It zm ar Is. ! "Devlin and Rand are probably 1 . • , unheard-of dark horses to you fans out West," said Tokle. "Both have been developing rapidly and gave me all I could handle in competition back East. They'll be showing plenty next Sunday, sure." I And if you're looking for a Class B winning bet, Tokle said, don't o verlook 20-year-old George Sher­wood of Lake Placid, He's cleaned up all the 'B' honors in the East. And in naming the men he would have to beat to carry home the marbles, Tokle said, "Engen, of course! He's No. 1, but lodk out for W-alter Bietila (of Madison, I Wis.), Eugene Wilson (of Itasca Ski Club. Coleraine, Minn.), and these boys Devlin and Rand." Engen, just as obliging, admitted distance-getting Tokle was the boy to beat, and had high praise for the • Bietilas; spoke of Wilson's con­sistency and ability, and remarked that the man who won would have to earn his laurels. California's contingent ~ arrived yest,erday and .visited the Ski Bowl in the afternoon, joining Joe Guib­erson's hard-working hill crew. The party from the "rainy south" was headed by Veteran Roy Mikkelsen, national champion in 1933 and 1935, five-times California state titlist, and Olympic team member in 1932 rand 1936, and Ron Mangseth, Mik­! kelsen's fellow Class A jumper ~rom the Auburn Ski Club. In- 1 chided were "B" Jumpers Jimmy ! Renning and Carl Bechdolt, Jr., and !Byron Johnson. Class • • • . anil Remms 1 . II, _________ By CIDCK GARRETT ___ .,;_ ___ _... It's time t o stick t he neck out! \ Veteran Alf Engen of Salt Lake City will still rule as national ski-jumping champion w hen the shadows gather at l the Snoqu. almie Ski Bowl Sun-•1 Engen, though condt.t.iO ned at all day evemng. . . • times by his National. Forest Serv- I I That's a large combmatwn of l lce work in Utah, competes Sunda.y I guesswork and hunch, but we be- eighteen pounds lighter than he lieve 31-year-old Alf, . ten years was a year ago and weighing 182 wiser and more expenenced than pounds. his powerhouse little challenger,/ "L t most of those eighteen Torger Tokle o! New York, will os have the distance-gett.ing . power..-=======-=====~~--~ [l'Om the takeoff and the poise pounds chasing George Gus~aveson thro ugh t he air to turn back the of Auburn Ski Club, Callforma. challenge of both Tokle and the home in the Utah Ski Club's 11- ' talent-packed field. . kilometer cross-country run last I1 There's nothing Jess cer t ru· n tlt an week," laughs Ali. ,. • • a. ski jump, unless it's two ski * * * ,jumps, and our "Engen to win" All Looks Ahead hunch admittedly ha.s no mol'e E · oncentrating today on foundation than the beli~f that Alf 1 th<> n;:t~o~a~ jumping title, bU:t he is the be~t bet In the fJeld If one ad;nits t he "grand slam" of skiing, ; forces hnnself . to pick a pre-. a repeat victory in the national tourney winner. · I four-way championsh ips at Sun __ Th!__ dope -~heet s~ys Tokle, will Valley March 20_-21~22 and 23, is earn a margm on dJstaf!Ce, ngen his second b1g obJective. I an edge on fot'm- and how that Week-end after next he competes marginal difference balances out. in the national downhill and slalom to Tokle or to Engen, may de- championships at Aspen, Colo. His termine the outcome of one of the ski activity t his season has been closest ski-jumping battles ever marked by serious participation in witnessed in the country. j all four events and when the cur- Both· men are superbly condi- tain drops on 1941 action he JURY ; tioned ·for the national. I agam• be' acclaimed - A'ffierica's . Tokle's job of carpenter's helper greatest all-Rround skiman. in New York eight mont hs out of And so, a shaky vote for Engen the year involves climbing miles over Tokle. and miles o! stairways, which, com- No~v wouldn't it be funny if bined with specialized exercises, has \Va.lter Bictila of Madison, Wis.; developed his legs to have the snRP Eugene WHson of Coleraine, Mich., of steel springs. His "sats" f~om or another of the headliners in the • the takeoff is terrific. Partlctp~- field outsoared and outformed Mr. I tion in weekly tour naments th1s Engen and Mr. Tokle. winter has serve? as the tune-u~, It "could happen" here ! mental and phys1cal, for Sunday s I major test. He'll be tough to beat. '!SKI SITES.NEAR I PROVO STUDIED PROVO-"We have a.s good an op-portunity for excellent winter sports areas in our own backyard · as are found at Sun Valley or other famous r ecreational spots," George C. Larson, supervisor of the UJnta national forest, told members of the Timpanogos Ski c1ub here Wednes­day nigh~ in a meeting called t~ discuss possi.ble development of sk1 sites in the vicinity. I Snow condition.s in Provo can(Yon ar.e not so good, Mr. Larson said, suggesting Daniels canyon and the right fork of Hobble Creek canyon I nea·r Springville as possibly the best locations. · However, as Provo is a college town, with a great number of spo.rts loving young people who are not en­dowed with their own cars or a , great deal of money, some effort should be made to develop an ar·ea I in .close proximity to the city, he said. · Alf Engen, nationally famous skiElr 'llri'ti employe of the fores-t ser- 1 vice will be available during the first part of April to. inspect ski · conditions in this area, Mr. Larson announced. He als~ pledged the sup- ' ' port of the forest service as far a.s poss·ible and said that, if the club ' ·_ could provide materiais, the service would provide the labor in build·ing a s·ki sh~lter at the selected s.ite. App.ro imately 100 ski enthusiasts attende th.; meeting and were en­tertainei! l; with a 40-minute movie showing-activities at Sun Valley.