Kaare Engstad

Kaare Engstad was born in the Norwegian village of Furnes in 1906 where he lived with his grandmother from a young age. When Engstad was 18-years-old he immigrated to Canada where he eventually found work in Manson Creek, British Columbia as a caretaker. By 1927 he had moved to the nearby village of Burns Lake where he built his own log home. He had been a keen skier during his youth in Norway, and continued with his love of the sport in Canada, including building a ski jump.

Engstad served as the captain of the Omineca Ski Club in the early 1930s and competed in the Nordic combined. At the Olympic trials he won the 50 kilometres cross-country race, finishing more than 16 minutes ahead of the next best-placed skier, Hubert Douglas. Engstad and Douglas both earned a place on the Canadian Olympic ski team for the 1932 Lake Placid Games. At the Olympics he finished 16th in the 50 kilometres event, the best result by a male Canadian skier at the Games until Devon Kershaw finished fifth at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Engstad remained active with the ski club for several years and also worked as a carpenter.