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Ski Utah's new Last Chair will take you inside Utah's resorts for the story behind the Greatest Snow on Earth®. In a weekly series of audio features, host Tom Kelly will bring you behind the scenes with resort leaders, athletes and fascinating figures who are the stories inside Utah skiing and snowboarding. Whether you're a passionate local snow rider, or a guest to the Utah mountain landscape, you'll learn about mountain life through the stories of the men and women who shape the Ski Utah experience. Each Last Chair episode is 30-40 minutes, with insightful questions and fun anecdotal facts. As a career communicator, Kelly weaves stories with ease bringing listeners inside the mountain tales of Utah skiing and snowboarding.
S7 Ep5 - Colin Hilton - TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Tom Kelly: Welcome back, everyone to the High West Whiskey Library. Tom Kelly with Last Chair. And joining us today, Colin Hilton, the president and CEO of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation. Winter is underway. And thank you for joining us here at High West.
[00:00:14] Colin Hilton: It's great to be here, Tom. Can't wait to talk about.
[00:00:17] Tom Kelly: Isn’t it a great time of year? You know, we've got ski season underway. I know you've had events underway at the park, and just kind of winter is here.
[00:00:25] Colin Hilton: Yeah, we're just coming off of our FIL Luge World Cup, and that was exciting to get about 35 countries in for that event. And so the park, we're still making snow. We're getting there. The programs are just ramping up. And uh, again, just finished up an event there and an event at the Oval about a couple of weeks ago.
[00:00:47] Tom Kelly: You know, it's so cool here in Utah. We've got all of these events going on in winter sport. The games are coming in 2034, so there's still a few years out. But let's talk first about the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation. This is an organization that came out of the 2002 games. And what has that done? What was its mission and what is its mission and what is the Legacy Foundation doing today?
[00:01:10] Colin Hilton: Well, that's a great question, Tom. Like, really Utah building up to the oh, two games was really, uh, the first, uh, host of an Olympic and Paralympic Games to think about legacy and not just planning for a three-week sporting event, but what to do with the hardest to keep going facilities afterward.
[00:01:32] Tom Kelly: And your responsibility there, I know, is broad and far-reaching. We're going to talk a little bit about it, but how did you get into this role with Legacy Foundation? What was your pathway to get involved in the Olympics here in Utah?
[00:01:46] Colin Hilton: Well, I had been sort of a self-professed event junkie leading up to coming to Utah. I have been, at that point, part of an event called the World University Games in my hometown of Buffalo, New York. I then jumped over to Boston to work on the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and then to Atlanta for the Summer games in '96. So it was, I thought, I was done after Atlanta, but when my boss from Atlanta got hired on to Salt Lake, he kind of called a few of us up and said, ‘Let's go do the winter version.’
[00:02:23] Tom Kelly: Let's talk a little bit more about the, uh, the origins and that legacy that you touched on. So you came to the Games, and actually, what was your role here in Salt Lake for the Games?
[00:02:34] Colin Hilton: So I oversaw Park City, Summit County Venue Planning and operations. So I was essentially the organizing committee's liaison to the three competition venues that are in the Park City area and then the unofficial venue of Main Street, Park City. So for me, it was, um, I loved that community tie in. I loved every effort of these major events to work with the community, to actually make it successful so that it wasn't super concerning to people. And we did that, I think, very well leading up to oh two. And we'll do it again for 34.
[00:03:13] Tom Kelly: I want to just hop back for a minute. You talked about Main Street, Main Street, no competitions on Main Street, but a whole lot of fun, right?
[00:03:20] Colin Hilton: Sure. And that's always, essentially is what we call in the industry, live sites. They are the community gathering spot. And what better a place than Main Street in Park City.
[00:03:32] Tom Kelly: Let's dive a little deeper into the legacy side. I know that the bid committee in 2002 was very much ingrained in legacy. Probably didn't know what that really meant yet. But coming out of the games, uh, you know, you'd been involved with it, and I know you would go off and do some other things, but was there a thinking as you were going through the games about how do we preserve this and how do we build community programs out of this?
[00:03:57] Colin Hilton: Yes. And I would say, like anything, things evolved, and people learned and adapted. There was this initial idea of what a legacy foundation should do, and that was actually memorialized in 1995. A bunch of sport and community and business leaders got together and said, you know, beyond hosting the games, we should have an organization that looks after several of the venues that are hard to to keep. And the idea of, um, opening the venues and operating them with programs was kind of seeded, but it really had to develop in the 4 to 5 years right after oh two.
