Supplied Photo, Snowbasin Resort

A scene from the 2002 Winter Olympics at Snowbasin Resort.

HUNTSVILLE — The Winter Olympics are officially returning to Utah in 2034 and Snowbasin Resort will be among the venues that are more than ready for guests from across the country and around the world.

“Snowbasin Resort is set to host downhill skiing for the 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, following Salt Lake City’s successful bid to host the Winter Games for the second time,” a press release from Snowbasin stated. “Snowbasin was selected as the official Alpine Skiing venue and will welcome the world’s top athletes to its legendary slopes once again after previously serving as a venue for Downhill, Super-G, and combined races in 2002.”

Snowbasin Resort General Manager Davy Ratchford told the Standard-Examiner that Wednesday’s announcement officially naming Salt Lake City as the host is the culmination of years of work.

“Behind the scenes, we’ve been working on this for years, creating a venues agreement with the organizing committee and just working on a lot of details and planning so that the bid came together,” he said. “Having it actually get announced yesterday was an amazing culmination of Chapter One of the work to pull off the Olympics. It’s been a fantastic experience and the response has been superb so far.”

He said that infrastructure and other elements of the resort have been upgraded since 2002 and will continue to be upgraded over the next decade.

“We’re very involved in making sure we pull off a good event and that it’s at the highest standard possible,” he said. “Between now and then, there’s a lot of work that we’ll do for our team to work alongside the Olympic Committee and get ready for an amazing Games.”

However, Ratchford said that much of the heavy-lifting has been long completed at Snowbasin, along with many of the other venues.

“The great thing about Snowbasin, and I would say, generally, what has been great about this bid and ultimately why I think it was approved was Utah is ready,” he said. “From 2002 until today, we’ve been able to keep these assets in good working order. We’ve been able to showcase that this is something you can repeat without a huge amount of investment. For us, it’s getting our team ready and getting the resort ready.”

He said there will be test events and course previews in the coming years, but Snowbasin will be more than ready.

“The team on the ground — the people that work in the ski industry and work at resorts — they live for this type of stuff,” he said. “Everyday we open and we serve our guests, we get people skiing and snowboarding and that’s our great privilege. But to showcase the resort at the highest level in sport is an incredible feeling.”

Ratchford added that there have already been a “staggering” amount of calls from locals in the Ogden area asking about volunteer opportunities — and that they will be coming in time.

“In 2002, there was a huge volunteering component to it that people still talk about today,” he said. “Entities like the GOAL Foundation in Weber County and in Ogden are still around, they still help support events in the community. I think it’s one of the great legacies that come from the Olympics — the outpouring of support, the charitable service, the volunteerism — that’s alive and well and it is in our community still to this day. There’s a blueprint for it already, and I’m sure over the next 10 years we’ll be coming together as a community and with the county itself and others to help support these Games.”