Since 1984, athletes presented with the Peggy and Sigi Engl Award have demonstrated over the entire season the distinction of their achievement in development of skiing skills, sportsmanship, and excellence in education.

The award was founded by Michael Engl in honor of his parents, Peggy and Sigi. Sigi started free ski lessons on Saturdays to the valley kids and was instrumental in SVSEF’s ability to have the current training facility at Warm Springs. Over the years, both Sigi and Michael Engl served on SVSEF’s Board of Directors.

Siegfried “Sigi” Engl (1911 – 1982) was a stylish competitor and inspirational ski instructor who carved an indelible swath of accomplishments on the slopes of Europe and the Intermountain West. 

A native of Kitzbuhel, Austria, he was a ski instructor by age 15, won the Italian downhill and slalom championships in 1931, and both the Hahnenkahm combined and the Marmolata downhill in 1935. He won the Austrian slalom and downhill championships twice and was a member of the Austrian FIS World Championship Team for two years. In 1937 Sigi became an instructor at Badger Pass in Yosemite National Park, California and two years later joined the ski school at Sun Valley, Idaho, where he won the prestigious Harriman Cup in 1941. 

During World War II he was a member of the storied 10th Mountain Division serving in Italy. In 1952 Sigi became director of the Sun Valley Ski School where his innovative instructional methods vaulted the school into international prominence. He was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1971 and in 1974 the President of Austria awarded him the nation’s Golden Medal of Honor for his distinguished service. “Sigi’s Bowl” on Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain is a lasting tribute to the contributions he made to his beloved sport of skiing.

Award recipients’ names are engraved on the Peggy & Sigi Engl Award perpetual trophy, which is displayed in the SVSEF Training Center at Warm Springs.

*Source: Alf Engen Museum Foundation