[00:04:39] Tom Kelly: Let's take a look at the venues that you manage from the Legacy Foundation. And later in the podcast. We're going to broaden this out to all of the venues for 2034. But first and foremost, the Utah Olympic Park, that's the one skiers and riders, when you come into town, you see up on the ridgeline, the ski jumps and so forth. But tell us about the amazing Utah Olympic Park.
[00:05:00] Colin Hilton: It is almost 400 acres. And obviously a lot of gravity sports. So lots of elevation change there. So we have a bobsled and skeleton, and luge sliding track that's about a mile long, about a mile of concrete that you have to refrigerate and, very expensive, high labor, high energy type setup. The big ski jumps you see are just the large ones. But we have a progression of ten, 20, 40, 60, 90, and 120 meter jumps. So that was purposely planned for so that it could be not just the elite athletes but the developing athletes. And beyond that, the freestyle pool, which was put in in 1994 and has seen one renovation in 2015, that is probably the busiest element of our park, where freestyle aerialist and mogul athletes are routinely training and jumping and honing their backflips into the pool through the summer so that they can do that in the winter. The last piece that has come on just in the last few years is an airbag. And it's a it's on an incline, not a flat on the ground, but on a descending slope. And that is probably now our busiest element at the park.
[00:06:19] Tom Kelly: It's it's pretty cool to see this. And, you know, I had the opportunity to be involved with US Ski and Snowboard for many years and being with the athletes and training over there. But let's take a look into the summer because people think about winter. We're talking about winter and winter sports here. But in the summertime, this is a thriving facility with athletes into the pool and into the airbag.
[00:06:38] Colin Hilton: Yeah. And purposely we thought these Olympic venues should first and foremost be athlete training and competition venues. But second to that, we've really developed public uses of these facilities. And in the summer, as you point out, weirdly, for a Winter Olympic training facility, we are busier in the summertime, mainly because of the public uses. So we have upwards to 2,000 people a day doing public activities like zip lines and alpine slides and extreme tubing, and public bobsled rides, and that generates some money to offset how expensive the sport programs are.
[00:07:16] Tom Kelly: Let's talk about extreme tubing. What is that?
[00:07:20] Colin Hilton: A couple of my staff said, ‘Hey, let's take an inner tube down the outruns of the ski jump.’ And it seemed a little crazy. But after I also personally went up and did it, I was like, wow, this is really fun, and had a few of my staff. We purposely tried to fall out and do everything we could to see if it was unsafe, and we couldn't, so we made it a public activity. It's probably one of the most sought-after activities in the summertime.
[00:07:46] Tom Kelly: I have to tell you, I know it's wintertime right now, but when next summer rolls around. If you're in Park City, definitely, definitely try that. It's a blast.
[00:07:54] Colin Hilton: Absolutely.
[00:07:54] Tom Kelly: You get bobsled rides too, right?
[00:07:56] Colin Hilton: Yeah, summer and winter. So obviously, the summer variety is on a wheeled, articulating setup of bobsled. And then on the winter it's on the ice, and we just start you down a little bit so that the G-forces aren't as extreme. But it is a ride of a lifetime. Takes about a minute and people just love it.
[00:08:16] Tom Kelly: Yeah, that's another one I have to recommend. Folks, let's hop over the mountain a little bit down to the Heber Valley and the Soldier Hollow venue for cross country Nordic combined biathlon.
[00:08:26] Colin Hilton: Yeah, it's such a beautiful location in the Heber Valley. Soldier Hollow Nordic Center is where we have cross country and biathlon sports, but we also do a lot of summer activities of mountain biking and roller skiing, for the cross country athletes in the summertime, and lots of events, including, I think, most listeners probably have gone to the Sheepdog Classic that happens once a year. So we use this facility for a variety of uses. It is actually a part of Wasatch State Park. We are just the operator on a long-term lease there, but we've done a great job of growing the programs and the uses and finding ways, um, in the winter, it's also a very, uh, busy tubing hill for the general public. And that actually helps us offset the financials that raise a good amount of capital to operate things.
[00:09:29] Tom Kelly: One of the things that has struck me at the venues over the years is they're obviously open to community use. The US national team athletes train there, but you also get your share of international athletes who find their way over here to take advantage of these training opportunities.
[00:09:43] Colin Hilton: We do. And interestingly, with sport like cross country skiing and biathlon, which are, I would arguably say are a little bit more popular in Europe than they are in North America. A good example of a star athlete in cross country is Johannes Klaebo from Norway. And he actually comes now every late summer or early fall to train at Soldier Hollow because he likes the anonymity of coming to a region where he's not the rock star. He is back home, and he can go into the grocery store, and people really don't know who he is. And, so they … he and a couple of his athletes are now routinely coming out. We see our national teams from the United States here, and a lot of visiting teams that are from the Intermountain West that want to come and train in the summer before the winter hits.
