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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At the annual Park City Leadership Symposium on Friday, Park City Mayor Ryan Dickey set up a conversation with Sen. John Curtis by giving his thoughts about increasingly polarized U.S. politics, which he said was often focused on arguing rather than finding solutions.

“In local government, we don’t have the luxury of leading like that. … Every day we’re here to solve problems and bring people together,” Dickey said. “No one cares if the mayor is a Democrat or a Republican when they want to go to work in the morning and the streets aren’t plowed or, God forbid, if they want to get pickleball time and the tennis players are there. These are real issues. The pickleball party rises above partisan politics.”

When Curtis came onstage, Dickey asked whether the senator had observed an increase in political polarization.

Yes, he agreed, polarization has increased over the past decade, particularly due to social media.

“I could post how much we love puppies on my social media, and somebody would say, ‘See, I told you he was an idiot,’” Curtis joked. “It sadly drives a lot of the narrative in Washington, D.C.”

But he also said that polarized narrative overshadows the bipartisan problem-solving that does occur.

“If I could just literally transport all of you into Washington, D.C., into a day in my life … you would see that most Republicans and Democrats actually like each other, that we get along. We travel together. We eat together. We do things together. … In any given week, I’ll bet I hear four or five times, ‘Let’s find a bill to work on together,’” he said. “We’re kind, and we like each other’s personalities. And that, obviously, is boring, right? And it doesn’t make social media.”

Curtis pointed to the Fiscal Commission Act as an example of bipartisan collaboration. He introduced the legislation with the sponsorship of four other Republicans, four Democrats and an Independent this week. The Fiscal Commission Act would create a bipartisan commission focused on finding legislative solutions to decrease the national debt, which now exceeds $38 trillion, according to Curtis’ website.

Climate change is another way Curtis has pushed bipartisan collaboration. He founded the Conservative Climate Caucus in 2021 to address climate change from a Republican perspective.

“If you can flip climate to be a bipartisan issue, we can flip about anything. And I think that’s one of the things that I’m really proud of, is getting Republicans to actually say the word climate,” he said. “The reality of it is, look, we’re Utahns, and every Utahn, in my opinion, cares deeply about this Earth and leaving it better than we found it. Now, all of a sudden, that’s a basis for a conversation.”

He pointed to artificial intelligence as one way conversations around energy have changed in recent years. 

“Years ago, we were talking about 1, 2% growth in energy,” Curtis said. He believed that made it easy to have conversations about which power sources were best. 

Due to advances in artificial intelligence, “We’re really in a world right now where we need every electron we can get,” he said.

“And this challenges both sides of this debate,” he continued. “We’ve got the current executive branch trying to undermine wind and solar. … And some of my colleagues that have been traditionally against the fossil fuels are realizing themselves, ‘Wow. We’ve got to think about this.’”

He believes changing the narrative to focus on energy growth rather than the sources it comes from will lead the market to naturally “take control” and provide energy that is clean, reliable and affordable.

Water conservation is another issue Curtis believes is an issue that must be addressed at all levels of government and by individuals, particularly after the 2034 Olympics.

“There’s zero question in my mind that we will pull off the best Olympics in the history of the world,” Curtis said.

He said Utah must prepare for growth that may occur as a result of the 2034 Olympics. It’s something he observed after the 2002 Olympics, when people across the globe increasingly realized Colorado wasn’t the only state worth skiing in. He said that growth will create a need to address issues ranging from water conservation to transportation and infrastructure.

Wrapping up the panel, Dickey asked for advice from Curtis, who was Provo mayor from 2010 to 2017, about how to approach his first term as Park City mayor.

Firstly, Curtis recommended adapting the format of town hall meetings. When he was Provo mayor, he allowed public commenters to use their allotted time to meet with him one-on-one instead of speaking in front of a crowd. 

“It totally changed the dynamic of the information I was getting back,” he said.

Secondly, Curtis relayed something he’d heard recently from Brett Hart, the president of United Airlines — a leader is responsible for culture. He said the same is true of a mayor. Whether it’s how police officers treat residents or whether a pesky pothole gets filled, the mayor takes responsibility for everything that happens in their municipality. Similarly, the mayor is responsible for ensuring every resident feels heard.

Finally, Curtis told Dickey to enjoy it. 

“I’m now eight years away from being mayor. Nobody in Provo cares about what the tax rates were when I was mayor. You know what they care about? They will tell stories of the day you showed up at the elementary school in your pajamas to read stories to the kids,” he said. 

Dickey’s final question for Curtis was whether he had any advice about how to address Park City’s parking woes. Dickey said Curtis was spotted on Main Street during Halloween in a past year, dressed as SpongeBob Squarepants, rushing to his car, which was seconds away from being towed. Sadly, Dickey did not provide any photo evidence of Curtis dressed as the cartoon sea sponge. 

Curtis didn’t have any specific advice about parking, but urged Dickey to “figure it out.”

