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Soldier Hollow is a cross-country ski venue located at the mouth of a hollow of the same name about southeast of
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
in
Wasatch Mountain State Park Wasatch Mountain State Park is a state park of Utah, United States, located in the northern part of the state within the Wasatch Back area on the north and west edges of the Heber Valley in Wasatch County near the city of Midway. Description E ...
in northwestern
Wasatch County Wasatch County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 23,530. Its county seat and largest city is Heber City. The county was named for a Ute Native American word meaning ''mountain pa ...
,
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, United States. The venue was created for the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
, and during the games it hosted the
biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...
,
cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
, and the cross country skiing portion of the
Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...
events. Since hosting the Olympics, it has been developed as a cross-country skiing, tubing, and snowshoeing venue, while featuring mountain biking and golfing in the summer. On May 1, 2016, the venue operation contract transferred from the Soldier Hollow Legacy Foundation to the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, which owns and operates several Olympic and Paralympic legacy venues elsewhere in the state.


History


Pre-Olympics

Soldier Hollow is located in the southeasternmost part of Wasatch Mountain State Park, a nature preserve created in 1961, which became a
state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
in 1968. The venue received its name from the
hollow Hollow may refer to: Natural phenomena *Hollow, a low, wooded area, such as a copse * Hollow (landform), a small vee-shaped, riverine type of valley *Tree hollow, a void in a branch or trunk, which may provide habitat for animals Places * Sleepy ...
at the mouth of which it is located. Prior to becoming a state park certain locations within the park were used for farming and grazing activities, while much of the remainder was used recreationally by locals. In the last quarter of the 20th century the state park service had been approached by private developers hoping to build luxury hotels,
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
s, and other attractions within the park, but none of these plans (except the golf course) ever came to fruition. The 36–hole Soldier Hollow Golf Course, built just north of the sports venue (on the north side of West Soldier Hollow Lane), was completed in July 2004 and supplemented the exiting 36–hole Wasatch Mountain Golf Course (located farther north in the state park).


Venue development

The Soldier Hollow venue was one of only three which was built and designed by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) specifically for the 2002 Winter Olympics; with the others being the
Utah Olympic Park The Utah Olympic Park is a winter sports park built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and is located in Summit County ( east of Salt Lake City) northwest of Park City, Utah, United States. During the 2002 games the park hosted the bobsleigh, skelet ...
and
Utah Olympic Oval The Utah Olympic Oval is an indoor speed skating oval located southwest of Salt Lake City, in Kearns, Utah. The Oval was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics and it hosted the long track speed skating events for the 2002 games. Inside the facilit ...
. The Soldier Hollow location was chosen by SLOC as an Olympic venue in October 1997, over several other possible locations including Sherwood Hills near
Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gover ...
, Utah. Preliminary work began soon after the venue site was chosen, but major construction didn't start until 1999. Work at the venue had been completed enough (80% complete) to host its first major event, U.S. Cross Country Skiing Championships, on January 8, 2000. Construction on the venue's day lodge began with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 5, 2000. The lodge was completed in December 2000 and dedicated on January 5, 2001. The venue cost SLOC $22 million
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
(equivalent to $ million in ) to construct.


2002 Winter Olympics & Paralympics

During the 2002 games Soldier Hollow hosted the
biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...
,
cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
, and
Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...
events. The venue itself hosted 64,160 biathlon spectators, 99,320 cross-country spectators, and 1,794 Nordic combined spectators during these events. During the
2002 Winter Paralympics The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from March 7 to 16, 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the Ameri ...
the venue hosted the
biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...
and
cross-country Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...
events. Soldier Hollow was the furthest venue from Salt Lake City with an estimated drive time of 2-2.5 hours from downtown during the games. Because of this distance from any large population centers, a special ''Western Experience'' was created at the venue's spectator plaza to give visitors activities to do between competitions. The Western Experience included music and entertainment, a mountain rendezvous, pioneer reenactments, cowboy camps, wild mustang exhibit and American Indian displays, along with concession stands. In order to help cut down on vehicle traffic in the local canyons during the games, and to give spectators a unique experience, SLOC reached an agreement with the historic
Heber Valley Railroad The Heber Valley Railroad (HVRX) is a heritage railroad based in Heber City, Utah. It operates passenger excursion trains along a line between Heber City and Vivian Park, which is located in Provo Canyon. The HVRX carries over 110,000 passen ...
to transport spectators to the Soldier Hollow venue. A special station was constructed along the railroad tracks near the venue which would allow for two to four trains, carrying 200 passengers each, per day. The Heber Valley Railroad's numbers 618 and 75 steam-engines, were joined by the
Nevada Northern Railway Museum The Nevada Northern Railway Museum is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located in Ely, Nevada and operated by a historic foundation dedicated to the preservation of the Nevada Northern Railway. Museum activities include restoration and o ...
's number 93 steam-engine, in pulling eight-car trains full of passengers, to the Soldier Hollow depot where they disembarked and continued to the venue entrance on a horse-drawn
sleigh A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners s ...
.


The venue today

The site has been developed as a cross-country skiing, tubing, and snowshoeing venue with nearby horse-pulled sleigh riding during the winter months, while featuring mountain biking, golfing, a popular music festival and an international sheepdog competition in the summer. It is owned by the State of Utah and part of Wasatch Mountain State Park. The Division of State Parks and Recreation contracted management of the venue to a non-profit foundation.


Music festival

The Wasatch Mountain Music Festival was held at Soldier Hollow on July 14–16, 2017. Under the direction and management of Vibrant America and the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, this festival of Americana music - bluegrass, country, Texas swing, folk, gypsy jazz - has an ideal setting within a Wasatch Mountain cove. The large grassy staging area had two stages for non-stop music with a talented and diverse lineup of national recording artists and favorite local performers. There were overnight camping spaces, vendor booths and food court, family hiking or biking trails, and nearby horseback riding or covered wagon rides, along with a pioneer living history encampment with children activities. The Heber Valley Railroad scheduled a special "music train" to bring patrons to the event. With a mission to educate as well as entertain, the Wasatch Mountain Music Festival offered workshops from professionals, singer/songwriter showcases, music activities for children and opportunities for all musicians to jam and build relationships. In 2018, the music festival was held at the Zermatt Resort in nearby Midway.


Sheepdog competition

The site is also home to the Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship and Festival, held on Labor Day weekend each year. Called the "world's foremost sheepdog trial" with some 28,000 people in attendance.


Notes


References


External links

*
Official golf course website

Ski Utah
- Resort Profile {{Ski areas and resorts in Utah Venues of the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic biathlon venues Olympic cross-country skiing venues Olympic Nordic combined venues Ski areas and resorts in Utah Buildings and structures in Wasatch County, Utah Tourist attractions in Wasatch County, Utah Sports venues completed in 2000 Ski stadiums in the United States 2000 establishments in Utah Skiing in Utah