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PARK CITY — In order to make one of his dreams come true, Jeremy Mathers knows it is going to take hard work.
"It is not easy," Mathers said. "It is going to be a challenge."
However, no one ever said becoming an Olympian was simple. A new ski hill in Park City, though, just might make it a little easier.
"This is huge. This hill adds an extra level to our training program," Mathers said. "The Olympics? "Of course, you know, it is always in the back of my head."
Mathers is a skier for the University of Utah Ski Team. Wednesday morning, he was part of a first run for the brand-new facility designed to make skiers better. It was also made to help create Olympians for Team USA.
Officially, it is called the Spencer Eccles Olympic Mountain Center. It is located at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, which is already a place to train for Olympians, future Olympians and those who dream of being an Olympian.
"It's projects like this that make me feel not only how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place, but how great it is to work and collaborate with so many great people," Colin Hilton, president of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, said during the grand opening. "You are all family and that is what sets Utah apart from so many other places in the world. This sense of collaboration is a hallmark for Utah and how we get things done. People call it the Utah way."
The hill is small compared to most ski hills. It's only about 25 acres. However, it includes the type of steep terrain advanced alpine and freestyle skiers need in an Olympic-caliber training hill.
"It is really exciting to think that the kids skiing on this hill now, will be part of the Olympic Games and part of Team USA in the future," said Fraser Bullock, CEO of Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which is trying to bring the Olympics back to Utah.
One of those skiers with that dream is Nicolas Sibley. He is currently in high school and skis with the Park City Alpine Racing Team.
"It would be the coolest thing ever because they go all over," Sibley said.
With Salt Lake City in line for the 2030 or 2034 Olympics, Sibley's "all over" could also be right in his backyard.
"It would really make my mom proud. I think that would be something she would enjoy," Sibley said.
Thanks to this new facility, reaching that big dream might not seem so far away.