The post Sen. John Curtis talks 2034 Olympics, offers advice to Park City Mayor Ryan Dickey appeared first on Park Record.

Two Summit County officials spent a week in Italy to observe the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, studying key behind-the-scenes logistics to help plan for the 2034 event in Utah.

County Manager Shayne Scott and County Councilor Tonja Hanson flew to Cortina d’Ampezzo on Feb. 10 as part of an observers program organized by the International Olympic Committee. The program is designed to bring leadership teams from future host cities to the Games to speak with local officials and organizers about their planning process for the international event.

“When we would go into different sessions, there would be people from Brisbane because they’re having the Summer Games after Los Angeles. There were people there from the French Alps because they’re having the next Winter Games, and then there was us,” Hanson said. “It was to learn how Italy was executing the Games, what they were doing that we could learn from and what we could do differently.”

The Summit County duo was accompanied by Utah Olympic Park leadership, Park City Mayor Ryan Dickey, Park City Councilor Tana Toly and Park City Chamber/Bureau President Jennifer Wesselhoff. Dallin Koecher, the executive director of Heber Valley Tourism, also participated in the program, as well as city officials from Ogden and the chief operations officer of the Utah Transit Authority.

The Utah contingent attended multiple seminars as part of the program, each with a focus on a key aspect of the Games, such as transportation, credentials and the spectator experience, in addition to visiting venues and speaking with local officials.

“Cortina was kind of special because it’s such a small community, so I think the Games really overwhelmed them, and that’s a risk that we run, too, when we’re trying to accommodate thousands and thousands of people,” Scott said. “We stayed 45 minutes away for that very reason, and there was a bus system that got people around, but Cortina was a fun, smaller mountain town.”

Scott said the location of their hotel was beneficial because it forced the group to wait for the bus and travel into Cortina d’Ampezzo using public transportation, which gave them the perspective of a spectator attending the events. However, Hanson said buses were often delayed, making travel a challenging experience.

“I think they waited too long to organize (transportation). That was the takeaway I had from that session,” Hanson said. “They used a lot of contractors to provide transportation who were not necessarily engaged in the process, so things fell through the cracks in a big way. We would wait over an hour for a bus, and the bus schedule said it should be there, and it would never show up.”

Hanson was not on the Summit County Council when Salt Lake City hosted the Games in 2002, but she was involved in the event through her work with Park City Mountain. She said transportation in 2002 wasn’t a major issue during the Games, but there will be challenges for 2034 because the layout of the venues has changed.

Summit County is already ahead of the curve when it comes to transportation planning, Scott said. The County Council recently greenlit a $92 million bond to tackle traffic congestion issues in Kimball Junction.

“Kimball Junction will be very different than it is today, and I’m hoping the county can have an event or animation here in Kimball’s Junction so you don’t have to go into Park City or you don’t have to go to Salt Lake,” Hanson said.

She added that she wants to prioritize engaging the East Side in the Games as well, which didn’t happen in 2002.

“What can we do to ensure everyone in our county can participate in 2034?” Hanson said. “I really wanted to look at that, and it was helpful because of where we stayed since it was 45 minutes away. The only signage for you to know the Games were going on in this small community was one sign when we walked out of the hotel. … Can we make sure there are opportunities for families who aren’t necessarily involved in winter sports to be able to attend World Cup events because we will have those leading up to the Games.”

Scott and Hanson went to a few Olympic events while in Cortina d’Ampezzo, which also gave them first-hand experience as a spectator. While it may not be as exciting as building an Olympic venue, the placement of bathrooms, concession stands and other amenities for sports fans will be key to the flow of the Games.

“When I thought about it before, I was like, ‘Oh, this will be fun to get to go to an event,’ but I had a lot of takeaways from going to an event as a fan,” Scott said. “For luge, we walked through mud for hundreds of yards, and then within a day or two, they had woodchips down. It was good to see that from a fan perspective, not just behind the scenes, because I got to actually see it just like everyone else.”

The county is still working on how it wants to approach planning for the Olympics, but Scott said he hopes to meet with Park City Municipal on a regular basis beginning this year in addition to exploring infrastructure improvements.

“Can we wrap our heads around what it might cost, and is there funding available to move those projects ahead of the Olympics to make sure we have those things completed?” Scott said. “We’d like to start having that conversation and getting into a regular cadence. … I think it will really start to ramp up. These Games were a good opportunity to kick that into motion.”

Hanson said she was grateful to the International Olympic Committee and the Utah Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games for the opportunity to observe the international gathering in Italy because of how it will benefit planning on the local level.

“Behind the scenes, the information that we’re able to bring back to planners and other people involved in organizing the 2034 Games is great,” she said. “Even if I’m not in office, I’m talking to those people now and sharing my takeaways on things they might not be aware of.”

Scott similarly said the trip was a great way to indicate the county’s commitment to the Games, too, ensuring local officials will have a seat at the table as 2034 inches closer.

