Planning for the upcoming competition season began in May and Park City Ski and Snowboard Competition and Events Director Brent Grygiel said coordinating the schedule with U.S. Ski and Snowboard is just the beginning.
“There's just a lot going on and budget process and all that fun stuff,” Grygiel said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour,” Sept. 3. “But really, lining up staffing and making sure we have enough people on the hill to run events well and not with the undue stress on too many people, having more folks is always better.”
Park City hosts competitions in alpine, freestyle and Nordic jumping. FIS, the International Ski Federation alpine races begin in December at the Utah Olympic Park, while freeride events wrap up the season in March at Park City Mountain.
Grygiel said he could use a volunteer pool of about 100 people to staff the competitions.
“Everything from gatekeepers to scorekeepers to judges' assistants to people learning how to time, announce; anyone good on the radio wants to speak – we always need announcers for all of our events. We've got just so many opportunities that historically seem to go unfilled right now, and we cover the bases. But trying to reach out to the community and say, ‘hey, if you've got any interest at all, we'd love to have you.’”
Volunteers working on the hill need to be solid intermediate skiers or snowboarders. Those who aren’t comfortable skiing or riding can still volunteer and work at the bottom of the course.
And, Grygiel said, volunteers need to be prepared to spend much of the day outside.
“Depends on the role, but for sure, most of the opportunities are outside in the elements on a slope; you gotta be able to bear the elements. Like I said, there are a lot of opportunities down the bottom where you can be in Sorels on flattish ground. But yeah, we're a winter sport, and that's really where the need lies is outside."
Park City has a long history of producing elite winter athletes, and Grygiel said hosting local competitions is an important part of building that pipeline.
“We start at the grassroots with town series as well, and all the way up through to elite FIS, and yeah, it's super important,” he said. “You know, if we weren't hosting these events, kids would be traveling up to Wyoming and Idaho and Montana and farther to get these events in, and that's a big burden mentally, physically, financially. So yeah, we want to continue to be the host for all of our kids and supply the best product we can.”
Grygiel said volunteering can also provide valuable experience for anyone considering volunteering at the 2034 Winter Olympics to be held in Utah.
