Park City Utah.

It was warm here today so we took a ride up to Park City to see the Olympic Park and the city. We watched some of the training on the ski jump hills and walked through the museum for area skiing history and the 2002 Winter Olympics. We then drove downtown to take a look at the “historic downtown”.

Our first stop was the City Visitor Center where we picked up some information about the area; the Nordic Ski Jumping facility was visible from the visitor center so we drove up to the Olympic Park which includes the Nordic Jumps, the Bobsled/Luge/Skeleton Track, Freestyle Skiing Hill/Training Pool and the Museum. There are activities in addition to those attractions including zip line rides, a bobsled ride and an alpine slide; there are also camps and clinics for various events that includes training by experienced coaches.

The first stop we made was at the Winter Sports Center where we were given a map and a brief introduction to the center. We then walked to the K90 Nordic Ski Jump, athletes were practice jumping on this hill. Ski Jumping in June? Yes, there is a surface on the runs that is watered between runs and allows them to practice on the hills.

 

There are short rides available on a wheeled bobsled like this one for $60.00 apiece!

 

Our first stop was at the Nordic Jumping Hill, they were practicing on the K90 hill on the right.

 

This brave fellow was preparing for a jump.

 

They sit and slide out to the middle of the run on the white bar, stand up and away they go.

 

It’s a long way from the end of the jump to where they land.

 

All the jumps we watched had happy landings.

 

We then walked to the freestyle practice pool where a number of jumpers were practicing jumps and landing in the pool. We enjoyed watching the different ages and levels of people practicing here. We did not walk up along the bobsled/luge track although it is part of the walking tour of the facility.

 

The freestyle practice facility has a number of runs.

 

This run was for beginners, note the nervous mother on the right.

 

The next step is the jump on the right, these kids were doing pretty basic tricks; they release air into the water to make the landing softer.

 

The kids on this hill had a coach helping them.

 

There were three people practicing on the larger jumps:

 

They were doing the advanced tricks and getting some air.

 

 

 

The bobsled track.

 

Curve 14.

 

 

We then drove into Old Park City where we ate our picnic lunch at a municipal park while watching a group of young boys playing tackle tag and some of the action at the skate park. After lunch we walked up to main street; we did not do any window shopping and turned down an opportunity to take an $11.00 (apiece), ski lift ride to the top of a ski hill. We walked back to the CRV and headed back to North Salt Lake.

 

Our picnic spot.

 

The “Historic Downtown”.

 

We found these along the trail we walked.