“People don’t understand that when you get off Kimball Junction, you’re in Summit County until you get to the white barn,” Scott said. “The Canyons, the UOP, that’s all in our jurisdiction. That’s not Park City. … It’s easy to say Salt Lake City, Park City and Ogden are these big host cities, but Summit County is going to have a major role in these Games, and we want to make sure we’re in the right rooms and have these relationships. We’re Summit County, we’re here and we’re taking this very seriously.”

The post County leaders inform planning for Olympics with visit to Italy appeared first on Park Record.

As he stayed in Auronzo di Cadore, Italy, during the Milano Cortina Winter Games, Dallin Koecher, the executive director of Heber Valley Tourism, Economic Development and Chamber of Commerce, was given a glimpse of how the Heber Valley had let the opportunities of the Olympics pass it by during the 2002 Olympics. 

Despite being less than an hour’s drive from the Games territory of Cortina d’Ampezzo, Koecher said that “you would have no idea the Olympics were happening” while visiting the municipality of about 3,300 people.

“There was no major effort to be like, ‘Hey, it’s the Olympics. Let’s stay open later. Let’s do this. Let’s kind of maximize on this.’ It was just business as usual, or no business as usual, as it turned out to be,” Koecher said about Auronzo di Cadore.

During the 2002 Olympics, Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway hosted the biathlon and cross-country skiing competitions. But, as Koecher put it, “the community just let people come and go,” without reaping the reward of an influx of tourists to Wasatch County. 

With Soldier Hollow hosting those same competitions during the 2034 Games, Koecher and other Wasatch County representatives are eager not to make the same mistake.

“From a community standpoint, we want to make sure that when visitors come to the Heber Valley, they know that this is an Olympic destination, not just a sleepy little town,” he said.

That’s why Koecher participated in the International Olympic Committee’s Observer Program with other statewide representatives invited to study how communities and venues in and around Cortina d’Ampezzo adapted to the Olympics.

Koecher left for Italy on Feb. 7 and returned Tuesday. He was the only Wasatch County representative to participate in the observer program. Koecher visited Cortina d’Ampezzo instead of Milan, so he could observe the biathlon competition, and watched the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena on Feb. 14.

“I think in Europe, they look at cross-country skiing and Nordic events like we look at college football,” Koecher said with a laugh. “Just massive.”

Able to accommodate up to 19,000 spectators, the arena had the highest spectator capacity of any venue in the Milano Cortina Winter Games. Soldier Hollow accommodated about 20,000 people per day over 16 days of the 2002 Games, according to Luke Bodensteiner, the venue’s general manager.

Bodensteiner expects about 15,000 people per day in 2034, a prospect that excited Koecher. This could be a chance for visitors to shop for trinkets, dine, explore the area and enjoy Heber City’s Main Street Park. The city is currently redesigning the park to support increased event programming, with the intention of completing the makeover by the 2034 Games.

Although Koecher said the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena had all the grandeur of a football stadium, he thought that Soldier Hollow had the venue beat in offering a good view of the competition for spectators. 

“In Italy, we’re in the stands, and you can basically see the shooting range and the penalty track and the start and finish line, which are all great and really exciting. But as soon as they leave the stadium, you don’t see them until they come back,” he said, “Whereas at Soldier Hollow, you have the opportunity to watch without having to be out there. … You can watch these skiers through the trails and stuff from the spectator stands.”

However, both venues face a similar challenge of only having “one road in, one road out,” Koecher said.

He explained that the Olympic organizers dealt with that problem in Italy by temporarily operating shuttles during the Games. He said that could be a viable solution in the Heber Valley, but the experience of being stuck on buses for much of his trip led him to dream up an additional idea: a Heber Valley Railroad train route traveling between Heber City, Midway and Deer Valley East Village.

“(It) would be a solution for the Games, but also create a long-term legacy piece that would benefit our community, Soldier Hollow, the railroad, ongoing, not just for the four weeks of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Koecher said. 

He said using the railroad and shuttles would allow people to park in areas like Southfield Park or Deer Creek High School, alleviating traffic and parking congestion in hotspots like Soldier Hollow.

While the biathlon competition was a highlight, the bulk of Koecher’s trip was spent traveling to other Games venues and talking with International Olympic Committee members, volunteers and paid staff about the challenges and opportunities posed by the Olympics.

What stuck out to Koecher most was the lack of lodging dedicated to non-local volunteers.

“Some of the volunteers said that it was just up to them. ‘OK, go find your housing and figure it out yourself.’ So, they turned to Facebook groups. They turned to social media to find housing,” he said. 

He said Utah has the opportunity to do a “better job” of filling that need, perhaps by organizing an online, statewide system that would match people willing to open their homes to volunteers during the Games.

Even if the practice isn’t adopted in such an official capacity, Koecher is hopeful that it can be picked up in the Heber Valley.

“It’s really kind of like hosting a foreign exchange student for only a couple of weeks,” he said. “That’s a really neat way to, one, experience a new culture by having somebody in your home, but also share our culture.”

As for opportunities, he said broadcasting was a big one.

