Like many 20-somethings, Billy Demong moved to Park City with a group of friends in 2002. Yes, it was because of the skiing, but not in the way you might think. Demong relocated here with his teammates on the U.S. Nordic Combined team to take full advantage of the area’s stellar training opportunities.
Nordic combined consists of two very different, though both snow-related, sports: ski jumping and cross-country ski racing. Sure, many places around the country offer top-notch Nordic ski trails, but few offer the ski jumps that Park City has available, and even fewer offer them for training year-round. The facilities at Utah Olympic Park, located above Kimball Junction, were built for the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and the jumps have special sliding surfaces in summer.
Following these Olympics, the Nordic combined athletes “took more ownership of the program, and we wanted to reset as a team,” says Demong, now 44. Because team members were already traveling frequently to Park City for summer and fall jump training, they decided to all make the move. Living together, in addition to training and traveling together, “was a real contributor to our success,” says Demong, a five-time Olympian.
The pinnacle of that success came in 2010 at the Vancouver Olympics, when Demong won a gold medal, teammate Johnny Spillane notched two silvers, and the U.S. earned a silver in the team event — the first-ever U.S. medals in the sport. Suddenly, everyone was hearing about Nordic combined.
Demong, then 29, recalls the ensuing media frenzy: “A lot of us never connected the dots between wanting to win the Olympics and becoming mainstream celebrities.” The skiers got to do “all of these crazy, cool things,” Demong says, like traveling to the Middle East with an armed forces entertainment group, meeting President Barack Obama in the White House Rose Garden, and throwing out the first pitch at a New York Mets game, an honor reserved for only Demong, who grew up near Lake Placid. “Initially, it was fun,” he reflects, “but I realized it wasn’t a lifestyle I wanted to lead.”
He returned to Park City, where he spent the next few months remodeling his house and getting married to Katie Koczynski, a World Cup skeleton racer. And he competed in one more Olympics, the Sochi Winter Games in 2014.
Demong’s achievements extended far beyond the Olympics. As a World Cup competitor for 16 seasons, he earned 22 podiums, including nine wins. What’s the appeal of jumping’s steely nerves and explosive power and cross-country skiing’s endurance and aerobic capacity? “I can’t imagine not doing both,” Demong says. “I got a lot out of the cardiovascular, physical training, and I also loved the adrenaline rush of flying through the air,”
In recognition of his pioneering achievements in Nordic combined, Demong was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in March 2024. He describes the ceremony in Park City as “really special, with a great group of tight-knit former coaches and teammates.” But beforehand, he admits, “I had a hard time wrapping my head around it at first. It seemed like I was too young.”
In the years since his competitive career, Demong served for six years as executive director of USA Nordic Sport, the nonprofit that oversees ski jumping and, up until recently, Nordic combined in this country. He’s proud of helping to build better collaboration among local and regional winter sports clubs throughout the United States and of the organization’s successful effort to recruit more young athletes into ski jumping. Currently, he’s involved in supporting Nordic Combined USA, a fledgling nonprofit formed last June to fundraise for the sport in the wake of funding losses.
In fact, the future is uncertain for Nordic combined, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not approve the inclusion of a women’s competition in the 2026 Winter Games and has threatened to discontinue the men’s event for the 2030 Olympics. “I don’t have any good answers. It’s in the hands of the IOC,” notes Demong regarding the dilemma.
These days, he helps coach local cross-country skiers and supports his 13-year-old son, Liam (whom he jokingly calls “mini-me”), a fledgling Nordic combined competitor, and 9-year-old Renn, who figure skates. The family lives in Kimball Junction and frequents their cabin in Brighton Estates, just south of Deer Valley.
As for the international politics around Nordic combined, they seem a world away for someone like Liam. He’s in it, says Demong, “to just have fun.” Spoken like a wise, ski-savvy dad.
Billy Demong’s Park City Picks
Best Park City attribute: We have a little bit of everything living in Park City. I’ve fallen in love with some of the planning that Park City has done so well in maintaining open space. There’s such a huge outdoor lifestyle component that revolves around access to trails. We have a crazy amount of trails, and we do a lot as a family: mountain biking, hiking and trail running. And until recently, I traveled a lot, so having an international airport 30 minutes down the road was a game-changer.
Nice for Nordic: My favorite place to go Nordic skiing early and late season is Bonanza Flat, when they groom up there. Otherwise, it’s Round Valley. On an average day, about 75 kilometers of trails are groomed in Park City. I both skate and classic ski — it’s pretty much 50-50 these days.
Going downhill: I’m a Deer Valley guy; it’s my favorite resort in Utah. I love the sustained vertical off the Sultan Express and Wasatch Express lifts, and I like the impeccable groomers. It’s either powder or great corduroy there.
Aprés ski: I have two kids. We never après!
Pie with a twist: Red Banjo Pizza is at the top of Main Street and is Park City’s oldest restaurant, started in 1962. My family loves it. I love that they serve their pizza with a lemon slice. You’ve got to squeeze the lemon on the pizza. Trust me!
Parkite pups: We have cool dog parks. At one, Run-a-Muk, there’s a [loop] trail that’s a mile in circumference, and it’s leash free and fenced in. I’ve got a couple of rescue cattle dog mutts, Scout and Cami. They do a lot of skiing with me, too. Round Valley is dog-friendly for that.