[00:10:37] Tom Kelly: You know, it's pretty cool. I gotta say this, living in Park City, you go into the grocery store when there's an event in town, and you see all the warm-up jackets from all over the world of these athletes who are coming to our community, coming to our state of Utah to to just take part in their sport and to enjoy winter sport.
[00:10:55] Colin Hilton: Yeah. And I think you see that a lot because while we do the World Cups, the major events for the sports, we also do sort of the next tier down, which we call the North America Cup or Continental Cup. These are events where athletes who haven't made the top team are still doing that. And so we hold these sort of development-level competitions for international teams. And, so we see them in the grocery stores. They grow in affection for the community. And when they make their national team are out here, they actually have warm memories of the hospitality that our region shows.
[00:11:32] Tom Kelly: Yeah. It's pretty cool thing. I want to go back to Soldier Hollow. And one of the sports that has really gained a lot of prominence here in Utah over the last few years is biathlon. You've you've hosted World Cup events, junior world Championships. And tell us a little bit about what biathlon is and why Soldier Hollow has become such a center for that sport.
[00:11:51] Colin Hilton: Well, it's a wonderful sport that really blends the endurance aspect of cross-country skiing with then an ability to have an athlete pause, take a deep breath, and aim at a target with a 22 rifle. And that ability to get your heartbeat settled down, aim and shoot. And, they, they have five targets to hit. If you miss a target, you have to do a penalty loop of a small distance. And so, it really balances out the endurance of cross-country skiing and the marksmanship of, uh, being able to hit the target and blend those two together. And, uh, the international governing body has done a wonderful job to make this more spectator-friendly. Shorter courses, more action. The TV side is wonderful, and it's really, it is now the number one winter sport in Europe, even over alpine skiing. And so, um, it's something that is just taken off here and, uh, we'll see how it goes over the build-up to 2034.
[00:13:03] Tom Kelly: And you've helped to get a club program going now, right?
[00:13:05] Colin Hilton: Yes. So, team Soldier Hollow, we've got a great chief of sport for our foundation who also runs our facility. Luke Bodensteiner. He has just grown this program to, well, in excess of 500 youth participants in Team Soldier Hollow. And it is the fastest growing sport, uh, for the region there, and couldn't be happier with the amount of kids who have an interest in cross country and skiing and biathlon.
[00:13:36] Tom Kelly: And it's also now the headquarters of US Biathlon. Right?
[00:13:40] Colin Hilton: That's right. They joined us this past year to set up their headquarters here. I think a little bit of the incentive was that their development team also moved here to base here. And the build-up for our next games, they know this is going to be a hot spot going forward.
[00:14:01] Tom Kelly: So, Collin, let's take the skis off our feet and put skates on and head out to the Utah Olympic Oval. This is the Olympic speed skating venue. It's on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. Tell us a little bit about the origin of that facility and why it's known as the fastest ice in the world.
[00:14:18] Colin Hilton: Yeah, well, it was one of the first three venues built when Utah was trying to go after attracting the games. And so it started as an outdoor speed skating oval. And once we won the award for the ‘02 games in 1995, a plan was put to put a roof over it. And because the elevation at about 4,800ft, there is higher than most speed skating ovals in the world. We take advantage of that high altitude. A smaller, contained field of play where we can control the temperatures, and we actually heat the building to create a very slick surface on the ice. We purify the water and between the elevation, the how we maintain the building and the cleanliness of the building and the purification of the water. It is the fastest ice on earth. And we have now all of the world records at the distances that are currently being competed at.
[00:15:20] Tom Kelly: So, Colin, I think that for myself, a former hockey player and for all of the skiers and riders who go on a ski vacation, and maybe one night you take the kids out to the local skating rink. You mean there's actually science to ice? Ice isn't just ice.
[00:15:35] Colin Hilton: Oh, no. Just like snow. Ice has its a magician's and really technical, knowledgeable people who, uh, it is very much a science. And actually a lot of our ice crew go and help every Games with the Ice technicians to help other countries as they are, uh, maybe developing their Ice for the first time. So we share the love, if you will, of that science. But we're obviously very proud of the fact, and a lot of the athletes who just came for this last World Cup, they love coming because they traditionally will get their personal best of times because of the nature of our ice there.
[00:16:17] Tom Kelly: Yeah, it's pretty amazing, far beyond me. I don't think, Colin, you and I are worried about, you know, whether we get that extra hundredth of a second ourselves, though, we've talked a lot about top athletes and what these venues have meant to the games and to the national team athletes here in America. But one of the initial premises was that this legacy concept would provide community usage and would help kids find an opportunity in sport. You're very much involved with that. And tell us about how these venues have really impacted kids and communities around Utah.