“The biathlon and cross-country events are hugely popular in Europe. So when they are on TV, they’re going to want their new valley-wide shots, maybe even talk a little about the community as the broadcasters are talking about the events,” he said. “There’s an opportunity for us to use this as a marketing tool, or at least a way to showcase our community to the world.”

Koecher was unable to meet Cortina d’Ampezzo Mayor Gianluca Lorenzi with the rest of his group because the meeting took place on Koecher’s date of departure. 

He said that by the time the meeting was set up, he had already planned to fly home early to minimize the cost of the trip, which was about $4,000 and paid for by Heber Valley Tourism’s budget. The bulk of that budget is funded by Wasatch County Transient Room Tax revenue.

Although Koecher was unable to meet Lorenzi, he asked members of the group to share notes about what they’d learned from their conversation with him.

Koecher said being “boots on the ground” during the observer program was an insightful experience he encouraged other Wasatch County representatives to participate in during the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Games and the French Alps 2030 Winter Games. 

Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco has indicated that she is interested in participating in the program during either of those Games. She was supposed to attend this year in Koecher’s place but had to decline when her grandson was born. 

Bodensteiner will be participating in the observer program during the Paralympic Games in Val di Fiemme, Italy, from March 6 to 11. 

Koecher will present findings from his trip to the Heber Valley Community Impact and Legacy Committee — a group made up of representatives from Soldier Hollow, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, Heber City, Midway and Wasatch County — sometime next month.

The post Heber Valley Tourism executive director returns from Olympics with takeaways for 2034 Games appeared first on Park Record.

Pins are the unofficial economy of the Olympic Games. Exchanged among fans, volunteers and competitors as a form of social currency, pin trading offers access to the global Olympic conversation without even needing a ticket to an event. 

It’s how I met Brent Folan. 

Four days into the Games, I was already running on fumes and Olympic adrenaline. On my third event and somewhere around my 20th working hour of the day, meeting Folan, the 35-year-old guy walking the streets of Cortina in a half-unzipped American flag onesie, felt like something out of a dream. One of those really weird ones where you have clouds for shoes and Snoop Dogg starts singing you a ballad. 

And when he approached me asking if I had any pins to trade, my brain fog lifted into something more like a psychedelic haze as his panel of pins from people and places across the world gleamed in the light of the luge track at the Cortina Sliding Center. 

I groggily passed him a Park City pin with an image of Jupiter Peak on it, highlighting the 2034 Games. He offered any from his selection, including one of 300 limited edition custom pins of his own featuring a cartoon version of himself in that outrageously American onesie, throwing up his hands in the air.

I accepted. My new Brent Folan original now sits at the top of my lanyard, just above the Canadian ski team pin I acquired at the Olympic downhill earlier in the week — my two prized possessions. 

While for me, Folan and his onesie were something of a shocking and hilarious spectacle of national pride and Olympic participation, for him, the onesie is a superpower. 

He said it signals instantly who he is and where he is from, and it brings in people who want to take part in the Olympic conversation. 

“The crazier you dress, the better it is,” Folan said. “It attracts people. It helps with pin trading. It just makes it more fun for everyone.”

The Olympics have given Folan more than an impressive pin collection. They changed the trajectory of his life. 

Folan was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and spent much of his adult life in Texas after attending Texas Christian University. A massive sports fan, Folan said he spent three years preparing to attend the 2016 Rio Games after the 2012 Summer Olympics inspired him to go and volunteer. 

The first day of the 2016 Games, he landed a selfie with Warren Buffett at the Opening Ceremony. By day four, he was dubbed the “Forrest Gump of the Rio Olympics” in The Wall Street Journal. A week later, he had met and taken a photograph with Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Usain Bolt, and appeared on “Good Morning America” as “the Selfie King of Rio.”

He skipped his return flight and stayed through the closing ceremony, attending 33 events. That trip launched a 412-day journey across 57 countries. He met his now wife, Caity George, in Kenya. The couple eventually traveled to 116 countries and all seven continents over eight years.  

Today they live in Puerto Rico, balancing their work in wildlife photography, scuba diving and advocacy. And yes, they stayed up all night to watch Bad Bunny perform at the Super Bowl.

The couple is attending the Games alongside his brother, Evan, and Evan’s girlfriend. Evan’s recovery from a severe traumatic brain injury inspired their family’s advocacy work through Toro and Tides, an organization they launched to raise awareness and build community for people living with traumatic brain injuries.

Every Olympic cycle, Folan returns to the onesie. Now attending his first Winter Games, he wears a fleece version. 

“It really feels like I’m in a dream. The Olympic magic is so real. And you know how it is, right? Everybody here, it’s just, it’s unexplainable,” said Folan. 

Of the three Games Folan has attended — Rio, Paris and now Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo — he said the Olympics in Italy stand out.

“It’s the fact that they closed the city. Only locals can drive there. It was the best for pin trading, the best for running into athletes who had their medals in their pockets that were willing to show you. I did not want to leave Cortina. It’s magic there,” said Folan.

