Utah Salt Lake City gets ready to play host to Olympics in 2002
This story was Published in the Maine Sunday Telegram Published: February 7, 2000 By Heather Burke
Salt Lake City will play host to 3,500 athletes from around the globe competing in 70 medal events, and $2.8 billion is being spent in road improvements, new lodging and event venues. Nearby ski areas have invested $200 million in speedy lifts, new trails, snowmaking and impressive lodges, just to be sure they are ready for their Olympic events and the world's visit. Park City Mountain Resort will be the venue for men's and women's giant slalom and all snowboarding events. Having played host to World Cup events since 1985, this resort is no stranger to big events.
"Having the Olympics come to my hometown is a dream come true", said Picabo Street. "I can't wait to introduce the world to some of the best skiing and riding in the Rockies at Park City Mountain Resort". Visitors can enjoy Park City's 14 lifts, including four unique six-passenger quads covering 100 trails on 3,300 acres, all ready and waiting. Just two miles away, Deer Valley will be the venue for the men's and women's slalom and combined slaloms on black diamond "Know You Don't". Freestyle skiing disciplines of aerials and moguls are located near the base. The "Champion" mogul hill is steep and peppered with enormous moguls and jumps.
Many of the best athletes, including favored defending champions Eric Bergoust of Montana and Michelle Roark of Colorado, took severe falls in practice on the Olympic-size jump. In the moguls, Anne Batelle of Colorado and Evan Dybvig off Vermont each placed second. Today, Deer Valley will test the Olympic slalom hill during their first-ever women's World Cup slalom. Snowbasin, located at the top of Ogden Canyon 55 miles north of Salt Lake, will be the site of six Olympic Alpine events: the men's and women's downhill, super-G and combined. Swiss gold medallist Bernard Russi designed the demanding "Wildflower" course for the signature event. This course is already being heralded among the top downhill courses in the world, in fast company with Kitzbuehel's Hannenkamm in Austria and Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek, Colo.
Racers will reach speeds in excess of 90 mph along the 70 percent grade, with technical pitches and fallaway turns. Last March, the first national championship was held on Snowbasin's women's course, and over half the men and women racers did not finish, including former Carrabassett Valley student Bode Miller of New Hampshire. The winner, Sugarloaf's Kirsten Clark, did not complete a practice run but did hold the course during the race in a dizzying 1 minute, 18 seconds. Chad Fleischer of the U.S. ski team won the men's event in 1:13. Snowbasin will be the site of a World Cup downhill on Feb. 10, followed by a super-G on Feb. 12. Currently billing itself as Utah's best-kept secret, Snowbasin's 3,200-acre skiing and riding playground will soon be discovered globally with these televised races. New lifts, including two high-speed gondolas, a quad and a summit tram, now access 3,400-feet of vertical chutes, glades and wide-open bowls. A new access road and tremendous day lodges are scheduled for completion in the next year at Snowbasin.
The balance of 18 Nordic venues will be at Soldier Hollow, 43 miles from Salt Lake in the Wasatch State Park. Here the biathlon and cross country events will involve 11 different courses over the 16-day games. Fryeburg's Marcus Nash felt right at home here in Jan., winning his ninth national championship during the Chevy Invitational. The Games need 18,000 volunteers. Online applications will be available starting in mid-March at www.slc2002.org. This fall, 1.7 million tickets will go on sale at this same Web site. If you want to preview the Olympic action, visit Utah now before the anticipated 10 billion world viewers get an eyeful in 2002.
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Feb.
8, 2002 marks the opening ceremonies of the next Winter Olympic Games.
The Eagle Race arena is ideally
located on Park City's lower mountain, offering excellent viewing for
spectators. The trail names include "Picabo", which could serve as a
good omen for the 1998 gold medalist.
Just last month, Deer Valley had the
opportunity to test its new freestyle arena during a World Cup event.
Joe Pack of New Hamphire won the inverted aerials.
Having skied Snowbasin's downhill
last month, I can verify the 2,770-vertical-foot course is
extraordinarily steep and provides absolutely no letup.
The
new Utah Winter Sports Park, five miles west of downtown Park City,
will be home to the Olympic bobsleigh, luge, ski jumping and Nordic
combined. Prior to the games, the 20- and 40-meter jumps are open to
the public; a two-hour lesson and jumping session is $30. The Park's
bobsled and luge are also accessible for those looking for a thrill of
a lifetime.