[00:16:51] Colin Hilton: Yeah. Well, and I think most people, if you've seen images on the internet of Olympic venues around the world, unfortunately, most of them are showing how these big, expensive facilities aren't being used enough. And so we purposely said these facilities shouldn't just be elite athlete facilities, they should be community recreation centers just as much, especially with a focus on Utah's youth. Learn-to programs, development level programs, and public uses that really round out how we use these facilities. And I would say that has been my passion to find ways that, yes, we support the national teams, but that's just a sliver of the day, the rest of the day, we should absolutely be bringing in school programs and youth programs, after-school programs, and the crew just at the oval. We have over three-quarters of a million uses a year just at that facility. And it goes from a purposeful philosophy that we should use these Games venues as community recreation centers, as ways to use sport to develop life skills, setting goals, building confidence, and having fun with your friends. And that philosophy has attracted major interest in the programs. And my favorite statistic? We're about four times busier today in use of these facilities than right after the ‘02 Games. Nobody in the world can state a number like that, and it comes from the support of a very supportive board and a community and philanthropic foundations that support these efforts to keep the costs very low and. Just vibrant. And we ensure the coaches and the instructors are fun and enticing and engaging of the kids and and it just has gone through the roof.
[00:18:51] Tom Kelly: How do you as the Legacy Foundation, how do you engage with clubs and other user groups in the communities to make them feel welcome and get them access to the facilities?
[00:19:02] Colin Hilton: Well, it's partnerships, right? So at The Oval, one of my more interesting stories is the local Beehive Elementary School, which is on the same campus walking distance. We heard that they, for gym class, locked the gym doors and walked the kids in the hallway as their PE class. And I was aghast at this and said, if to the to the principal over there, if you bring your fourth and fifth graders over, we will be your PE class. We have skating instructors, and they are engaging, and it's fun. And so it became a win-win. And so partnerships with them. Partnerships up in Park City with the Youth Sport Alliance. And having them do the after-school program to bring kids to the various venues in Park City. And the parks and rec district in the Heber Valley that's creating a program now that brings kids in after-school programs to the cross country venue in the winter at Soldier Hollow. So, I could go on and on. But partnerships and like-minded organizations, we collaborate, we collaborate really well, and we find avenues for kids to try sports that they might not otherwise try.
[00:20:18] Tom Kelly: One of the things that I get very emotional about is seeing how sport can change. People can change lives, and it's just so exhilarating for me to see a young boy or girl who gets involved in sport, and it just takes their life on a much more positive trajectory. Do you have any stories that you could share about, you know, kids whose lives have been positively impacted by sport?
[00:20:40] Colin Hilton: Yeah, and I still love there's a video on our website if anybody wants to see this, but it's, um, a ten year old at the top of our 40 meter ski jump, and, uh, she is she happened to be wearing a GoPro, and one of the coaches was just there being so patient and talking to talking to her about, you know, overcoming her fear. She's like, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can do it. And the coach just had the perfect words to keep her focused, supported her, and allowed her, after a couple of minutes, to finally have her decide that it was time to go. And she did it, and she just raised her arms after landing on the hill and go 40. Nothing. I'm going to do the 64 now and like just that. And these little snippets happen all the time of kids facing a fear or facing a challenge that they don't know if they can do, and having quality instructors to kind of help them approach and get through those moments. They then build confidence. And that confidence, I would argue, they carry on in life well beyond these sport activities. They take it into their work lives and they go, wow, I remember that time I decided I could do it and I did it. And so that to me, in a general sense, is what is happening all the time.
[00:22:08] Tom Kelly: Yeah, it's amazing to me. And thanks for all you do at the Legacy Foundation. We're with Colin Hilton, the president and CEO of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation. We're going to take a short break, and when we come back, we're going to dive into the Olympics. Coming up as Utah 2034 gets ready to welcome the world in a little bit less than 3000 days from now, we'll be right back on Last Chair.
[00:22:40] Tom Kelly: Welcome back to Last Chair, the Ski Utah podcast. We are here again in the High West Whiskey Library at the distillery just outside of Park City. Our guest today, Colin Hilton, the president and CEO of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, Utah 2034. It is coming up last month, about a month ago. We recognized the milestone of 3000 days, and that sounds like a big number, but that's probably not a big number in the big picture of things. But Colin, a lot of excitement for the games coming.
[00:23:05] Colin Hilton: It is, and a bit surreal to have another Games so close to our last one. So excited. And my staff at the facilities are all excited. Can't wait.
[00:23:16] Tom Kelly: You were there in Paris a little over a year ago when the bid was awarded to Utah. Uh, what was that feeling like to be there and know that the games were coming back?
