Dallin Koecher, executive director of Heber Valley Tourism, Economic Development and Chamber of Commerce, will be attending the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games to gather information that could help Wasatch County prepare for the Utah 2034 Olympics.
Koecher is participating in the International Olympic Committee’s observer program, which gives future hosts of the Games a chance to plan by watching event organizers behind the scenes.
When Koecher returns, he will present his findings to fellow members of the Heber Valley Community Impact and Legacy Committee, which is made up of representatives from Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation and Heber City, Midway and Wasatch County.
Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco was supposed to attend, but personal responsibility took priority when her grandson was born. She is planning on attending the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Summer Games or the French Alps 2030 Olympic Winter Games.
The Utah 2034 organizing committee invited several Wasatch County officials to join the program last autumn, with the expectation that they would pay their own way.
Koecher’s trip is funded through Heber Valley Tourism’s budget, which is primarily supported by revenue from Wasatch County’s 4.5% transient room tax. He estimated that his trip, including flights, food and lodgings, will cost around $4,000.
He “hemmed and hawed for a little bit” about whether the expense was worth the reward but ultimately decided it was. The Heber Valley Tourism board agreed.
Koecher will be departing for Italy on Wednesday and returning on Feb. 17.
The group Koecher is in is the only one of four traveling to Cortina d’Ampezzo instead of Milan, chosen as his home base because of its proximity to the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena.
Soldier Hollow in Midway hosted the biathlon and cross-country skiing competitions during the 2002 games and will host them again in 2034.
Koecher will bring observations of how the biathlon event and stadium are handled back to leadership from Soldier Hollow. The venue’s general manager, Luke Bodensteiner, will similarly be participating in the Observer Program March 6-11 at the Paralympic Games in Val di Fiemme to study factors like venue security and accessibility.
Koecher will also be shadowing people working at the games.
“One thing I’m going to be doing is a day in the life of the workforce member. How does it work? How do the volunteers work? How does the paid staff work?” he said.
The focus of Koecher’s group is mountain operations and logistics, security and how various venues organize their events for athletes, the public and the media.
Koecher said he may also be allowed to speak with his Cortina d’Ampezzo counterparts, be it the mayor or representatives of the town’s tourism and economic development board.
Wasatch County stakeholders’ hope for the 2034 Games is that the Heber Valley sees economic spillover from observers visiting Soldier Hollow instead of being passed by like during the 2002 Olympics.
As Bodensteiner put it, “Everybody got bussed in from some other town, watched the competition and never really came to town, just drove right through it.”
This next time around, Koecher envisions watch parties, cultural exchange and bustling businesses and restaurants through the entirety of the Olympics and Paralympics.
Koecher’s trip will be his first in-person Olympics since the 2002 Games. He was 17 at the time and lived in Bountiful.
The opening ceremony is forever etched in his mind, from hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” to seeing an American flag recovered from ground zero of the Sept. 11 attacks.
But a much simpler sentiment stuck with Koecher, too.
“It was pretty cool to see how Utah opened its arms to the world,” Koecher said.
He hopes the Heber Valley can do the same in 2034.