The Utah Olympic Park opened up for the summer May 23. Just in time: Schools are letting out, and visitors are beginning to flood Park City.
While most may assume the park is a winter sports hub — and it is — Utah Olympic Park also has a great spread of activities for athletes, families and any other visitors in the summer.
Home to the popular Alf Engen Ski Museum, the park also has summer bobsled, youth camps and much more. Big hits often include their high-speed summer tubing and alpine slide. It would appear the locals and visitors in town still need their action sports in the summertime.
“Fan favorites are definitely the alpine slide and extreme tubing,” confirmed Utah Olympic Park Marketing and Media Production Manager Kole Normann. “During the summer, these are our two most highly trafficked activities.”
Normann said his personal favorite is the tubing. He said tubers can hit up to 50 mph going down the park’s largest Nordic combined hill.
“Hands down, my favorite summer activity is extreme tubing,” Normann said. “The adrenaline rush you get as they push you and you peer over the crest of the landing spot on the K90 ski jump hill is absolutely thrilling. Reaching speeds up to 50 mph on an inner tube is an experience unlike any other.”
While some of the summer activities have age, height and weight requirements, there will surely be something for everyone. Other activities include zip lining, scenic chairlifts and ski jumping into their pool.
The park sells twice-daily Gold Passes, providing unlimited action for 3.5 hours either in the morning or afternoons.
“Families have a lot of options during the summer season at the Utah Olympic Park,” Normann said. “Even though a lot of our activities are weight and age based, we have options for nearly everyone from ages 3-99.”
Normann said most will be the same this summer, with the addition of some more, smaller ski jumping ramps at the pool to get more beginners out there.
If you’ll be looking for something a little more laid back, the Utah Olympic Park also has you covered with the museum and its two slated events. They’re hosting their annual Olympic and Paralympic Day event June 21, including a workout session with an Olympian, laser biathlon and more. The Flying Aces, a team of Olympians and aspiring Olympian freestyle skiers, will soar through the air into the pool every weekend through Labor Day.
“Things this summer will operate in the same manner as the past couple years,” said Normann. “We’ve added a new set of ramps on the east side of the pool, which caters to the most beginner-level ski athletes looking to start training in our pool, allowing more kids to get an early start on their jump training. … The lineup for the Flying Aces can change nightly.”
For further information on UOP summer programming, see their website. Soldier Hollow in Midway also has golf, mountain biking and an array of events this summer.