The Alf Engen Ski Museum’s new interactive exhibits at the UOP

The Alf Engen Ski Museum at the Utah Olympic Park. Photo: Michele Roepke // TownLift

PARK CITY, Utah — The Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation (AESMF) located at the Utah Olympic Park (UOP) has been an anchor of the Olympic community since the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Games. It’s newest interactive upgraded exhibits and activities puts the experiences of Olympic sport and spirit right in the palm of your hand. 

Outside of their building, the future of Park City Olympic skiing is being constructed with the expansion including the future chairlift line and the future alpine ski run which will be available strictly to participating teams. While inside of their building, interests are firmly planted in teaching and thrilling people with the importance of the past.

Every fourth grader in Northern Utah has had the opportunity to come visit the museum and the UOP on a field trip, thanks to the far-reaching programs of the AESMF.

The Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) Hall of Fame, international memorabilia from the Salt Lake 2002 Olympics and Paralympics as well as displays of equipment from local Olympians and ski industry moguls (pun intended) are highlighted. Also, there’s an exhibit about the 10th Mountain Division.

“We are so proud to be able to offer guests eight new interactive exhibits, representing over one-half of our museum space,” Connie Nelson, Executive Director of the Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation told me. “Our foundation has been working steadily behind the scenes to raise funds and install state-of-the-art exhibits that are both educational and entertaining.  With close to 500,000 visitors each year, the goal is to stay current as well as offer free access to both the Alf Engen Ski Museum and the Eccles 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum year-round,”

They offer an interactive quad chair that simulates bobsled, speed flying, Alta powder run and mountain bike ride at Deer Valley.  The $5 charge for a ride includes three tries at the Nordic Ski Jump simulator of the K120 Olympic Hill.
 
Over the past 20 years, the museum’s Board of Trustees continues to achieve its goal to “Inspire guests by providing a rich assortment of interactive displays which allow visitors to gain insight into the development of winter sports throughout the Intermountain Area.”   The museum strives toward its vision “To be the recognized world leader in ski history museums.”  To these ends, an ambitious project started to take form in 2018.

The museum finds visitors are inclined to visit several times a year thanks to installing at least one or more new exhibit(s) each year.  A “subplot” of that effort is aimed at attracting new visitors. They educate and entertain close to 500,000 guests each year offering two free museums – The Alf Engen Ski Museum and the Eccles 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum.

In Spring 2018, concept plans for a major remodel of over one-half of the museum were presented to the board by their exhibit design/install team, Unrivaled, located in Ogden. Plans were approved and a fundraising campaign commenced with a goal to raise a lofty $1 million by 2020.  Well, we all know what happened in 2020. After a brief pandemic-related shutdown, they revived their fundraising campaign, and their exhibit team, Unrivaled, started the exhibit build in early 2021. They reopened the second half of our museum featuring nine newly remodeled, interactive exhibits recently.

“The common reaction to our remodel is “WOW”.  Please visit our free museum soon to check out the improvements for yourself, you will not be disappointed!” said Nelson.

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