Good times in Park City Olympic Park continue long after the snow melts. Summer sporting activities like mountain biking and famous festivals like the Park City Jazz Festival justify an off season visit to Park City on their own, but winter fun can be had all year round at the Utah Olympic Park. The Park, with its huge ski jumps visible from the highway, is hard to miss.
During the 2002 Winter Olympics, the Park hosted several events including the luge, bobsled, skeleton and Nordic ski jump. Although the torch for the winter games has since moved through Turin and Vancouver, the Olympic Park continues to host these activities in various forms. Kids as young as six can learn Nordic Ski Jumping and the US National Ski Jumping and Bobsledding teams still practice for competitions at the Olympic Park.
Some activities at the Olympic Park are only open during the winter, but it is surprising how many are open year round. The biggest attraction in the summer is the bobsled. The Comet, as the sled is frighteningly called, hurtles down the same track that was used for the bobsled event in the 2002 Olympics at speeds approaching fifty miles an hour. The actual speeds depend on the weight of the riders, but the mile long track drops the equivalent of a 40 story building in less than a minute and the forces experienced by the riders are two to three times that of gravity. The ride is fun, much more fun than the Alpine Slides, but also much more expensive than your average roller coaster (sixty dollars). The summer Comet sled is on wheels and the winter Comet is supposed to be a better ride. You also don’t get to pilot the sled in the summer, but in the winter skeleton rides (the front facing single rider sleds) are also available to try.
The Olympic Park also hosts alpine slides and zip lines in the summer, but aside from the bobsled track, the other unique feature is the ski jumping show. The choreographed show features athletes launching off of ski jumps into a 72,000 gallon pool. Originally the pool was used as a way for the winter athletes to practice in the summer, but the Flying Ace All-Star Show was created after the public displayed interest in the daring tricks that can be performed when the athletes don’t have to worry about landing in hard packed snow. The show lasts for about half an hour and is put on every Saturday throughout the summer at 1pm. For ten bucks, it’s a pretty good deal and a great reason to visit the Olympic Park.
The Utah Olympic Park is a great example of the activities available in Park City throughout the summer. Apparently winter fun doesn’t always require cold weather.
