The French Alps are expected to be one of the scenic backdrops to the 2030 Winter Olympics.
And the Mediterranean Sea would offer another spectacular view.
As the International Olympic Committee prepares for the likely award of the Games of that year to France, a contingent from the region visited the Park City area on Thursday to learn about the Olympic legacy in Utah and the efforts to stage a second Games in the state.
The French contingent stopped at the Utah Olympic Park, which hosted ski jumping and the sliding sports in the 2002 Winter Olympics and is identified as a key venue in the plans for a second Games.
The IOC this summer is slated to award the 2030 and 2034 Games, with a French bid stretching through Provence, the Alps and the Côte d’Azur lined up for 2030 and Salt Lake City identified as the likely host in 2034. The Park City area would play a large role in a second Games, as with the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Renaud Muselier, the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regional council, led the French delegation to Utah and spoke to reporters while at the Utah Olympic Park. He expressed confidence in the region’s ability to stage a Games, saying the area already hosts international-level competitions in skiing, rugby and soccer. He also noted Marseilles, in the south of France, will host some competitions during the Summer Olympics in Paris this year.
Muselier addressed the climate of the south of France and the Alps, saying there is confidence the Games can be held there. The mountain resorts in the region are generally at lower elevations than in the American West.
“The people who don’t like snow say, always, there’s no more snow,” he said.
Muselier said the French Alps are predicted to have adequate snow through 2050. He added that the Olympic officials there have a detailed understanding of snowfall trends.
“We know, mountain by mountain, resort by resort … and level by level, the feet, where we will have snow. So that’s not a problem,” he said.
The trip was scheduled at a time when the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region and the Olympic region of Utah are both continuing work toward staging a Games. The French contingent and figures in the Olympic efforts in Utah used the visit as a means to collaborate and learn from one another.
Fraser Bullock, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said the visitors learned about the Winter Olympics of 2002, while the Utahns heard of the plans for a Games in France in 2030. There are similar issues as the two prepare for a future Games, he said.
The French contingent arrived Wednesday and is scheduled to depart on Sunday. Salt Lake City and Moab were also on the itinerary. The delegation included government officials, tourism-industry representatives and academics. It is common for communities that are preparing for a Games to visit places with an Olympic legacy.