Two-time Olympian Luke Bodensteiner relived the excitement he experienced during the 1992 and ’94 Games as he watched hype men with microphones get attendees out of their seats, dancing and chanting, at the Tesero Cross-County Stadium in Italy during Paralympic competitions earlier this month.

But his visit was for business rather than pleasure. He’d come with a mission: to prepare Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, which hosted the cross-country skiing and biathlon competitions during the 2002 Olympics and Paralympics, for the Games’ return to Utah in 2034.

Bodensteiner, who is the general manager of the Midway venue, participated in the International Olympic Committee’s observer program, which allows future organizers a peek at the Games’ behind-the-scenes organization. 

Bodensteiner left for Val di Fiemme, Italy, on March 6 and returned March 12.

It was not his first time visiting the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, which he frequented for competitions in his 20 years in leadership roles for U.S. Ski & Snowboard. But it was his first time participating in the observer program.

The biggest insights Bodensteiner gained from his conversations with Giovanni Plano, the general manager of Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, were around accessibility for disabled athletes and spectators.

“I think that was the one area that, in retrospect, they had wished they had done differently. There’s a short gap between the Olympics and the Paralympics, and what they discovered is they hadn’t contemplated well enough the accessibility issues,” he said. “They spent a lot of time in that 10-day gap building ramps and creating accessibility routes and bridges to get people across snow.”

Bodensteiner said Soldier Hollow is accessible for its day-to-day operations, but the Olympics and Paralympics will require additional planning.

“When you put in a lot of temporary facilities and just think through the route, for instance, that an athlete in a wheelchair has to take to get from bus drop off to the snow where they start skiing, that requires a lot of thought, actually,” he said. “They really said, ‘Build the venue for the Paralympics first, and then if there are things that you don’t want or don’t need, you can remove those and put them back for the Paralympics.’”

The Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium fared better in its snowmaking. Increasing the capacity of its snowmaking system was one of several renovations the venue underwent in its $20 million overhaul in the years leading up to the Games.

Bodensteiner said Tesero and Midway have “remarkably similar” climates and face the same snowmaking challenges, particularly in March, when the Paralympics take place. That’s why Soldier Hollow will be doubling the capacity of its snowmaking system over the next five years, a project that is expected to cost nearly $7 million.

The venue is also trying a new snow preservation strategy this year: snow farming. 

“We basically made a pile of snow that’s about 100 yards long and 50 yards wide and 25 feet deep, and we’ve blanketed that with insulation,” Bodensteiner explained.

He expects about 80% of the snow will be preserved until November. If the method, popularized by ski resorts, is successful, the venue will add two or three additional snow farms.

What will help is that the competitions held at Soldier Hollow will likely take place in the morning to accommodate broadcasts in Europe, Bodensteiner explained. He said snow tends to soften after about 11 a.m. on sunny days.

Another challenge Soldier Hollow will face in 2034 is accommodating spectators alongside the trails. Bodensteiner said the International Biathlon Union is encouraging venues to get spectators close to the action during the 2034 Games.

Soldier Hollow accommodated about 20,000 spectators per day in 2002, and Bodensteiner expects 15,000 per day in 2034. Accommodating those crowds on short trails could be tricky for the venue.

“Unlike in 2002, where the longest trail that we used was the 16.7 kilometer trail, there’s much more focus now on shorter laps. And so, the longest trail we actually do in 2034 is 8.3 kilometers,” he explained.

He’s still brainstorming how to accommodate crowds alongside the trails and said the problem will be addressed closer to 2034.

Bodensteiner not only learned how to prepare Soldier Hollow for the Games, but how Wasatch County can welcome them in 2034.

He witnessed how the nearby Italian towns of Predazzo and Cavalese, of a similar population size to Midway, provided a warm welcome to tourists. The Games “didn’t shut down daily life,” but there were plenty of watch parties in the town squares, and businesses had broken out Olympic posters, flags, historic skis and images of Italian skiers. 

“I think that really helped draw people into those towns and into the shops and into the restaurants and kind of keep the party going,” Bodensteiner said. “In Midway and Heber, that was not the case in 2002. It was sort of, drive into town, take a shuttle to the venue, watch the race and then leave for Park City or for Salt Lake.”

Bodensteiner’s hope is that Wasatch County can have a warmer welcome for tourists during the 2034 Games. That’s why he participates in the Heber Valley Community Impact and Legacy Committee, which also consists of representatives from the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, Heber City, Midway and Wasatch County. The group initially formed as a Soldier Hollow advisory committee around six years ago but shifted focus to preparing for the 2034 Games about six months ago. 

“So far, we’ve been identifying the initiatives that the community would like to see it evolve toward in the future. And soon, we’ll start talking about how to use the Olympics to try to activate or even accelerate some of those projects,” Bodensteiner explained.

He provided the Heber Valley bypass and increased parking areas in Heber City as examples.

Executive Director of Heber Valley Tourism Dallin Koecher is also a member of the committee. He participated in the observer program during the Olympics last month and will be presenting his findings to the committee later this month. Bodensteiner will do the same.

Although Bodensteiner learned much from the observer program, the biggest delight of his trip was the performance of the U.S. cross-country skiing team. He thought that bode well for the 2034 Games.

“It’d be phenomenal for us to see the U.S. athletes perform exceptionally. They did in Italy,” he said. “I think that would bring so much to the local spectators who would be visiting here.”

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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.

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In this week’s collection of portraits from For The Record, we asked folks on Main Street what their favorite memory from the Rio 2016 games has been. (Photos by Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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