Utah Set To Host Biggest Winter Event Since 2002 Olympics

SOLITUDE, Utah – Solitude is best known as the quiet mountain resort.

However, things certainly sound and look kind of busy right now.

Especially when you see the big snowboard cross course constructed right in the middle of the mountain.

“It helps and for people to get excited about it,” said Anna Miller.

Anna Miller

Miller is one of the athletes in the sport of snowboard cross.

Solitude is where the 2019 FIS World Championships are happening this weekend.

Miller, who is from Orem and learned to snowboard at Sundance Mountain Resort, is excited it’s happening in Utah.

“My mom hasn’t seen me race since I was probably 10 years old,” said Miller. “My friends hardly know what boarder cross is.”

That’s because, most events and championships happen in Europe.

Now, though, lots of international athletes are in Utah to compete.

Skiers

“I’m really happy to be here. It’s my second time here,” said Michela Moiolo, who won the Gold Medal in snowboard cross for Team Italy during the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

It’s not just snowboard cross happening this weekend.

Several ski and snowboard World Championships will be taking place at Solitude, Park City Mountain, and Deer Valley.

Scott Beck

“We do things like this and we do them regularly and we’re so proud of it,” said Scott Beck, who is the president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake.

Beck says hosting big, international events like this one is further proof the state can host another Olympic Games.

In fact, he feels this weekend is another way of proving that to the International Olympic Committee.

Snowboard Cross course

“We have the infrastructure, we keep it alive, we program it, we produce events at a very high caliber, and continuing to do that for the next foreseeable future is really important to the bid from the world’s perspective,” said Beck. “I travel around the country and I travel around the world, and I’m always asked about our Olympic legacy. And it’s events like this, it is a community ethos that is alive and well in our DNA.”

Miller, who graduated from Mountain View High School in 2014, said she would love to see Utah get another Olympics.

“I think that we have the perfect venue for it here,” she said. “I actually moved to Utah the year after the Olympics were here, so I didn’t get to experience it. It would be huge for me to have it here.”

French athletes

There is no doubt the world is watching this weekend.

“I think that is an enormously positive sign for the IOC and goes to further the position of Salt Lake as, really, a winter sports mecca,” said Beck. “We are an Olympic city and we will always be an Olympic city.”

For more information on the events and how you can purchase tickets, click  on 2019worldchamps.com.