U.S. Skiing: why they call Utah home.

• Author: Volmer, Nancy
• Position: Umbrella organization of the U.S. Ski Team Foundation and U.S. Ski Association

U.S. Skiing Why They Call Utah Home

Driving 35 miles east of Salt Lake City up Parley's Canyon is a drive not only to the historic resort town of Park City but to the home of U.S. Skiing, the umbrella organization of the U.S. Ski Team Foundation and the U.S. Ski Association.

The visible signs of their presence in the community are few and far between; a flag embossed with the U.S. Ski Team's logo waves in the wind off Highway 224 on the entrance to town. A stone engraved with "Home of the U.S. Ski Association/U.S. Ski Team" also sits there. Two red, white, and blue signature logos indicate the U.S. Skiing offices at the corner of Kearns and Monitor Boulevards. Parked just outside the offices is a small fleet of white Subara hatchbacks painted with the USST logo.

What does it mean to Park City to be the headquarters of an organization that is the National Governing Body (NGB) for the sport of skiing in the United States? Before answering this question, let's look at how U.S. Skiing came to be based in Park City.

Home to Park City

Eighteen years ago the U.S. Ski Educational Foundation (USSEF), which oversaw the U.S. Ski Team (USST) program, began calling Park City home. The primary purpose of the USSEF was to develop national ski programs. The year was 1973, and Park City had just begun to market its ski slopes.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain in Denver, and later in Colorado Springs, the U.S. Ski Association (USSA) was developing recreational ski programs while scheduling ski events and ski club programs. Even though the ski team was a subsidiary of USSA, it operated independently. During this time, USSA was directed solely by its membership rather than its current board of directors.

For 15 years the two entities, USSA and USSEF, operated separately and geographically removed. But when their efforts began to overlap in the early 1980s the need to consolidate both organizations was realized.

In 1988, the two organizations began to look for a city to house the new streamlined organization. Would it be Colorado Springs, home of the USSA? Or Park City, home of the USST? Or a different city all together, such as Denver?

While USSA officials were looking at these three locations, Park City officials, recognizing the prestige of having the USST in town, weren't ready to give it up. So under the direction of former Park City Ski Area Vice President and Director of Marketing Craig Badami, the Park City Ski Area, the Park City Municipal...