A MUSEUM ON THE CUTTING EDGE
The Joe Quinney Winter Sports Center, at Utah Olympic Park, is the home of two museums detailing the state’s winter sports history and its Olympic accomplishments. Adjacent to the 2002 Winter Olympic venues, the museums host a unique opportunity for visitors to see – and experience – what it’s like for an Olympic contender.
The Alf Engen Ski Museum, named for the “pioneer of powder skiing,” is home to exhibits chronicling over 70 years of Utah winter sports history. Photos, uniforms and ribbons offer an intimate view of their past, and their rise to current prominence.
The Ski Museum has hosted exhibits featuring 2014 World Cup Champion Ted Ligety – a home-town favorite – and the U.S. Women’s Ski Jump Team, who debuted in the 2012 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
But the kicks don’t stop there: virtual and interactive exhibits put you on the ski run or in a bobsled, experiencing the thrills of Olympic action first-hand. The “Virtual Ski Experience” not only stimulates your eyes and ears, but rewards with sensory explosions of snowflakes and winter breezes! This adventure begins in quad chairlifts, with bumping and gliding choreographed with an on-screen, high- speed powder run.
A new virtual adventure, the “Interactive Ski Jump Exhibit,” challenges visitors to test their skills as they leap from the Park’s 120-meter Olympic ski jump.
The adjacent Eccles 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum surrounds you with the total Olympic experience. As the official repository for the 2002 Games’ artifacts, the exhibits include memorabilia from athletic equipment to Olympic medals – including a display about how they’re created. Photos, videos, even sets from the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, lend a familiarity to the Olympic athletes and venues.
