An Interview with Dan Egan
In celebration of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Induction, we’re celebrating some of our favorite ski history icons. Alps & Meters CEO and Founder Lou Joseph catches up with Dan Egan, a pioneer of extreme skiing, who, alongside his brother John appeared in 12 Warren Miller films between 1985-1994. Dan will MC the Induction Ceremony, which was slated to occur at the end of this month, but for precautionary reasons, will now happen in December in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Louis: To me, growing up, you and your brother were the golden age of Warren Miller. It must be so cool to be able to participate as the steward of the Ski Hall of Fame. When were you inducted?
Dan: We were the class of ‘16. It’s a very small fraternity. Including these current inductees, there’s fewer than 463 in the hall of fame, and only 152 are alive.
Louis: I’ve always loved the story of the Egan Brothers, can you trace your history from Sugarbush and being discovered by Warren, to traveling the world, to now?
Dan: When it came to the Egan brothers, the energy that we both brought to the hill, to the camera to the audience was passion…two guys that could ski side by side down any face, anywhere in the world, and be in sync. I could be behind John, and from just how he would turn his head, know where he was going. We could gauge each other, and I think that was a really unique thing for the films, to have two brothers skiing as one.
The breakthrough was really that Warren saw us as himself, he saw the ski bum in us. We were willing to sacrifice to make it all happen, and get in the van to drive around the country to show and narrate the films. When I said to Warren in the ‘80’s, that I wanted to travel all around the world, wherever CNN was, he loved that idea. He always used to say “If everyone skied there would be no wars”.
That started it. From there, our career basically mirrored the geopolitical landscape of the 1980’s and 90’s. We jumped off the Berlin wall, we skied in Yugoslavia a week before the war started. We skied with the Kurds during the first Persian Gulf War. We went to Romania right after the revolution. It continued from there, and once we got on that train, we really became known for skiing the most remote war torn regions of the world.
Louis: Yourself, Warren and the rest of the crew were really ski diplomats, spreading skiing to some of the far reaching corners of the world. For a kid like me, sitting in front of my TV and popping in the latest Warren Miller film, or going to the theatre, it was transportive. Do you think that was the effect you had?
Dan: I do, we were doing that around the world. We became the ambassadors of skiing for peace. When the cornice broke in 1990, it became the most viewed clip of all time. When people come up to meet me in airports or ski areas now, they recall where they were when they saw the iconic footage in Turkey, where they were when they saw the cornice break. They talk about their family and the generational pull of skiing, and how those films affected them.
Louis: Do you still hold Sugarbush pretty deep in your heart? Is it still the home hill?
Dan: Yeah you know Sugarbush is a very special place for the Egan brothers, and John in particular. John is the Stein Ericksen of the valley. It’s his valley. We have so many memories there together. He’s been going there since 1976 and he was discovered there by Warren Miller. My connection with Sugarbush is memorable for me because that’s where I skied with my older brother, where I broke onto the whole scene. I still consider myself a New Englander, proud to have lived in New Hampshire and rip Cannon. We jumped out of the tram for Warren in 1994, that’s a really iconic shot. That East Coast blood has always fueled us, you know? We ski in the rain, we ski in the sun, we ski in crazy wind conditions - that really doesn’t matter. We were born and bred to be out on the hill in all types of weather.
Louis: We’re trying to build brand based on simple, timeless traditions of alpine sport. The thing that always bring me back to the hill is family. I grew up skiing in North Conway, with my mother championing the sport and getting us boys out on the hill. Those kind of traditions are ones that we want to continually pass down to the next generation. You’re a traditionalist, about to anoint the next class of the Hall fo Fame. Anything to share about what tradition means to you as a skier?
Yeah I mean, for me, skiing represents generations and memories. And when you look at skiing, your’e seeing a form of transportation that became recreation. Often there’s too much emphasis on the performance or the technique, and we’ve forgotten the beauty of just transporting ourselves over, through, and around snow. And that’s the tradition for me. I’m out on the hill being transported…in my mind, physically, and spiritually. It’s that simple. I always tell people, “don’t let performance ruin a good day of skiing”. You’re out there gliding around, you’re winning the lottery!