It was a crisp winter evening in Park City as I stood beside one of the final curves of the luge track. Then came this crushing sound — sssshhhhh-WHSSSSHH-ssssshhhh! — as a sled whizzed past at 80 miles per hour.
Wow.
The athlete was our own Parkite, Ashley Farquharson. She won her first individual World Cup medal that night last December. Ashley grew up here in Park City, with the opportunity to try many sports. She chose luge. She represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Four years later, she returned to the Games and won a bronze medal.
Her journey from local youth sports to the Olympic podium embodies the legacy Colin Hilton helped build.
Since Colin’s passing last month, our community has reflected a great deal. No one in our town has had a greater impact on generations of children and elite athletes. Although many of us may have taken his work for granted, Colin became the face of the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic legacy that helped shape who we are as a community.
In the summer of 1989, I hiked with U.S. Ski Association Secretary General Howard Peterson from the tiny, two-lane highway leading into town and into the wild red-rock-and-sage landscape known as Bear Hollow.
We envisioned ski jumps. We fantasized about a freestyle training pool. Our eyes widened as we mentally mapped ski runs across the western slope.
If Peterson was the original visionary of that legacy, Colin was its architect — the leader who brought resources and reality together to create lasting value for both sport and community.
Colin understood the importance of fun and adventure. He knew deeply how sport could affect children and families, and he built programs and places that served local communities as well as elite athletes.
His philosophy was symbolized by one of his first acts after taking the helm of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation. He removed the entrance gate and admission fee at Utah Olympic Park. Colin believed sport should be welcoming and accessible to everyone.
He found a unique way to balance elite training and competition with venues that also became community centers. He broke down barriers, challenging all of us to get our children involved in winter sports, regardless of their age, ability or economic circumstances.
In the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Museum, a video shows 10-year-old Zia conquering her fears on a small ski jump at Utah Olympic Park, then turning those fears into sheer joy. More than a decade ago, young Zia came to symbolize what sport is all about.
A year ago, I met Ezra from Magna. When he was 8, all it took was a pair of free tickets to a speed skating World Cup at the Utah Olympic Oval to change his life.
When a Salt Lake Valley school district was struggling with its physical education program, Olympic champion Derek Parra and his team at the Oval stepped in to help.
Then there are the rest of us — the ordinary families with memories of piling into the car for an evening of tubing at Soldier Hollow, trying extreme tubing down the ski jumps at Utah Olympic Park, or whizzing and screaming through the air on a zip line overhead.
Colin Hilton brought fun to our community and opportunity to our children. He was a Pied Piper among sport leaders from around the globe and an extraordinary ambassador for Utah and winter sport.
Since his passing in August, condolences have poured in from across the community and around the world. How, then, can we pay tribute to Colin and recognize all that he gave to our communities?
We can participate in the legacy he built.
This weekend, visit Utah Olympic Park. Take your children to a learn-to-skate session at the Utah Olympic Oval. Go tubing at Soldier Hollow this winter, or learn to cross country ski. Walk through the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Museum. Or challenge yourself to a ride down the Olympic bobsled track.
Colin made these experiences possible. The best tribute we can offer is to embrace them and ensure the legacy he built lives on for the next generation.