Legacy remains: Utah offers enthusiasts opportunities to try winter Olympic sports

There are no medals, no camera flashes, no bouquets of flowers, only the opportunity for individuals to have a gold-medal experience … before, during and after the Olympics.

Utahns are lucky when it comes to the Winter Olympics. The Games were staged in Salt Lake City in 2002 and much of their legacy remains.

Among the Olympic activities open to the public are bobsled, skeleton, hockey, skating, curling, cross-country skiing, biathlon, running gates on alpine skis or going freestyle on a snowboard in a halfpipe.

Consensus is, sampling an Olympic event puts more appreciation in watching an event, whether it is speeding down the bobsled track faster than the freeway speed limit, or pushing a hockey puck up-ice past a host of defenders, or sliding a 42-pound stone down a curling lane.

How is this possible?

Bobsled

The Utah Olympic Park offers three available seats in a four-man bobsled. The fourth seat belongs to the driver.

The ride starts at the top of the track, streaks down through 15 turns — some pulling up to 5 G forces, at speeds up to 80 mph — and ends at the Olympic finish.

Same type of sled, same track and close to the same speeds as Olympians.

Cost is $200 per person per ride. Reservations are required. Rides are offered Tuesday through Saturday.

For reservations, call 435-658-4206.

Skeleton

The ride is open to those 14 years of age and older. The sleds run on the same track as the bobsled, only starting a few turns lower.

For this ride, individuals go prone on their front sides on a sled only slightly larger than a cafeteria tray, and slide headfirst.

It's a very different experience, traveling at speeds up to 70 mph while looking at the icy track only inches away.

The recommendation for the first-time riders is to simply relax and enjoy the ride, and don't try to steer. That comes later.

Interested persons, however, must act quickly. The first open session will be Feb. 13. Later sessions are Feb. 20, 27; and March 6, 13 and 20.

The cost is $50 per person and reservations are required.