Folan works to make the Olympic experience his own.

As a lifelong global citizen and professional traveler, he’s the guy in the American flag onesie who hitchhikes into town because the bus takes too long.

“I don’t want to waste 10 minutes waiting for a bus. There are people to meet,” he said. 

He wasn’t waiting on the street for more than a minute before a driver came for him. The first time, he met a Frenchman attending his 13th Olympics, the next man he met was on his eighth.

Pin trading has been constant, he said. He arrived in Rio with about 100 pins. In Paris, he traded more than 300. This year, he commissioned 300 custom pins of his own and has already traded most of them.

“I finally made my own custom pin,” he said. “Now I’m in the big leagues.”

Folan logs each day on his social media account and has amassed a massive following over the years. But he said that for the first time in all his years of Olympic virality, athletes and fans have approached him to trade.

In the few days he was in Cortina, he was learning the life story of a retired Austrian slider, coordinating a future pin trade with an athlete from Eritrea and trading stories of his adventures in athletes’ home countries.

After traveling to hundreds of cities, the pins he acquires each Games have come to represent a connection to people all around the world. Folan said he remembers every person he trades a pin with, and his travels continue to bridge distances, superseding teams, countries and politics to build a better picture of what humanity looks like. 

His supply of pins was dwindling, with just around 80 left to trade as of Friday and nine days left of the Games — dreadful news for friends and family back home who asked Folan to save them some.

It is, however, fantastic news for this lucky reporter who found him before he realized he would need to start being selective with his trades. 

“What I love about the Olympics now is it feels like a big reunion,” he said. “I used to say I’ll never miss another Summer Olympics,” he said. “Now, after this first Winter Olympics, I don’t think I’ll ever miss another Olympics in my life.”

When the Winter Games arrive in Utah in 2034, Folan said he plans to be there. Though with eight years to wait, he hopes he might be there with kids of his own. 

Folan promises his “family full of onesies” will bring the energy to Utah, and maybe they’ll even take part in the competition. Having met so many of the world’s greatest athletes, he said, put the dream of being an Olympian within reach.

“It’s inspiring, but you can see how they all did it, and well, if my kids want to do that, I will provide every opportunity to help them achieve that dream,” he said. 

But if they do ever compete, Folan joked the debate in his house will be whether they represent Team USA or Team Australia, on behalf of his wife’s lineage. 

For Folan, the Olympics didn’t just shrink the world geographically. They shrank the distance between dreams and reality, making the impossible feel within reach. 

“For me, at my first Olympics, it was so cool to see all these countries come together, and then it created this opportunity to go to those countries and see their culture and experience it. And now these names on a map are associated with friends and places I’ve been,” he said. “It’s a hundred magic moments that I’ll never forget.”

The post Brent Folan, the Pin King of Milano Cortina, builds connection one trade at a time appeared first on Park Record.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Rowland Hall’s Mary Bocock made her Olympics debut on Thursday in the women’s super-G at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center. At 22, she is competing on the world’s biggest stage just four years after graduating from Rowmark Ski Academy, a feat she agrees is shocking.

“It’s amazing,” Bocock said. “This is a dream come true to be at the Olympics.”

The super-G, short for super giant slalom, is a single-run event that blends downhill speed with giant slalom turns. Allowing no training runs, athletes inspect the course for 90 minutes in the morning, then race it blind at full speed. 

On Thursday, heavy fog in the mountains obstructed the view of cameras, crowds and skiers alike. For athletes, that meant managing high velocity into big, technical turns while also battling flat light and low visibility through the upper section of the course as warming temperatures softened the snow throughout. 

Seventeen of the 43 starters did not finish, with five of the first nine disqualified after missing gates across multiple sections, making the super-G into a wild game, where anyone could end up on the podium with so much of the field out of contention. 

Austria’s Cornelia Hütter, who had tied for fourth with American Jackie Wiles in Sunday’s downhill, seized bronze in the final Olympic race of her career after narrowly missing the podium with a fifth-place finish in Tuesday’s team combined. France’s Romane Miradoli took silver. And Italy’s Federica Brignone, less than a year removed from a triple leg break and ACL rupture, skied to gold.

The U.S. team, however, struggled significantly in the super-G. Downhill gold medalist Breezy Johnson did not finish after straddling a gate 20 seconds into her race and sending herself into the b-net, and Bocock fell after losing control on a jump on the second half of the course. 

Wiles, who took bronze in the team combined, finished 13th overall, just ahead of teammate Keeley Cashman in 15th. 

“On days like today, it’s kind of a chance when you could do really well, because some of the field goes out,” Bocock said. “Typically, I would like to use that to my advantage, but I also didn’t make it out.” 

Bocock said the top section felt manageable, and she was happy with how she performed in the middle. But she took a hard fall after a tricky jump, which put her sideways in the air and set off the airbag in her suit upon landing. She got back up and skied down uninjured, though unable to cross the finish line in her first Olympic race. 

