I moved away from Utah (where I went to college, met and married my husband, and had my first baby) in 1997, just a few years before Utah hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. I’ve been back many times in the years since the 2002 Winter Games to visit my parents, but I’ve never driven up to Park City to see the Olympic Park.
While I was in Park City with Hyundai at the end of August, I was able to spend a few hours exploring Olympic Park, and was so impressed with everything they offered (for free!).
About Utah Olympic Park
The Utah Olympic Park is a nearly 400-acre park which features a mixture of sporting facilities and visitor areas as well as year-round competition and training ground for recreational and high-performance athletes. Back in February 2002, the Olympic Park hosted more than 300,000 visitors and 14 Olympic medal events. Now, the Park is open year-round for visitors and admission is free, but some activities and classes do have a cost.
Summer-time activities at the Olympic Park
During our short stay at the Olympic Park, we were able to pick a few activities to experience. After watching athletes of all ages and skills ski jump into the Olympic Freestyle pool (all I can say is WOW!), Louise and I headed up the VERY long, slow, and steep ski lift to the Alpine Slide.
The view from the top of the ski lift was amazing, but boy was is nerve-racking looking down that mountain and know that shortly I would be riding a small sled down that same mountain.
Here are a few of the activities available during the summer:
- The Xtreme Zip zipline with a 435-foot vertical drop
- The QuickSilver, Utah Olympic Park’s stainless steel alpine slide
- A summer bobsled ride on “The Comet”
- Guided tours
- Introductory sport clinics offered for all ages and abilities
- Freestyle Exhibition Shows every Saturday
- Alf Engen Ski Museum and George Eccles 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum
I’m hoping to take the whole family out to Utah next summer, and we’ll be visiting the Olympic Park together for sure.
Note: I visited the Olympic Park while I was on a press trip with Hyundai. My travel and accommodations were payed for by Hyundai. I didn’t have to write anything on my blog about our experience there, but I loved it so much I really wanted to share.
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WOW…this is definately going on my travel bucket list. Thanks so much for sharing…
Laurie
Thanks for sharing your quick trip to the Olympic park. My ln-laws there during the Olympics, I’d love to check the park out.
I actually live not far from there, so I totally should go visit. My kids would love it!
Sorry I am late to the party! I am still going through all my pictures from our recent trip to San Francisco. Come and see Chinatown today!
Wow- look at all the great stuff to do. I really must plan a trip there.
That’s a really fantastic park.. love the slides.. I’m sure my boys would love to go there.
All I needed to hear was that it was one of the world’s longest slides (3,000 feet), and my chicken genes kicked in. I’m glad to experience it vicariously through others, however!
Now I neeeeeeeed to go play there!!