Utah Olympic Park expansion, aided by $5 million donation, bolsters Salt Lake City Olympic bid

The new “Olympic Hopeful” ski run at Utah Olympic Park could conceivably be the site for Olympic giant slalom races should Salt Lake City win its’ bid for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games.

As part of the ongoing Utah Olympic Park ‘Phase Two’ Mountain Expansion project, the future, steep GS run provides flexibility and options concerning Salt Lake City’s Olympic bid and potential future sport program. Additionally, it is another upgrade to Utah’s busy and well-utilized 2002 Olympic legacy venues.

“Having a place like Utah Olympic Park to be able to expand and create a third competition venue here will help us address whatever changes occur to the Olympic program,” Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation president Colin Hilton tells Around the Rings during an interview at Utah Olympic Park.

“We think we will be able to host everything from alpine skiing here, ski and snowboarder cross, freestyle moguls and aerials, or snowboard parallel GS.

“Milano Cortina is doing ski mountaineering and there are rumors of telemark (skiing), so who knows,” Hilton says, referring to new events for the 2026 Games in Italy. “Having this additional facility at the park will allow us to be flexible, depending upon the final arrangement of sport disciplines at our ski resorts.”

When Salt Lake and Park City previously hosted the Winter Games in 2002, ski jumping and sliding events were contested at Utah Olympic Park. Park City Mountain Resort was home to giant slalom races and the debut of snowboard halfpipe. Further up the road, Deer Valley Resort’s slopes were used for slalom, as well as freestyle moguls and aerials events.

There will be a major shake-up of competition venues should a 2030 Olympics be awarded to Utah. All alpine races are proposed to be at Snowbasin resort, north of Salt Lake City, the venue for speed races in 2002. An International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision on the 2030 host, and possibly 2034 also, may come by the end of the year.

A five-million dollar donation from Utah’s Eccles Foundation, announced last week, will help to cover costs for the second phase of the Utah Olympic Park West Peak expansion project.

The newly developed terrain – which looks down upon the Utah Olympic Park bobsleigh and luge sliding track – will create additional training opportunities for local Park City winter sports clubs, in addition to the University of Utah Ski Team, as a dedicated training venue apart from the town’s three ski resorts.

The expansion entails 25 acres of ski terrain, including two main trails. The ‘Olympic Hopeful’ GS run is 3,300 feet in length with a 1,200 foot vertical drop. An adjacent run, which will used for both slalom and freestyle moguls, is 1,500 feet in length and has a vertical drop of 750 feet.

A new Doppelmayr high-speed quad chairlift is being installed. Advanced snowmaking capabilities will permit early and late-season training, while flood lights on the mountain will accommodate night-time training.

“We’re excited about the project because it is reflecting the every day demand from our local club sport athletes, as well as visiting teams that want a dedicated training and competition venue,” Hilton tells ATR.

The final budget for the project is estimated at $22 million, $17.5M of which is for the phase two expansion.

“The story is one of collaboration between our foundation and the local ski clubs,” Hilton informs.

Phase Two construction began last fall and according to Hilton, expectations are to have the new slopes ready to be skied upon by mid-December.

Skiing toward a successful bid for 2030, or 2034.

The newly created athlete training opportunities are yet another important step towards winning a Winter Olympic return to the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.

“A key element of our bid from Utah for a future Olympic and Paralympic Games is to highlight that we have a strong living legacy of active uses of our 2002 facilities,” Hilton said.

“To be able to showcase that there are reasons to develop new terrain and new fields of play for our athletes here that could also be used for the Olympics, to me is very compelling.”

As an IOC decision about a 2030, and possibly also a 2034 host awaits, one can feel both excitement and a sense of nervousness in the air throughout the tight-knit Park City winter sports community.

“We would love to host the world again and showcasing a story of forward thinking about how to host the Games and having a plan for what happens afterward. That was a real important aspect that the Games of 2002 did for the state of Utah,” he said.

With such a well-rounded bid in place checking all the boxes, many in the Utah sports community hope that the encore to the 2002 Olympic Games will come 28, and not 32 years later.

“Having a commitment to 2030 or 2034, rather sooner than later, will help us keep the legacy going in Utah and that’s important for us to keep the community interested and continuing to support this,” Hilton says.

A recent poll indicated that 79% of Utahns are in favor of the bid, slightly down from a previous figure in the 80s.

“It’s staggering, and by hosting ideally either in 2030 or 2034, we will keep that momentum high.”

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