“Well, there was a roll for which I had a plan, and I didn’t execute that plan,” she laughed. “And so that is where I went out. I crashed, my airbag went off, but I’m totally fine, which is lucky.”

Her parents, Amy and Alex Bocock, stood in the stands with friends from across the ski racing community in the Intermountain West, all people who have known the Olympian since she was 10 years old.

“You would never dream this would happen,” Amy said. “It’s incredible.”

What had previously felt like competing within the ski racing community now felt connected to a much wider audience. The scale of the audience and the sense of national representation gave her a clearer understanding that the Olympics carry a different weight — an experience she said she is grateful for, regardless of how the race ended. 

“Everyone talks about the Olympics, but now that I’m here, I didn’t necessarily realize the magnitude of the effect and the outreach I might have,” said Bocock.

Bocock and her sister, Elisabeth, made history during the 2023-24 season when both debuted in the World Cup giant slalom in Sölden, Austria. They were the first pair of sisters to make their debut in the same race since 1999.

Bocock said her Olympic journey is far from done. Although she did not finish the race, she promised she’ll be back for more.

The next two Winter Games feel like a double home Olympics, she said — Salt Lake City, where she grew up skiing and racing, and the French Alps, where she lived for a year and built close ties within the ski community.

“I have strong connections to the next Olympics as well as in Salt Lake. So I’m really, really looking forward to the next eight years, the next two cycles and Utah in 2034,” said Bocock. “I hope next Olympics I make it down and do well.”

She said watching Brignone secure gold in front of a home crowd felt like a dream come true. Observing the connection between Brignone and the Italian fans, the celebration in the finish area and the constant energy in the stands, demonstrated what it means to win on home snow and only motivated Bocock further to do the same in 2034. 

“I’m hoping to be there with my sister, that would be awesome. I want to be like Federica. She’s the home girl right now, and she’s winning and I hope to do that at home too,” said Bocock. 

Bocock said guidance from veterans like Lindsey Vonn helped her navigate the scale of her first Olympic experience.

“Lindsey did tell me there are a lot of things to prepare myself for,” Bocock said. “That it’s going to be a little overwhelming, but it’s all really cool to just experience all that.”

Vonn, who has spent nearly two decades on the U.S. Ski Team, has offered an enduring presence for younger athletes coming through the pipeline. Bocock added that all the girls on the speed team have been there to support her through her Olympic debut. 

“We have a good group, a younger group, coming up too and that’s so promising. It is so cool that we have so much depth with Breezy and Jackie, and we have some girls who aren’t even here, who are also really, really good. So it’s really exciting to have such a strong team to do this with,” said Bocock. 

The super-G was Bocock’s only Olympic event, and she is already headed home to prepare for her return to the World Cup circuit.

The crash did not dampen Bocock’s outlook. She spent time walking through Cortina d’Ampezzo with friends from high school, stopping to take photos in front of the Olympic rings set up in town. The atmosphere with flags lining the streets, athletes moving between venues and fans gathering in team gear gave her a chance to absorb the scale of the event from outside the start gate.

Bocock has also thrown herself into pin trading, a long-standing tradition at the Games in which athletes, volunteers and spectators exchange small commemorative pins representing their countries or teams. Among her favorites is a pin from Snoop Dogg.

Overall, Team USA faced a difficult day on snow. But for Johnson, while she didn’t leave the finish corral with a gold medal, she did leave it with an engagement ring. 

After crashing into the netting early in her run, Johnson stood up quickly and skied to the bottom uninjured, her helmet scraped but intact. The super-G marked her final race of the Games. Minutes later, still processing the result, her boyfriend, Connor Watkins, approached her in the finish area.

Johnson, who lives in Salt Lake City with Watkins, said she had long imagined being proposed to at an Olympic Games.

“It felt fitting to kind of combine two of my loves, and it’s a special place at the Olympics. I feel like there’s a lot of mystique around it. And, you know, also, you get free photography,” she joked.

Watkins had been planning the proposal for about a year, arranging the ring, coordinating family logistics and preparing for multiple scenarios depending on how the race unfolded.

But for Johnson, after completing her final race of these Olympic Games, being around the people she loves and celebrating anyway felt the perfect fit, she said.

The post Utahn Mary Bocock crashes in Olympic debut at super-G, but unhurt and happy appeared first on Park Record.

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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MILAN — The city welcomed the Olympic torch on Thursday as massive crowds gathered for a glimpse of the flame. Schoolchildren, office workers, couples on afternoon walks and more than a few accidental onlookers who rushed outside to see what was happening formed a chorus of support around Utah Olympic leaders Fraser Bullock and Gail Miller.

While most marveled at the fanfare and celebration, some paused to guess at who the torchbearers were — but only after trying to snap a selfie or reach out to touch the flame. A few even wagered that Bullock was actor Steve Baldwin. And when Miller passed through, many watched in reverence, whispers of “que bella” drowning out the inevitable “who is she?” questions.

