Solider Hollow opens Friday as it prepares for big events

Soldier Hollow, the site of the 2002 Winter Olympic Nordic cross-country events, is now open for skiing for its season pass holders only. General Manager Luke Bodensteiner says they’ve got an 18-inch base and are continuing to make snow so they’re ready for January’s U.S. National Championships and the World Cup Biathlon in March.

“We are open for our season passholders this week for skiing,” Bodensteiner said. “And we’ll start selling day tickets to the general public starting this Saturday and our tubing hill opens up on Friday.”

The snowmaking system, he says, is dated and is being upgraded.

“The existing snowmaking is about 25 years old and technology on the snowmaking side has improved a lot since then. And we just put a new line of about a mile and a half of new automated high efficiency snow guns into the ground and those are ready to turn on here at a moment's notice.”

Once done, he says the area will have as many as 18 kilometers of trail covered with snowmaking equipment. The upgrade was made possible with a matching grant from the Utah Office of Recreation.

He says they’re also in the process of renovating and expanding the competition building to about 19,000 square feet. It will become the new Nordic center with impressive views and event space available to rent. The expansion, he says, will bring the ski operation into more favorable terrain, making it accessible for more people.

“That's been one of the challenges with Soldier Hollow,” he said. “Obviously, like skiing on a golf course, we have some pretty incredible cross-country terrain here. But it can be daunting for beginners. So, this will put us in a better area; the venue that makes it a lot more accessible for people. But it also gives us a great legacy purpose. We'll be using that building as sort of a launch point to all the trail activities at Soldier Hollow. And then it's designed with a long term in mind with what we need during an Olympic Games.”

The 2024 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships will be held Jan. 1 – 7 with classic, freestyle and Para skiers competing. You can find the complete schedule by clicking on the link in the web version of this story at kpcw.org.

“That'll bring about 600 competitors to town for about a week, plus their coaches and families and entourages,” he said. “So, it's a great time to be out here. It's a pretty incredible opportunity to watch the best skiers in America and see what they're capable of and, and you know, it takes up a portion of the venue here on the race trail, but at the same time, you can come out here and have a great ski tour yourself and watch some races.”

The World Cup Biathlon will be March 7-10 featuring the best biathletes in the world.

This winter more than 500 kids will be participating in ski programs. Soldier Hollow also hosts citizen ski races, Wednesday night races under the lights as well as night skiing on Tuesdays and Thursday until 7 p.m. The 30k Soldier Hollow Grand Tour marathon – with 3,100 feet of elevation gain – making it one of the world’s most challenging trails - will be held Feb. 10.