Olympian & Paralympian Homecoming Parade | Park City Event Photographer
This past weekend, Park City’s Youth Sports Alliance sponsored the Olympic and Paralympic Homecoming Parade to celebrate our local Olympians, past & present.
It was a truly thrilling event, particularly from my perspective as the, ahem, official event photographer. 🙂 I began the day with athletes and their families at private functions at the Park City Elks Lodge and Main Street’s Sky Lodge. Being around these people was wild. They are literal heroes to children of all ages. Giants in their field. Gravity- & physics-defying talents — all in one room. Bumping into you, grazing your elbow, bending over to sign autographs. Crazy! Stein Eriksen, Ted Ligety, Joss Christensen, Sage Kotsenburg, Steve Holcomb, Chris Fogt, Billy Demong, Bill Schuffenhauer, Shannon Bahrke, Sarah Hendrickson, Lindsey Van, Brad & Bryon Wilson… and the list goes on and on.
And if the energy at the beginning of the day wasn’t enough, the parade’s commencement was simply gangbusters. Even the snowflakes started on cue. There was a huge crowd, no doubt, but my favorite had to be the kids that were SO INCREDIBLY EXCITED to meet their idols. They were bouncing all around, cheering, decked out in bright colors… and then the shyness hit them like a ton of bricks once they got within a foot of an Olympian. It was positively adorable.
Anyway, the YSA did an incredible job organizing an event that rivaled Sundance in its enthusiasm, magnitude, and crowd-control. Thanks, guys, for making me a part of such a momentous occasion!