[00:23:26] Colin Hilton: Well, for me personally, I it was very rewarding to to know that a lot of our efforts in Utah were then being recognized to have a sentiment that I feel the International Olympic Committee wanted to go back to a place that already had all the facilities built and that they were using them in a vibrant, dynamic way. And so for me, um, it was a bit of recognition of Utah's approach and philosophy, having a post-game strategy of legacy that was then being recognized for that.
[00:24:03] Tom Kelly: There are two things I want to explore there, and the first one is just the engagement of sport in the community. This is something really unique that Utah has developed here, and I think showcasing it in Paris and actually a partnership event with a French sports organization. But this whole culture of sport that's been developed in Utah. How unique is that, and how much can really be traced back to the actions that were taken from the 2002 games?
[00:24:31] Colin Hilton: Well, I think, what I like about what Utah has done is it not only hosted a great Games, it actually said, ‘How do we expand sport.’ And, you know, the Utah Sports Commission really invested in inviting both winter and summer events to Utah. And that has flourished. Our foundation has found ways to keep the hardest, to keep facilities going. So this mindset and love of sport, I would say it's an extension of our love of outdoor recreation. Just as the culture of people who like to get outside and engage in activities. But, I think, we support well, we come out with a volunteer force to support these events with unmatched hospitality and an eagerness of the population to say where can they fit in and help? I think this has set the table for us to be recognized as a great place to have sporting trainings and competitions occur.
[00:25:40] Tom Kelly: I want to talk about the venues themselves, and I know a lot of listeners are really excited to hear where everything is going to be in 2034. But first, can you … you're the head of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, which is a separate organization from the organizing committee. What is your role in the whole scheme of things as we look ahead to 2034?
[00:25:59] Colin Hilton: Well, the interesting thing the first point out is there is an existing legacy operator that is already been set in place and already has an established team of people that will be here. Now, also before the next games, during the next games, and after the next Games. And so, it's very unique. My particular role during the bid phase was to negotiate all the venue use agreements with all the venue operators and facility owners. That has continued now that we've been awarded. I chair the sport and venue committee for the organizing committee and, along with my right arm, Calum Clark from the Legacy Foundation, we are managing the early-day venue and sport plans for 2034. And so essentially, the organising committee has outsourced this kind of responsibility to the Legacy Foundation. And we'll do that for a period of years until it gets time to then hire the specific staff members. But this is unique. It again, it shows the collaboration and the partnerships of using existing organisations with people who have the knowledge of working with the international sport federations Already, or having the established relationships with the venue operators. So it's a very strategic and effective way to do these early-day plans.
[00:27:31] Tom Kelly: Well, I love what you said about, you know, you're an organization at Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation that's here now. It'll be here tomorrow. It'll be here in perpetuity. So how unusual is that? Is that a norm, or is this something that's really unique to Utah?
[00:27:47] Colin Hilton: I would say it's pretty unique to Utah. And beyond that, there is a purposeful goal of our organizing committee's leadership to say, Colin, we need to set up the Legacy Foundation to continue this effort after this next Games, because we actually think perhaps we would host every 20 or 20, 24 years, and we think that that, that is an effort that the, the, the flame that we keep igniting and keeping going should continue well on forever.
[00:28:25] Tom Kelly: I want to now talk about the I'm going to call it the compact games. And as I as I think about other games that I've been to, games that are ahead, you have absolutely stunning venues, but they're they're spread out over a wide area. Here we have all venues within one hour of the Athlete village. How did that come about and how unusual is that?
[00:28:48] Colin Hilton: Well, it starts with an absolute unique geography that Utah has, uh, with, uh, an amazing new, um, airport, a University of Utah village that in oh two had about 3500 rooms. And now by the time 2034 comes, might have an excess of 12,000 beds, uh, so that, um, we then just look at where our mountain venues, the resort operators, Readers. We have Snowbasin to the north. We've got Park City Mountain and Deer Valley, which are all targeted venues for 2034, and we have all of our ice venues using the established Delta Center, Maverik Center, uh, the Olympic Oval, and the Peaks Arena to the south. So everything is within a one-hour drive of one village that is pretty unheard of in comparison to Milan-Cortina, where some of the venues are six hours apart, and I believe there's 4 or 5 villages for that. So we think this is just a fantastic ability to have the athletes of other sports support the other athletes of their nation. When you're all spread out, you can't do that. So it adds a unique dynamic and an ease of access for spectators and the media to get between facilities.
[00:30:17] Tom Kelly: To translate this a little bit for our listeners and viewers on Last Chair. You may not be coming here to participate in the Olympics, but if you're coming here to ski or ride in Utah from the airport, you've got myriad choices again, all within about an hour.
