Fastest Ice on Earth

What makes the Oval ice the “Fastest Ice on Earth?”

The Utah Olympic Oval is no ordinary ice rink. The Oval takes up twice the square footage of a standard hockey rink and unlike a standard ice rink, the Oval needs spot on measurements to ensure the preciseness of the speed skating races. The installation of the ice is a time intensive process which takes multiple weeks to complete, beginning on July 16 and then open to the public on August 1. In order to set the ice, the base of concrete has to be lowered to a temperature of 17°F over a period of two days. Cracks can develop in the concrete if the cooling process is rushed. After the concrete is cooled then multiple steps are taken to layer the ice and paint in the final touches.

During the World Cup events each year, the Oval can seat up to 4,000 viewers around the ice. The Utah Olympic Oval houses some of the biggest Zambonis in the world having an 8 foot blade compared to a standard Zamboni with just over a 6 foot blade. The size of these Zambonis allows resurfacing the Oval’s ice quick and efficient. All of these factors plus the hard work of the Oval staff, help maintain the title of the ‘Fastest Ice on Earth’.

Frozen 5K + 10K

We are excited for the 3^rd Annual Frozen 5K + 10K indoor race on Saturday, August 1! Beat the heat and your previous running record! Run and race around the “Fastest ice on Earth!”

Temperatures in the Utah Olympic Oval are kept at 63-53 degrees, perfect for racing! Not too hot and not too cool. Hope to see you all there!

For more information about the Frozen 5K + 10K click HERE.

Psicobloc Climbing Wall

No doubt this summer has been a scorcher thus far. I’m a big believer in getting my workout in, in the outdoors to enjoy all the awesome scenery Utah has to offer. Some afternoons are just too hot to ride my bike, hike, or run outside! And for some of us, getting up early to beat the heat isn’t quite that easy.

The Utah Olympic Park gives you the chance to outdoor climb on their Psicobloc climbing wall. You know what’s even better? You climb over a pool. That’s right, a pool!

There are easy, medium, and hard routes you can climb. Once getting to the top, or however high you want to go, you jump off and land into the cool, refreshing pool. I won’t lie; my first time climbing to the top of the wall and looking down to jump gave me the butterflies. No, no, it wasn’t the butterflies. I    had the whole zoo in my stomach before I made the jump down into the pool!

What a rush! Perfect for a hot, summer day. The climbing wall at the Park is an awesome way to get your workout in and have fun outdoors.

While climbing, Freestyle lessons and practices are ongoing next to you in another section of the pool. Once getting to the top of the climbing wall, if you can hold on a little longer, you can watch the skiers and boarders fly off the jumps for a cool perspective from the wall!

You can spend most of a day, 10 am to 6 pm, and climb for only $20. A pool and rock climbing at the same time? Double the fun for the price of one!

Olympic Park employee, Chris, was telling us all about the climbing competition they host at the Park on Wednesday, August 5 to Friday, August 7. It’s called the Psicobloc Master Series. I will definitely be going to that event to watch awesome climbers compete over the pool! Learn more about the CLIMBING WALL and PSICOBLOC EVENT.

 

Don’t Look Down!

After working as a Mountain Adventures Guide for a whole summer and having gone on all of the Park’s activities too many times to count, the Drop Tower continues to rattle my nerves. There is something that always freaks me out about looming 65 feet above ground. Nevertheless, the Drop Tower endures as my favorite activity at the Park.

In early July in Park City the last remnants of snow are melting away and hibernating until we welcome Fall once again. Even with all of the snow gone there is still a plethora of ways to have fun. You can’t go wrong heading to the Utah Olympic Park for a day and checking out what the Park has to offer. Most of the traffic in the Park occurs on the zip lines and Alpine Slide leaving the Trackside Plaza as a hidden gem with adrenaline pumping activities such as the Drop Tower.

You can head to the Drop Tower by walking towards the bobsled track down from the Alf Engen Ski Museum. There will be a trail hanging to the left of the parking lot and will eventually lead you under the bobsled track and the Drop Tower will be right there. Once there go to the tent and have a Mountain Adventures Guide help you harness up. When the guides give you the go ahead, walk up the Bridges Trail up to the ‘Birds Nest’.

The ‘Birds Nest’ is where the course begins. From here I could feel the excitement pumping. Once hooked to the cable and the guides gave me the OKAY, all I had to do was lift up my feet and zip line began. No one will blame you if you let out a yell or shriek a bit. The zip line is one of the most scenic views of the park. While in mid air you have time to turn your head and take in the views from the treetops under your feet to the bobsled track surrounding you. Suddenly I got stopped and a friendly face was there to pull me onto the tower. However, within a minute I got the realization that I had to step off of this 65 foot tower once again.

On the Drop Tower there is only one way to get down, taking a step. Even though I wanted to act like a baby and wimp out, I knew I had to go down. After I listened to the guide give instructions on how to safely and properly repel off the tower, I headed over to the platform. I was all ready to step off, but I made a mental mistake and looked down. When looking down at all of the tiny people I got sick to my stomach. I quickly took a step back and rethought through my situation. In my mind, I asked myself, “Can I just stay up here for a couple days?”. I gutted it out and once again stepped towards the platform. The guides were ready and I felt as though I was too. I clenched the rope as tight as I possibly could and took a big step. My stomach turned upside down and I had a surge of adrenaline go through me. Before I even knew it I landed on the ground. I was alive, and it felt great! Its hard to beat that sense of accomplishment and pride that I was able to step off. Even though that may have been my 100th time stepping off of that platform it felt as great as the first time I ever did it. My advice to anyone that is thinking about doing the Drop Tower is do it!

But take my advice, DONT LOOK DOWN!