Home schooler Mark Engel has always been focused on skiing and it's showed in his rapid rise into the U.S. Ski Team fold. Most athletes enter the pipeline with the U.S. Development Team. After a few successful seasons with coach Guenther Birgmann, training at Treble Cone Race Academy (TCRA) in the summer and Sugar Bowl Academy in the winter, and winning back-to-back Western Region overall titles in 2010 and '11, Engel dove directly into the C Team ranks in 2011. He was with the C team from 2011-2013, but was hampered by back issues and did not qualify for the 2013/14 Team. From there, he put in the work and had another successful summer with TCRA before attending University of Utah and winning the NCAA title in GS before he qualified for the 2014/15 Team once again.