[00:30:32] Colin Hilton: Yes. And for us, it's why not highlight that unique advantage that Utah has. And I think people really appreciate, uh, not traveling so much and having locations where all the services are right there at either the venue or a neighboring town or city, and just will make a remarkable experience for all involved.
[00:30:57] Tom Kelly: Let's kind of switch over to the quality side. These venues have all been maintained. They've been used for training and competition now over a couple of decades. And I know the IOC likes to track this and has its percentages of how many venues from the past are being used. But these venues, they're really being used, aren't they?
[00:31:15] Colin Hilton: They are. And we're proud of the fact that 100% of the venues in oh two that were used are in use today. And so we want to keep it that way. And we have now an experienced team of venue owners, venue operators that aren't just new to the the winter sports that are being held. I mean, look at Deer Valley has hosted either a World Cup or a World Championship pretty much every year since 2002. We have regular international events, and we also just have an amazing team of again, I'll go back to the volunteers, make it happen for us. And the communities and the sponsors and the supporters that are really required to keep things going, not just for the games windows, but the years in between. And that's where I think Utah has really shined.
[00:32:13] Tom Kelly: As the average skier or rider. I can come to Utah and I can go to some of these same venues. The games are being held on, right? Yes. So let's take cross country skiers so I can just go to Soldier Hollow and I can ski the same runs, the same trails that the athletes will ski.
[00:32:30] Colin Hilton: Absolutely. And we happen to just finish a new $15 million expansion of our Nordic center there. And so that has got an amazing fleet of cross-country rentals that you can come out as soon as the the snow is ready. And, uh, you know, we're up and running right now, so come on out and give it a try.
[00:32:53] Tom Kelly: So, let's talk. Let's head over to Deer Valley. Deer Valley will be the site for freestyle aerials and freestyle moguls. So I would imagine when everybody is over at the East Village this year, exploring this amazing new terrain that you can head on over to Champion on the front mountain and go down that same bumps run where Shannon Barkey won her medal.
[00:33:13] Colin Hilton: Mettle. Absolutely. And they've been doing it for 20 plus years. And, um, they are an amazing partner. That event for the athletes on the World Cup circuit is like the Super Bowl of moguls and aerials competitions. And it's because the team at Deer Valley just has not only gained an experience, but how to make the event extra special. And that, I would say across the board are different venue operators are doing the same.
[00:33:43] Tom Kelly: Park City Mountain has been known over the years for its amazing terrain parks, and that's going to be the site for some of the freeski and the snowboard slopestyle and halfpipe.
[00:33:53] Colin Hilton: Exactly. And we're excited because, uh, that's where really a lot of our youth have developed in the, in these sports of snowboard and freeski free freestyle. And it is the heart of how a lot of that culture was developed here in Utah. And so they're an amazing partner. We'll have a great series of events. We got a little bit of terrain to, to, to build to get that exactly right for events like slopestyle that didn't exist in 2002. So, couldn't couldn't be more excited to have that partnership, grow and develop even more.
[00:34:35] Tom Kelly: You know, the one that is really exciting to me as an alpine skier is the fact that all of the events for alpine skiing will be at Snowbasin. Talk to us about that. That's kind of doubling up from what Snowbasin did in 2002.
[00:34:51] Colin Hilton: Yep. So some might recall from ‘02 we had three different venues being used for alpine sports, Park City, Deer Valley and Snowbasin. So, that being able to sort of consolidate all the ski tech, the waxing cabins and everything into one location for the alpine athletes is really logistically a great thing. But the mountain at Snowbasin and its leadership team, with Davy Ratchford running that, uh, the grizzly run is just epic. We can't wait to use that for the speed events. And then also have a common finish area for all the technical events, that being giant slalom and slalom. And so having all of those events at Snowbasin, um, is, is going to be just wonderful on so many levels. And, uh, I think really takes advantage of some just terrific terrain there and, and a lot of good memories of how those races went in ‘02.
[00:35:54] Tom Kelly: You know, when we watched the downhill event on TV, it looks absolutely harrowing, like, I can't ever do that. But the Grizzly downhill for the men and the Wildflower downhill for the women are really skiable, aren't they?
[00:36:08] Colin Hilton: They are. And the, the resort has that open and available for skiers to, to take those runs going down. So, I would absolutely look forward to that now when they ice it up and make it really firm. That's a little different story than how they are in the usual winter. But, it's still super fun to see that. And, everybody should go try that at least once.
[00:36:34] Tom Kelly: There's a lot of cool things happening in downtown Salt Lake City. The Delta Center has been renovated. There's a plan for the medal ceremony. Again, talk to us about some of the events that will be in downtown Salt Lake City that we might not have thought about.
