The 2012 Ski for Light International Week will be held from Sunday evening, February 5 through Sunday morning, February 12, 2012. First- and second-year guides will need to arrive one day early, by Saturday afternoon, February 4th, for guide orientation and training.
The 2012 Ski for Light event will be based in Provo, Utah. Provo is located in the middle of Utah, about 45 miles south of the Salt Lake City airport. It is a clean, pleasant city of about 100,000 people, and is the home of Brigham Young University.
Provo is situated along the western base of the Wasatch Mountains, which form a rugged divider spanning the center of the state for 160 miles from north to south. The rugged terrain of the Wasatch, coupled with the lightest, driest and deepest powder anywhere, result in some of the finest skiing anywhere in the country, if not the world. If you plan to arrive early or stay late at SFL to downhill ski, you will be pleased to learn that within 30 to 45 minutes of Provo are the world-class ski resorts of Sundance, Park City, Alta, Snowbird, the Canyons, Brighton and Solitude.
For more information about the Provo area, visit the Provo area information and maps website.
Unless you are driving to Provo, you will want to fly into and out of Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake City airport is about 45 miles from the event hotel.
The event hotel will be the Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Provo. It is a modern full-service business and convention hotel, with all of the amenities you could ask for. the 330 guest rooms are large, airy and well-appointed. The Marriott has a large indoor heated pool and hot-tub, a state of the art work-out facility, a restaurant and bar, and more than enough meeting and banquet space to meet our needs. The hotel is located right in the middle of downtown Provo, so restaurants and shops of all kinds will be just a short walk away.
View the Provo Marriott Photo Tour
We will ski at the Soldier Hollow cross-country ski area. Soldier Hollow is in the town of Midway, about 27 miles from the Marriott. The route to Soldier Hollow will take us through Provo Canyon, passing the Sundance Resort on the way.
While the dry powder of the Wasatch has long been a magnet for downhill skiers, it has not been of much interest to cross-country skiers until recent times. The major ski resorts in the area are generally too rugged for good cross-country skiing, and there was no economic reason to develop good cross-country venues since the area already attracted so many downhill skiers.
This all changed starting in about 2000, with the approach of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Park City was the Olympic venue for downhill skiing but it was not suitable for cross- country competitions. The Olympic Organizing Committee and state of Utah solved the problem by carving good cross-country trails into Wasatch State Park. They added a beautiful two-story ski lodge and built roads into the area, named it all Soldier Hollow, and the rest is history. The 2002 events that were held there were described by all who attended as among the best ever held.
Within the past five years Soldier Hollow has expanded their trail system to include more beginner and intermediate terrain. The 35k system now has trails for all abilities. Trails are wide and wonderfully well-groomed. There is snow making capability at the site should it ever be needed, but the probability of good natural skiing conditions is quite high.
Soldier Hollow contains, in addition to the cross-country trail system, a popular and large tubing hill operation. While tubing is not part of the SFL program, some attendees may want to give it a try on their own.
View an image of the Soldier Hollow warm-up and practice area - View One
View an image of the Soldier Hollow warm-up and practice area - View Two
View an image of the Soldier Hollow trails
View an image of the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center - View one
View an image of the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center - View Two
View an image of the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center - View Three
View an image of the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center - View Four
View the Soldier Hollow Photo Gallery
View or download the Soldier Hollow Trail Map - Adobe PDF Format (0.4 MB).
Now that the November 1st date has passed, applications are still being sought and accepted from instructor guides. Applications from visually- and mobility-impaired persons will still be accepted, although acceptance to the week may be delayed or denied depending on the number of additional guides who apply. Full payment is due by December 15, 2011.
Blind/visually-impaired and mobility-impaired applicants will be notified of their acceptance to SFL 2012 by mid-November, with acceptance priority given to first-time applicants. The number of skiers to be accepted at any given point in time will depend on the number of guides who have applied.
Each applicant is expected to make his/her own informed decision about the advisability of participation, taking into account his/her individual overall health and the physical demands and risks of cross-country skiing and of the Ski for Light program.
If you have never before attended a Ski for Light event, or want a refresher on how the week works and what it is all about, and have not already done so, please read Information for Prospective First-Time Attendees. Also please be sure to read Frequently Asked Questions from Prospective First-Time Attendees for the answers to many commonly asked questions from people who have not attended before. Then proceed to the application forms for the 2012 event below.
Please read the Frequently Asked Questions carefully, as they include much information that is specific to the 2012 event. Then proceed to complete and submit your Application form. We look forward to seeing you in Utah.
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