2007 Winter Deaflympics Update

Greetings fellow members of the DEAFLYMPICS family,

The 2007 Deaflympics Organizing Committee has been very busy this year.  With all the support we now have, the 2007 Deaflympic Winter Games should become one of the very best ever staged!  I want to share with you what our committee has accomplished so far:

• The 2007 Deaflympics headquarters hotel will be Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City, an 880 room hotel which also was used for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.  We have a great deal with the hotel, which includes unlimited gourmet buffet breakfasts and dinners.  Little America Hotel will be an "Olympic Village" where athletes can meet, relax, and socialize.  Teams staying at Little America Hotel will be provided with free bus transportation to the competition venues and ceremonies.  More information on Little America Hotel and the costs, which include meals, is available in our website, www.2007Deaflympics.com.
• The Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony will be at the 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park, 5 minutes from Little America Hotel.  This will be a gala event with lighting of the Deaflympic flame on the 2002 Olympics cauldron.
• The alpine skiing and snowboarding competition will be at Park City Mountain Resort, and most of the competition events will be held on the same courses used during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.  Park City is a 25 minute ride from Little America Hotel.
• The Nordic skiing competition will be at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, and will use the same courses used in the 2002 Olympics.  Soldier Hollow is a 45 minute drive from Little America Hotel.
• The ice hockey and curling competition will be at Steiner's Ice Arena in Salt Lake City, which is a 5 minute ride from Little America Hotel.
• Several entertaining arts and culture events will be held in Salt Lake City during the Deaflympics week; art shows, International Deaf Club, International Deaf Coffeehouse, Deaf theatre, and more.  All arts and culture events will be held either in Little America Hotel or within a short walk of the hotel.
• After the Closing Ceremony, there will be a gala closing banquet followed with a closing party at the Salt Lake City Convention Center, a few blocks from Little America Hotel.

Little America Hotel is now accepting room reservations from both teams and fans, and room reservations may be booked through www.2007Deaflympics.com. Because Little America Hotel is in the center of most 2007 Deaflympics activities and will provide teams staying at the hotel with free transportation to competition venues, I strongly encourage teams to make their reservations at Little America Hotel as soon as they can, before the hotel releases rooms not reserved to Deaflympic Games fans and other visitors to Salt Lake City.

I look forward to seeing you all in Salt Lake City USA February 1-10, 2007!

Dwight Benedict, Chairperson
2007 Deaflympic Winter Games Organizing Committee