PARK CITY, Utah — Aptly located at 1 Victory Lane in Park City, the U.S. Ski & Snowboard USANA Center of Excellence is where Olympians and world champions come to get even better.
"On a daily basis, we have teams that are resident programs, moguls, aerialists, all the way through alpine skiers that come in and out throughout the season. There are also a couple of resident adaptive team athletes," said Brian Neff, Training and Development Coach for U.S. Ski and Snowboard.
Neff's role in training is to empower athletes to reach their personal athletic goals.
"For me, it's a sense of fulfillment," he said, "fulfilled in the sense that you see some sort of transition or build in competence."
He is one of many who work to make the best in the U.S. better
"Kind of see that happiness, that confidence naturally arise throughout a coaching session to bring the skills that they learned here onto their respective slope or arena, if you will, makes me feel fulfilled," Neff added.
The president and CEO of the organization said the name itself, Center of Excellence, explains the building very well.
"I love coming to work here every day, it's a very inspiring place to work," said Sophie Goldschmidt.
U.S. Ski and Snowboard has been a Park City fixture for decades.
Zach Miller, one of the world's best Paralympic snowboarders, makes Utah his home. He's just one of those training at the highest level in the state because of facilities like the Center of Excellence.
"For them to be training together, pushing each other, learning from each other I think is really inspiring for them," Goldschmidt believes.
Goldschmidt said that looking at all the talent in the room and plastered on its walls can be a bit intimidating.
"When you walk in here, you feel the history of our sports, and all around the walls you see the greats of our sports as well as the current champions that we have," she said.
But having that all in one place means an Olympic Games in 2034 will feel like home.
"I mean, home-field advantage is real," exclaimed Goldschmidt. People can feel more comfortable, they're going to be more familiar with the different training venues, competition venues, they know these mountains, they know these facilities, I think it's an incredible opportunity."
So as new athletes continue to emerge, the prospect of home-field advantage is going to inspire athletes over the next 10 years to get ready.
"Just having an Olympic Games and '34 and that being announced is going to create a level of interest that we haven't seen for a while," Goldschmidt said. "So hopefully that has a positive impact on participation."