[00:36:49] Colin Hilton: Yeah, everybody will think, yes, all a lot of the ice sports. Right. And so we'll have, uh, what we call hockey one. Hockey one venue will be the Delta Center, hockey two will be the Provo Peaks Arena down in, uh, Utah County. And, um, but downtown, um, beyond that, we're going to bring temporarily on a temporary ice in the Salt Palace curling events. Curling is one of those Olympic and Paralympic sports that really gets noticed during the time of the games and gets very popular. Um, and so doing that in a central downtown area, uh, where the events go from morning till night will be spectacular. To round it out in the more most interesting thing that people might not be aware of, we're going to bring some of the mountain sports to the urban core, and we're going to bring big air for both snowboard and freeski to the medals plaza to that block 85, which is kitty corner to the Delta Center and next to the Salt Palace. That will be not only Medals Plaza, but we'll have a huge scaffold structure that creates an amazing, uh, Uh, seen an environment for the big air competition. So that will be something new. It'll involve a little bit of, uh, moving snow, uh, downtown. And, uh, hopefully temps give us a little ability to make some snow there, too. But one way or another, that is going to be just an amazing setup.
[00:38:23] Tom Kelly: Yeah. Downtown Salt Lake City is going to be really amazing during the games. It was it was interesting to me, uh, to, to to hear the news on curling. Curling has just grown exponentially. And fan interest in the 25 years since the games.
[00:38:38] Colin Hilton: It is. And it's actually the most amount of tickets of any event, uh, out there. So it is, um, one for which is actually easily accessible to people to go see. It's not typically one of the higher-priced tickets. Uh, so it's a, it's a sport of the people, if you will.
[00:38:57] Tom Kelly: Cool. Let's take a look at this winter, you and your team are heading to the Olympics in Milano. Cortina, Italy. Arguably one of the most spectacular areas in the world. It's quite a different layout. Things are much more spread out, but some really great venues. What are some of the things that you and the Utah 2034 team hope to learn when you go to the Olympics in Italy this February?
[00:39:21] Colin Hilton: Well, for a lot of it, and we're bringing a pretty large delegation, uh, over there, probably in the neighborhood of 80 to 85 people who are, uh, either, um, government, uh, leaders or, uh, Chamber of Commerce or Convention and Visitors Bureau or transportation experts. We are, uh, bringing a team from Utah to, to allow them to see an application of a games in a community. And so part of what's called the official observer program. And so our hope is, to showcase how Italy is, if you will, behind the scenes. How are they planning and organizing everything from transportation systems to city celebrations to tourism promotion, how the Games are being used to elevate some key projects for, uh, the different, uh, regions of Italy. And so that effort is really good for folks who here being at this point would be about eight years before our games, uh, to be able to to get some on the ground vision of how one group and one country put it on so that it helps, uh, inform and allow be creative in planning our Games, with a pretty good long lead up time.
[00:40:49] Tom Kelly: Yeah, it should be an amazing journey. Uh, before we get to our Fresh Tracks section and before we get to this midwinter Night's Dram, which we will talk about before we end the show. Just just take a look back. Colin, you've had the opportunity to be involved with many Olympics. You have led this legacy foundation now for for many years. But when you look at the impact that was had from the 2002 games that still living today, how do you feel that in your heart?
[00:41:19] Colin Hilton: I uh, again, I would say I am, uh, I feel lucky to have been a part of this effort. I also reflect and say the ‘02 games really built a confidence in our culture of our people here in this state. It allowed them to face a huge challenge that the, oh, two games, uh, presented and people felt accomplished, that they were able to host the world. And I believe that, uh, enduring legacy of oh two was, um, it made people go in Utah. We can do anything if we hosted the world. We can do all of these different amazing things. And people, I think, use that as a catalyst to to really focus their efforts on tourism promotion and attracting business to Utah, etc..
[00:42:18] Tom Kelly: Colin, thanks for all you do and thanks for sharing it here with our listeners and viewers. On Last Chair. We're going to close it out with fresh tracks. Then we'll get to a Midwinter Night's Dram. But can you share a crazy story that you recall from your time working in 2002 at the games, almost a quarter century ago?
[00:42:38] Colin Hilton: Probably one of the most interesting and fun story I have is at the bobsled track during the ‘02 Games, we had 15,000 spectators along the track. It was like ten people deep. And, at about the … about four days to go in the games, we had a, I think it was a four-man bobsled event … People got there two hours early. They were all lined up, and I get a call 30 minutes before live broadcast to the world. And it was … bolts were falling off of a bridge into the track, this pedestrian bridge. And, and that was like, ooh, that is a no-no on a sliding track to have anything falling in there. So I went down, we had to move all ten rows of people who got there ten, uh, two hours early. I created a little list, like a dining setup, and created a group of four for Smith party, Jones, another. And I mapped out an area so that we extracted the people, went and fixed it. About ten minutes to go before a live event moved the people back in because I charted out where people should go back in, so they went.