Miller closed out Utah’s presence along the relay route, running last among the six Utah torchbearers who carried the flame through northern Italy. After Spencer P. Eccles, Dale O’Blia, David Huntsman and Amy Garff each took earlier legs in the name of youth sport, athlete development, mental health and education, Miller carried the torch through Milan’s CityLife shopping district on Thursday afternoon in the spirit of community and volunteerism. 

“It was so emotional to know all those people were here cheering for the same thing and I get to be part of it. They don’t even know who I am,” said Miller. “But isn’t that the exciting thing about the Olympics? It brings people together.” 

Miller last ran the Olympic torch during the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City alongside her late husband, Larry Miller. 

Miller smiled at the chaos of the crowd as she moved through the Italian shopping center, saying it captured what she believes defines the Olympic movement and what Utah hopes to carry forward in its planning.

“We lit this flame, and it’s burning across the world in anticipation of something bigger and better, together,” she said.

Though at times it seemed the tidal wave of people pouring in for a photo might overwhelm the torchbearer and her crew, Miller didn’t balk. 

“Oh, I hope we’ll have more crowds than that in Utah,” she said. “I mean, that was a big crowd, but that’s one thing we can make happen. We’ve got eight, nine years to be able to bring this all together. We can do a lot to bring people together, give them experiences, and opportunities to volunteer to be a part of it.”

In her role as a captain of Podium 34, a Utah legacy fundraising initiative ahead of the 2034 Games, Miller said the relay offered a reminder of how much the Games extend beyond competition. She emphasized the importance of participation from volunteers to spectators in creating an Olympic experience that builds community.

“They all wanted to just be a part of it,” Miller said. “And the magic of the Olympics is that they can be. They can volunteer and be a part of what’s going on. These are things that the future brings for the youth of today.”

Though she couldn’t see much of the city beyond the crowd pressing in, she said she could clearly see what the next eight years could look like for Utah.

“Everyone is just excited for what’s coming. Excited to be a part of something bigger than they are. Even if they’re not an athlete, they can be part of it by being here, by watching, cheering, by participating,” said Miller. 

Employees flooded storefront displays and kids shouted from balconies above to cheer on the passing flame. 

“Those kids, they didn’t know who I was. They wanted a picture of that torch. Everybody puts at least a little bit of themselves in that flame, and when it’s put together on the cauldron, we’re all burning brightly together,” said Miller. 

Bullock, president and executive chair of Utah 2034, the organizing committee for the 2034 Winter Olympic Games, has felt that electricity before. He said there is nothing like it.

“This is the magic of the torch relay,” said Bullock, who ran the torch ahead of the games in 2002 and 2010. “The Olympic flame brings unity and hope and inspiration. They just want to be part of it, and the torch does that.”

The post In Milan, the Olympic torch belongs to the crowd appeared first on Park Record.

The Summit County government is sending a small delegation to the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics next month to speak with local officials about their experience hosting the international event.

County Manager Shayne Scott on Monday confirmed he and Summit County Councilor Tonja Hanson are flying to Venice on Feb. 10, with plans to return on Feb. 18. The trip is an observers program organized by the International Olympic Committee, and Scott said he’s still waiting on final itinerary details to learn the specifics of who the Summit County representatives will meet while abroad.

“We’re excited and anxious to see some of the behind-the-scenes work,” Scott said. “I know several folks went to the Games in the summer of ’24 in France, and they saw a lot of good details around volunteerism and branding and events.”

Scott said Summit County will be more involved in the 2034 Games than it was with the 2002 Games, which is why county staff needs to start participating in the planning process now.

“Summit County has, in the past, struggled to have individuals with the state recognize that we’re not Park City,” Scott added. “We’re very close to Park City, and in a lot of ways, we are very similar, but we aren’t the same organization. We don’t want to say, ‘Oh, Park City is there, and they’re representing us.’ We need to do that on our own.”

Park City is sending three people — Mayor Ryan Dickey, City Councilor Tana Toly and acting City Manager Jodi Emery — to next month’s Winter Olympics as part of the same program, although both the city and the county are expected to incur some of their own costs. Scott said he expects their time in Italy to overlap, but he’s not sure if they’ll be traveling to the same sites together.

Scott said the Summit County delegation plans to focus on transportation strategies while overseas. The County Council late last year passed a $99 million bond to fund infrastructure improvements in the Snyderville Basin, partly in anticipation of the 2034 Winter Olympics. 

The Utah Department of Transportation has also earmarked the Kimball Junction interchange as an area in need of improvement, and traffic congestion in the Snyderville Basin has long been a running concern in Wasatch Back discussions regarding the 2034 Games.

“We believe that, in the county, we’re going to have a very different Kimball Junction in 2034,” Scott said. “We hope to really energize that area, and I would love to see some ways in which they’re doing the same thing in Italy, accommodating the people who are there and engaging them in the community.”

