Mark your calendars and start your planning now for a very exciting event! The Utah Olympic Park is slated to host ski jumping and Nordic combined Olympic trials on Dec. 30 and 31.
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Nordic combined and ski jumping will be taking place at the Utah Olympic Park. This winner-take-all event will identify those taking their places on Team USA for the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. The event is a coordinated effort between Park City-based U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the United States Olympic Committee, and the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation.
You can expect to see Olympic veterans such as Bryan and Taylor Fletcher, with the brothers expected to lead the pack in the Nordic combined event. This event will be held on the Olympic Park’s HS100-meter hill, followed by a 10-kilometer cross-country race.
The ski jumping event will see a battle for the top spot, with may rising stars looking for an Olympic spot, including Devin Bickner, who also recently set a new American distance record.
The women will be in the spotlight as well. For only the second time in history, women will be qualifying for the U.S. Olympic ski jumping team. 2014 Olympian Sarah Hendrickson is expected to see a repeat berth on Team USA.
Schedule of Events
The schedule for the weekend event is:
Saturday, Dec. 30 — Nordic combined events
Sunday, Dec. 31 — Ski jumping for both men and women
While NBC will be broadcasting the coverage on Sunday, the best way to truly experience these exciting events is right there at the Olympic Park.
Says Tiger Show, President and CEO of U.S. Ski and Snowboard, “Our sport is fortunate to continue to take advantage of legacy opportunities nearly 16 years after the 2002 Olympics in Utah. The Utah Olympic Park will be an amazing backdrop for our athletes in an event that will showcase our sport nationwide on NBC.”
At Park City Rental Properties, we are always proud to see Olympic events held in our great community. We invite you to schedule your rental properties now to get the very best. Plus, this is also the New Year’s holiday and the area will be full of very exciting happenings. Contact us today!
Just outside of town a bit to the north and east is a recreational area called Round Valley. The state purchased Round Valley from a private landowner a bunch of years ago and have been turning it into Disneyland for adults. The trail system here is easily one of the best training grounds to get sweaty spring, summer, or fall; there’s even great cross-country skiing here during the winter. If you are staying at one of our Park City vacation rental homes, you should be able to either jog down there or ride a bike.
Jump on your iPhone and download Trailforks application so that you can have access to all of the different trails and their difficulty levels. It’s also nice to have something that you can use while you are offline, because it fully downloads the trail maps for the entire state, allowing you to use them even when you don’t have cell service.
There are several places to enter the Round Valley network of trails. It’s pretty much accessible from all four sides, so depending on which part of town you are staying, you can likely get down here easy. It’s closest to PC but isn’t too far away from Deer Valley vacation rentals or our properties at the Canyons Resort. If you are looking to drive down there and start your adventure from a place you can park and use the restroom, Google the ice-skating rink and park nearby that, or Google Quinn’s Trailhead. You can also access Round Valley via The Cove or Old Ranch Road.
If you are here during the summer, you can run one of the four Park City trail series (pctrailseries.com) races that start at Quinn’s Trailhead. The first race in the beginning of the summer is a 5K, and they get progressively longer and harder as the summer goes on, ending with a half marathon on the trails. No matter what time of year you are exercising here, it’s always a solid idea to bring extra water. If you’re coming from a sea level location to vacation here in the mountains, your body will definitely love the extra hydration.
As you can tell by the picture above, you never know what you’re going to see here on the trails. This particular day we ran into a pretty young moose, but even as a youth, he was probably over 6 feet tall and definitely aggressive. These are not the kind to animals you just want to walk up and try to pet—make sure to keep your distance! There are tons of other fun creatures you can chase after like the marmot or even the deer, but definitely back up as soon as you see a moose.
If you want to take the long way around Round Valley, there is a great route called Ramble On and another one called Rambler. These can link up with other fun trails like Mats Flats and Nowhere Elks.
Remember that bikes or runners that are traveling downhill have to yield to people that are climbing. Please be careful when cruising around corners or sharp bends; you never know who you’re going to bump into! This area is a great place to meet some of the local athletes that like to come out and train. A smile and a wave is a great way to show the locals a little love.
On a personal note, thanks a lot for staying with us at Park City Rental Properties! We know that there are a lot of choices out there for places to book your vacation. If you have any other questions about these trails or anything else fun to do while here on vacation, feel free to give us a call. we have a helpful concierge staff that’s ready to handcraft you tons of adventures while here in PC. Keep your eyes peeled for us out on the trails. We use them, too!