[00:43:59] Tom Kelly: Back to their same place?
[00:44:00] Colin Hilton: They got their same spots back, and they were just so happy. And it was kind of the on the fly. People who run events, those kind of moments are are super fun and notable. And one of the more favorite memories I have from that too.
[00:44:15] Tom Kelly: Yeah, that's a great story. I want to hear, though, what your experience was like the first time you went down the bobsled track?
[00:44:23] Colin Hilton: Oh, I love a thrill. So to me, I loved every minute of it. People kind of describe a bobsled run as an out-of-control roller coaster ride. Lots of G-forces. Lots of movement in the sled. So, for me, I loved it every minute. And I've done it probably now about 50 times.
[00:44:44] Tom Kelly: How many Gs?
[00:44:45] Colin Hilton: Up to four.
[00:44:47] Tom Kelly: What do you get in a fighter plane?
[00:44:49] Colin Hilton: I don't know.
[00:44:52] Tom Kelly: Try it out, folks. You gotta. You gotta try it out. You've been involved in a lot of athlete groups over the year. Individual athletes, teams have come. Any particular story that's close to your heart?
[00:45:02] Colin Hilton: I would say right after this, it's our Ukrainian team that we hosted. We hosted their freestyle team and their curling team right after their country got invaded. We sent out a note to the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee and said, ‘hey, if any of the athletes need a safe and continued good training environment, come to Utah.’ And they took us up on that, and the community rallied, raised a lot of money. We put them up for the summer. They had great continued training, but the friendships built were awesome. And, it really showed the caring nature of our state. And to do something for athletes who were in a predicament for sure.
[00:45:52] Tom Kelly: So Colin, I live in Park City and I'll look up on the hills after a big powder dump, and occasionally I'll see some nice figure eights coming down the ski jump hills. If you had a chance to do that as the boss, you're the boss. You can do this now, right?
[00:46:07] Colin Hilton: Those are usually my staff, but I will confess to say, up on the new Spencer Eccles Mountain Center, those new big alpine training runs. Yes, occasionally. I have poached those for some great powder turns and, but more importantly, with our new uphill pass, I tend to say I'll earn my vertical by skinning up and getting a few turns down.
[00:46:34] Tom Kelly: How crazy is it all these people who want to ski uphill?
[00:46:38] Colin Hilton: It is amazing. And, we saw just in force. We sold out those season pass tickets in, like, five minutes last year. So we increased the amount now, and I think we're about sold out, but there might be a few left there.
[00:46:56] Tom Kelly: So, Colin, when you're outside of your venue, and you're off on one of Utah's many amazing alpine ski resorts, do you have a favorite run out there that you just love to ski?
[00:47:07] Colin Hilton: Well, uh, having had three boys, of course, we … growing up in Park City, here, we, we were at Park City and Deer Valley, so that's, easy from where my office is. I never liked to say I have favorites. But I would say, you could find me in the Triangle Trees at Deer Valley, catching some fresh snow. Even a couple of days after the fact there.
[00:47:31] Tom Kelly: Yeah, you could find a lot of us in the Triangle Trees. Wrapping it up. Last one. And then we'll get to this bottle of Midwinter Night's Dram. You've had great experiences with athletes, with the Olympics. And you know what? What a life. And we appreciate all you've done. But if you were to just sum all of this up in just one word. What's that word?
[00:47:51] Colin Hilton: One word, Tom?
[00:47:53] Tom Kelly: Just one. Just one. I don't make exceptions either.
[00:47:56] Colin Hilton: I would have to say rewarding. I would say I feel lucky, but rewarding to be able to do a job where I enjoy going to work. And it means something.
[00:48:09] Tom Kelly: Well, all the best to you and to everybody in the Utah 2034 team. We're going to wrap up this episode of last year coming to you from the High West Whiskey Library at the distillery just outside of Park City. Today, the good friends at High West have been generous enough to put out a bottle of a midwinter Night's Dram. And this is Rendezvous Rye. You may be familiar with that. That's. I think you and I can probably have more bottles of that at home than than we do Midwinter Night's Dram. But this is essentially Rendezvous Rye that's finished off in some French oak red port barrels. So it has a unique little taste. We're going to do a little toast. And to all of our listeners and viewers, thanks so much for joining us here on Last Chair. Cheers.
[00:48:50] Colin Hilton: Cheers.