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Soldier Hollow kicks off busy winter with free Nordic skiing

The Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, site of the 2002 Olympic biathlon, cross country and Nordic combined events, is just outside of Midway in Wasatch County.
Credit Soldier Hollow
The Soldier Hollow Nordic Center; site of the 2002 Olympic biathlon, cross country and Nordic combined events; is just outside of Midway in Wasatch County.

The Wasatch County ski season kicks off this weekend as Midway’s Soldier Hollow Nordic Center opens to the public for a busy winter.

This Friday, the Nordic center invites the public to come out for free skiing. It’s the first day of the regular season. All day, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., ski passes are free, and so is equipment to borrow while supplies last.

The recreation spot and former Olympic site has been partially open to its members for Nordic skiing. Along with the full ski area, the popular seven-lane tubing hill will also open Friday. Soldier Hollow Customer Engagement Manager and Heber City Councilor Rachel Kahler says snowfall this month is helping to get the whole facility ready.

“Mother Nature was able to bring a little bit of snow, but we got a head start,” she says. “We actually started making snow 10 days before Thanksgiving. So, our trails are open, man-made snow is helping that, but we definitely appreciated a little help from Mother Nature last week, and hoping for some more storms this week. The tubing hill looks amazing, though. It’s the one white spot on the hill. We’ve got seven lanes that will be open on Friday, 10 a.m., and it should be a magical holiday season for tubing, really.”

The facility was built for the biathlon, cross country and Nordic combined events in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Today, along with being a public facility, the Nordic center is still a competition and training site for kids in first grade through high school, as well as the collegiate and national team levels.

From late February into early March, the Nordic Center will host the International Youth and Junior World Championships Biathlon. During those two weeks, 600 athletes from around the world will compete in Midway.

Last month, the Wasatch County Council pledged $100,000 to help Soldier Hollow host the competition. The facility’s also looking for help from volunteers to run the event between February 22 and March 3.

For local skiers of all ability levels ages six through 19, sign-ups are open for competitive and instructional programs at Soldier Hollow.

In addition to this Friday, people can also ski for free January 14 and February 4. February 4 is also a celebration day to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of hosting the Olympics, and to celebrate the beginning of the 2022 Beijing games.

There are other opportunities to ski for free at Soldier Hollow. The Healthy Communities program will award free season passes to some families and young people. That’s because Soldier Hollow wants to see more community members get into Nordic skiing.

“This program is really designed to reach out to those in our community that may not be able to afford skiing or Nordic skiing,” Kahler says. “We want them to come out and participate, and so we have provided scholarships for families or youth that are interested in learning how to Nordic ski. We just want to see more people in our community come out and enjoy the great outdoors in Nordic skiing.”

To register for scholarship passes as a family or individual, or to buy skiing or tubing passes, visit utaholympiclegacy.org. That’s also where to sign up for youth cross-country and biathlon programs.

Starting Friday, Nordic skiing is open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and tubing runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Soldier Hollow is located at 2002 Soldier Hollow Lane in Midway.

Corrected: January 15, 2022 at 5:57 PM MST
A previous version of this article said Soldier Hollow would offer free skiing on January 17. Skiing and rental rates are in effect on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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