The following is a press release provided by The University of Utah.

January 23, 2012 – Let the games begin! Believe it or not, it’s been 10 years since Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympic Games.

The Utah Ski Archives, part of the Special Collections Department at the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, will be hosting the Olympic Experience Exhibition February 1-29 in the George S. Eccles Reading Room on level 4 of the library. This exhibition, which is free and open to the public, will highlight the many Utah residents – volunteers, athletes, and staff – who participated in the Olympic Games and the events on the University of Utah campus.

Before the buildup for the Olympics 10 years ago, Snowbasin in Utah was little more than a mom-and-pop operation, with aging lifts and amenities and offices in a single-wide trailer.
   
Now even its bathrooms are turning heads, with the Italian marble day lodge restrooms recently voted top five in the U.S.
   
Plenty has changed since the 2002 Winter Games put Utah's ski industry on the map.
   
The state's 14 resorts have undergone roughly a billion dollars in improvements, from high-speed lifts and bubble chairs to the construction of high-end global hotels such as the Montage Deer Valley and Waldorf Astoria Park City.
   
Overall skier visits have increased 42 percent to 4.2 million, skiable acres are up 26 percent, and a trend of late has been multi-generational vacations -- grandparents on the slopes with their children and grandchildren.
   

The University of Utah took a gamble entering the Pac-12 hoping their fans would be proud enough, loyal enough, or just interested enough to pony up for higher priced tickets. After Thursday night’s turn out, it seems like they are.

A 2010 a kids bleacher seat would cost $99 -- In 2011 $120.  And a $370 2010 high roller pays $450 now.  And that's not counting a mandatory membership donation to the Crimson Club.

But as far as buying season tickets, they are now few and far between with nearly all snapped up by rabid fans wanting to watch their Utes take on big names in college football.