Scott said Cortina d’Ampezzo seems like a beneficial city to study during the Games because it’s a smaller town near a larger metropolitan area, similar to Park City’s relationship with Salt Lake City. He said he hopes to analyze how local officials tackled their own issues with traffic congestion, in addition to parking, shuttles, security and other logistical concerns.

“In France, they said everybody was wearing the same shirt, and that feels like such a small thing, but everybody knew to go to one of those individuals wearing a certain shirt to ask questions and to get directions,” Scott said. “It’s little things like that for us to bring back and understand how best to manage the Games here in Utah.”

The 2026 Games are one opportunity for local officials to study a Winter Olympics before 2034, the other being the 2030 Games in the French Alps. Summit County will likely continue to send representatives to other Games before then, including the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. Brisbane, Australia, will also host the 2032 Summer Games.

Scott said transportation is the focus for Italy, but it may be possible — and beneficial — to send Sheriff Kacey Bates to Los Angeles for the Games to better prepare local law enforcement.

“People often think that because it’s the Olympics, the federal government comes in and does all of that,” Scott said. “They’re very instrumental and crucial, but our local law enforcement is going to be so important to the safety and security that we have. … We’ll have an emergency operations center active during the entire Games, which will require such a large law enforcement presence to be able to manage that, and I would love to have Kacey see what that’s like.”

Summit County and the Park City area are crucial for the 2034 Games. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park have already been identified as competitor venues.

The post Summit County will send staff to Italy to study upcoming Winter Olympics appeared first on Park Record.

The Summit County Council received little feedback on a $99 million transportation bond this week, with only one resident advocating for proper planning measures to prevent the funds from contributing to infrastructure for Dakota Pacific Real Estate’s future development in Kimball Junction.

Nicholas Schapper was the lone speaker during Wednesday’s public hearing. He said he wasn’t necessarily opposed to the bond, which is slated to fund almost $100 million of transportation improvements in the Snyderville Basin, but he was nervous about what he perceived as a lack of guardrails on how the money will be used.

“It doesn’t solve the main problems going in and out of Park City because that’s a (Utah Department of Transportation) problem,” Schapper said. “To me, this is another way of facilitating Dakota Pacific. It’s a facilitation of the problems they’re going to create when they do their development. … Are we helping them or are we helping the citizens?”

Schapper additionally said he understood the push for better infrastructure in Kimball Junction before the 2034 Winter Games, but he urged the County Council to plan improvements based on the needs of residents.

“I’ve been to almost every Olympics since Lillehammer, and it’s 16 days,” he said. “Do not get caught up in 16 days. That time will pass. We’ll be left with what happens before the Olympics and what happens after, so please look through the lens of that.”

County Council Chair Tonja Hanson said she agreed with Schapper’s statement. Hanson said last month that she viewed the bond as providing better infrastructure to Snyderville Basin residents as a whole rather than preparing for the Games.

County Manager Shayne Scott, who proposed the bond in October, first pitched the idea as future planning for the 2034 Winter Olympics.

The County Council in November discussed and authorized the bond measure alongside a new sales tax based on Scott’s recommendation. Technically, the bond has already been approved, but the public hearing was legally required for the county to actually issue the bonds and receive funding.

The bond will pay for desired transportation improvements, while the revenue generated by the new tax will go toward paying off the county’s resulting debt over 21 years.

The state Legislature in 2015 established the Impacted Communities Taxes Act to provide funding to resort municipalities facing increased rates of infrastructure degradation because of substantial tourism. Summit County staff for years advocated to amend the law to allow the tax to be implemented at the county level as well — a request state lawmakers granted earlier this year.

“I’ve been in favor and been trying to get this kind of tax for the whole time, some 17 years, that I’ve been in office,” said County Councilor Chris Robinson. “Jurisdictions around us have the same tax, in Park City Municipal. I think this is a good way to raise revenue without putting a burden on the local taxpayer.”

The updated statute allowed the County Council to create a tax of up to 1.1% on sales in unincorporated Summit County, with the revenue specifically earmarked for transportation infrastructure, transportation infrastructure improvements and transit projects. The tax did not require voter approval.

Summit County staff predicted the new tax will generate approximately $17 million annually, and Scott said he expects it to go into effect in mid-February.

The tax only affects specific purchases, similar to the emergency services sales tax that voters passed last year. Exemptions include “unprepared” foods, prescription medications, gasoline and automobile sales.

Once the tax is in effect, Summit County’s overall sales tax rate will be around 8.75%, compared to 9.55% in Park City proper, 8.25% in Salt Lake City and 7.55% in Heber City.

Aspen and Vail, Colorado, often considered competition for Park City’s ski resorts, also have higher sales tax rates than unincorporated Summit County — around 9.3% and 9.4%, respectively.

Park City is currently the only municipality in Summit County utilizing the Impacted Communities Taxes Act. Cities must have a transient room capacity greater than or equal to 66% of the municipality’s permanent population to be eligible for the tax under state code. Municipalities are also allowed to tax at a higher rate than counties, and Park City specifically has a tax rate of 1.6% on qualifying purchases.

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