It’s funny how you come to learn something from a totally unexpected source. We were getting ready to leave Winnemucca, Nevada when I started talking to our neighbor as we were both breaking camp to head to our next location. Turns out that the couple next door were from Provo, Utah and I told them we were headed to Salt Lake City to play tourist. They suggested that we make a point to visit Park City, Utah and proceeded to explain the attraction of the city which is about 28 miles east of Salt Lake City. Park City was the Alpine Heart of the 2002 Winter Olympics. It was founded as a silver-mining town in 1869 and was a booming mining town with 10,000 residents and 100 saloons. Needless to say, it was not a Mormon community … It was the second largest silver strike in the U.S. and there are 1200 miles of mining tunnels under the city; the deepest mining shaft is 2600 feet. The elevation of main street ranges from 6500 feet to 10,000 feet and let me just say that at that altitude it doesn’t take much to quickly run out of breath. Many celebrities have homes in the area.
Here are some photos of the sights and sounds of Park City
As mentioned above, there is a ski lift that takes you from downtown to a couple major ski resorts. That sure makes it convenient – walk down from your hotel, hop on, ski … doesn’t get any better than that.
Check out our round trip ride on the ski lift. I must say that Karen was a true trooper cause this was definitely outside her comfort zone!!
During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Utah Olympic Park welcomed more than 300,000 visitors during 16 days of competition. It was the site of 14 events with 3 in ski jumping, 3 in nordic combined, 3 in bobsled, 3 in luge, and 2 in skeleton. This acclaimed facility is recognized for the fastest sliding track and highest-elevated jumps in the word. The mission of the Utah Olympic Park is to provide year round, world-class facility to develop athletes in winter sports.
Here are some photos of the facilities and a Ski jumper video
We topped off our visit to Park City with a driving tour of the mountain side residences.
Leave a Reply