When you visit the Alf Engen Ski Museum adjacent to Utah Olympic Park, you might have a friendly conversation with a pleasant woman who seems right at home. That’s Museum Executive Director Connie Nelson. “One of my favorite things is to get up from my desk every hour and talk to visitors,” Connie says. “I recently mentioned to a guest that I used to ski on Olin Mark 4’s with Scott boots. Turns out he was the engineer that created the first Olin Mark 4 skis!”
“It’s fascinating to hear a snippet of someone’s life,” she says. “Often, I relate.”
Connie swept into Utah in 1997 from Queensland, “skiing my way through California, Utah and Montana” with Aussie friends. On a Park City lift, the group met a local with a home on the Rail Trail. “He had a hot tub, so we all piled in the car,” she laughs. “The rest is history!”
After four years with the Salt Lake Organizing Committee at Utah Olympic Park, in 2002, Connie went to the newly opened Museum as Assistant Director, becoming ED two years later. “The adjacency to Olympic Park and the chance to watch athletes train” perfectly complement Engen’s history of skiing exhibits, she says.
2022 marks Connie’s and Engen’s twentieth anniversary together. “Over the years, I have learned that Parkites are passionate about this town and being a Parkite is a way of life,” she says. “I feel pride and a responsibility to keep our town positive and a wonderful place to live.”
Engen Museum and Connie Nelson are clearly doing their part to keep PC positive and wonderful! Entry is always free, though donations are welcome. Check out their eight new interactive exhibits at engenmuseum.org.
