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Written by Bruce Gross
WRAD, Inc. President/ CEO

I attended the 16th Winter Deaflympics that was held in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah earlier this month and it was the first time for me to see the Deaf Winter Games in action as I attended the Summer Deaf Games for many years. It was really awesome to participate in the Winter Deaflympics for WRAD to write this report and to take pictures for the slideshow.

The weather in Utah during my stay was warm but there was snow on the ground in the mountains. I only stayed for five nights and six days but it was worth the visit.

There were 24 countries that took part in the Games- a majority of them Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding in Park City Mountain Resort. Most of the fans enjoyed attending ice hockey games every night at the Steiner Ice Center in the Salt Lake City Sports Complex and it was good to see excellent athletes play the sport. It was truly world class. The Americans won the gold medal in ice hockey.

Deafnation, Inc. was wonderful to show some of the sports live on the internet. Many of us alerted our friends via our pagers to watch the ice hockey games live if they go to www.deaflympics.tv. Some of my friends who did not go to Deaflympics enjoyed watching the Winter Deaflympics on the internet. Thanks to better technology today!

Sorenson Communications was the official VRS and IP Relay Provider for the 16th Winter Deaflympics and there were Sorenson VRS booths at 6 different locations which was very convenient for many deaf and hard of hearing people who were in Utah for the Winter Deaflympics.

Little America Hotel was the Deaflympics Headquarters and it was a beautiful hotel. There were many motels and other hotels nearby that many deaf and hard of hearing people stayed during the Winter Deaflympics. I was told that about 6,000 people were there between February 1 and 11, 2007.

One day during my stay I decided to drive to visit the Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Taylorsville near Salt Lake City. They also had guided tours during the Deaflympics and I was glad to visit the community center. It was really huge and deaf and hard of hearing people who live in Salt Lake City are really lucky to have it. They also have a very large gym and I was told it has been used for many sporting events in the deaf community. For more information about Robert Sanderson Community Center, go to www.deafservices.utah.gov

The next Winter Deaflympics will be in Slovakia in Central Europe in February, 2011. There was one restaurant in Salt Lake City called The Vienna Bistro that served authentic Austrian and Swiss cuisine and they had information and souvenirs about Slovakia for the next Deaflympics. Friends and I dined one night at Vienna Bistro and the food was very good. If you visit Salt Lake City be sure to visit it at 132 South Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah or go to www.viennabistro.com to get more details about the restaurant.

Every night of my stay in Salt Lake City I attended the International Deaf Club ( IDC) at the Port O'Call Social Club that was open from 8pm until 2am. My good friend, Mike Deboe was the DJ and he provided good music for the deaf community who came to the bar. Sprint Relay was the Sponsor and they provided free appetizers every night. The bar was close to Little America Hotel and other motels and hotels so it was conveniently located.

One night we went to a party at Hard Rock Cafe at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City. It was sponsored by Hands On VRS. It was really crowded as about 500 deaf and hard of hearing people were in attendance. Free appetizers were given away and we had a good time. It was the same location a few days later that a crazy shooter came and killed 5 people including himself at the Trolley Square Mall not far from the Hard Rock Cafe. It was awful but we were lucky that nothing happened to us.

Salt Lake City is a clean and beautiful city. I managed to have time to visit the Temple Square, site of the world famous church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They also had guided tours in American Sign Language. I enjoyed the visit. I asked for coffee or tea at the restaurant there but did not realize that the Church did not allow people to drink caffeine so I settled for a juice instead.

There were only five different sports at the Winter Deaflympics. They were as follows: Alpine Skiing, Snowboarding, Ice Hockey, Curling, and Cross Country Skiing. Most of the people attended snowboarding and ice hockey. Curling was next door to ice hockey so it was interesting to watch that competition as well. We hope that there would be more competitive sports like speed and figure skating in the future.

I attended the Closing Ceremonies and the Farewell party and had the opportunity to say good bye to many friends who came to the Winter Deaflympics from all over the world. We took pictures and exchanged email addresses. The next Winter Deaflympics will be in Slovakia and I would like for WRAD to take active part in it by going there to stay at the same hotel and to have some recreational activities like skiing and snowboarding.