Former Utah ski coach Miller one of three inducted into Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame

By Published On: September 24th, 2008Comments Off on Former Utah ski coach Miller one of three inducted into Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame

Two storied ski area pioneers and a former ski coach, whose work left indelible marks on the Intermountain Region's ski scene, were inducted last week into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame at Utah Olympic Park's Alf Engen Ski Museum.
TWO STORIED SKI area pioneers and a former ski coach, whose work left indelible marks on the Intermountain Region's ski scene, were inducted last week into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame at Utah Olympic Park's Alf Engen Ski Museum.
    Alvin F. Cobabe, 91, founder of Powder Mountain Ski Area east of Ogden, Utah; Albert “Sunny” Korfanta, 93, founder of White Pine Ski Area near Pinedale, Wyo.; and Pat Miller, 52, who coached University of Utah ski teams to nine NCAA championships and had 251 of his  skiers gain All-America recognition, comprise the hall’s class of 2008. The hall was established in 2002 and this trio increases the number of honorees to 38.

Alvin F. Cobabe (1917- )
Powder Mountain Ski Area near Eden, Utah, owes its existence to a one-time sheep rancher-turned radio and television engineer-turned earth moving contractor-turned medical doctor-turned ski area founder. That is the incredibly diverse career path of Alvin Cobabe, who as a youngster ski jumped off the sloping roofline of the family barn. That spirit forged Cobabe’s multi-faceted career that eventually led to his establishing the popular ski area east of Ogden.
    While his numerous business, educational and medical exploits are noteworthy, skiing was always in his veins and in his heart. Cobabe answered the siren call of the snowy slopes once again in the early 1960s when he installed a small rope tow on his family’s ranch at the bottom of Wolf Creek Canyon. In February, 1972 Powder Mountain was born and, quite naturally, Cobabe operated the ski site’s medical clinic as well as being the general manager while family members managed the area’s other details.
    Cobabe was instrumental in adding night skiing, new chairlifts and tows, mountain restaurants, overnight accommodations, backcountry shuttles and a private helicopter skiing service.

Albert ‘Sunny’ Korfanta (1915- )
Albert F. “Sunny” Korfanta personifies a ski-area pioneer. His foresight, hands-on hard work, tenacity, and gentle, unselfish manner are the building blocks of White Pine Ski Area near Pinedale, Wyo. Those attributes were paramount in June 1930, when the U.S. Forest Service partnered with the Pinedale Commercial Club to start planning Surveyor Park Ski Area.
    On Jan. 5, 1940, the ski area opened for weekend skiing, offering a cable tow 200 meters long and capable of pulling three skiers at a time. Korfanta, a Pinedale pharmacist, and his wife Fanny were asked to serve as area managers, volunteer posts they held for decades. Serving skiers from numerous nearby towns, Surveyor Park sold a day pass for $1 and kids skied free. World War II activities forced the closure of the site from 1943 until 1946.
    Subsequent years saw numerous enhancements to the enclave with Korfanta at the helm. All the while, he continued to encourage, coach and drive young skiers to competitions in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and the Junior Nationals and serve as an officer of the Intermountain Division of the U.S. Ski Association. Although a local winter sports company assumed management of the area in the late 1990s and renamed it White Pine Ski Area, “Sunny” Korfanta’s contributions and pioneering spirit continue to be recognized as the driving force behind the area’s early development.

Pat Miller (1948- )
In the annals of ski coaching, Pat Miller’s accomplishments would fill volumes. The primary chapters would tell of his remarkable accomplishments while coaching the University of Utah ski team from 1974 to 2000. During his tenure, Utah teams skied to eight combined NCAA Championships, one men’s NCAA national championship and one Women’s Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national championship. Under his tutelage, 251 Utah skiers achieved All-American status, 46 were individual national collegiate champions and 10 were named members of United States Olympic teams.
    A native of Mexico, Maine, the one-time four-sport athlete was a National Junior Cross-Country champion in 1965. As a student at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., Miller was named All-American in Nordic Combined in 1970 and in 2001 was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a member of the U.S. National Nordic Combined Team from 1968 to 1974.
    Miller’s coaching prowess earned him Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate and University of Utah Coach of the Year honors. In addition to these awards, he was inducted in the State of Maine’s Ski Hall of Fame in October 2008.
    Awardees each received a glass plaque bearing a likeness of the recipient. A duplicate plaque is enshrined in the Will and Jean Pickett Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame, located in the main foyer of the Alf Engen Ski Museum that is housed in the Joe Quinney Winter Sports Center here. The hall of fame is named in recognition of the late ski enthusiasts who lived in Salt Lake City.
    Hall of Fame selections are made annually by knowledgeable ski historians from Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. Selection is based on outstanding achievements in the areas of skiing competition, skiing innovation, ski sport development and significant contributions to the overall promotion of skiing in the Intermountain Area. Nominees for the honor originate with the public and with volunteer members of the Ski Archives board of advisors. Housed at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, the Ski Archives was founded in 1989 to locate, preserve, catalog and make available to the public the history of skiing in the region.

Previous inductees to the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame to date are:

    * 2002: Junior Bounous, Zane A. Doyle, Alf M. Engen, Sverre Engen, Karre “Corey” Engen, Gretchen K. Fraser, W. Averell Harriman and S. Joseph “Joe” Quinney.
    * 2003: Stein Eriksen, Bill Briggs and Axel Andreason
    * 2004: Pepi Steigler, “Mayor” George Watson, Suzy Harris Rytting, Bill Lash, Bill Spencer and Edward L. Scott
    * 2005: Edgar B. Stern, Jr., Neil Rafferty, M. Earl Miller, Lou Lorenz, Keith Lange and James R. Gaddis.
    * 2006: Marv Melville, Cal McPhie, Dick Movitz, Dev Jennings, Jack Reddish and Marthenius (Mark, M.A.) Strand.
    * 2007: Ted Johnson, Paul McCollister, Woody Anderson, K Smith, Pete Karns and Margo Walters-McDonald.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh