NOTEBOOK: PLAYING LIKE THE PROS THIS YEAR, UTAH'S FAVORITE WINTER SPORT IS TOURISM.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

PARK CITY, Utah - Visitors to Utah's mountain resorts this winter will have ample opportunities to dabble in some of the events that will be contested in the Winter Olympics.

Utah Winter Games, a nonprofit organization that promotes winter sports in the state, has been offering instructional clinics for the past 10 years. This winter, as the nation trains its attention on world-class athletes who will be rocketing down ski runs and off jumps, the instruction figures to take on added spice.

On specified dates at participating resorts, recreational skiers will be able to try their luck at everything from snowboarding in the half pipe to moguls training to ski racing. The clinics are generally offered at no charge, although participants must pay for lift tickets (usually offered at a discount for the sessions).

In most cases, the clinics will not be held on the actual Olympic runs, because the competitive terrain can be a little precarious for first-timers, said Nancy Bristol, spokeswoman for the organization.

Information and registration: [phone] or [phone]; www.utahwintergames.org.

Among the highlights of this year's offerings:

-- Biathlon, Dec. 15, Soldier Hollow, Wasatch Mountain State Park, Midway. This is one of the more peculiar Olympic sports, in that participants alternately ski on cross country trails and fire rifles at targets. You, too, can simultaneously test your endurance and your aim. A promotional brochure urges you to bring along a bolt-action .22 rifle if you own one, adding that ``limited loaner rifles will be provided.'' This clinic will be held on the same 5-kilometer track that the Olympians will use.

-- Snowboard half pipe, Dec. 22, Brighton (another clinic will be held Saturday at Park City at PayDay). It's suggested that participants be intermediate-level snowboarders before trying any flips or grabs along the steep walls of the pipe.

-- Ski racing, Dec. 16, Deer Valley. Learn the secrets to running the gates - at your own pace, of course. This will be a modified giant slalom, Bristol said, and won't be held on the Olympic run.

Utah Winter Games also offers beginner clinics in downhill skiing and cross country skiing.

Old West ambience: Ski resorts and 19th-century mining towns seem to be a natural fit. It makes sense, when you think about it: Prospectors took to the high mountains in the late 1800s because that's where the precious metals were; skiers came along in the middle of the 20th century for the powder and the steep terrain.

Today, with just a little restoration work, the resort areas can achieve some historic (and bawdy) charm that is a natural lure for tourists.

Park City's Main Street district is a prime example. It stretches for a modest half-mile near the base of the resort's mountain, but serves as a magnet for visitors staying throughout the Park City, Deer Valley and Canyons ski areas.

As with most mining towns thrown together with clapboard, the original buildings were leveled or gutted by a series of fires, but there are a few historic treasures that date to the early 1900s: the Imperial Hotel, the Bell Tower, the No Name Saloon (a nightspot that has a cozy, wood-burning stove just inside the door).

In recent years, brew pubs proliferated in Park City, but most have given way to the current rage for all things Pacific Rim. Without much effort, you can now find restaurants serving Thai, Japanese, gourmet Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine.

In an effort to cut down on the number of parked cars, Park City - like many resort communities in the Rocky Mountains - operates a free shuttle bus system that serves lodging centers, the base area and Main Street.

It's convenient enough, but if you want to bop up to Main Street in the evening (and the weather isn't too inclement), you might want to consider walking. On a visit in March, it took about 15 minutes to walk from a hotel at Prospector Square to Main Street one evening. The next night, a cramped, standing-room-only bus that made multiple stops required twice as much time to cover the same distance.

-- Olympian bargains: Utah's resorts are contending with a potential double whammy to their business this winter: fallout from a nationwide tourism depression as travelers react to terrorist threats by lying low, as well as the widespread perception that the Olympics will foster zoolike conditions throughout the season.

In hopes of priming the business pump, most of the resorts are participating in the $20.02 Winter Celebration (the figure mirrors the year in which the Olympics will be held). It offers deep discounts on the cost of a daily lift ticket.

Here's how it works: Visitors who book a minimum stay of three nights at a participating lodging property will receive a gift certificate for $20.02 toward an adult lift ticket for each day of their stay. The certificates are interchangeably redeemable at 13 participating resorts.

The promotion works out to more than half off at one of Utah's most popular resorts, Alta Ski Area, where the standard lift ticket is $38 per day. The deal is even better for Sundance, where lift tickets are $34 on weekends and $28 Monday through Friday.

Blackout dates are Dec. 26 through Jan. 4. The maximum stay for the promotion is 10 nights. Information: [phone]; www.skiutah.com.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Main Street, a pedestrian-friendly area of Park City, Utah, offers restaurants, clubs and shops to those staying at nearby resorts.

(2) The No-Name Saloon is part of the historic charm that draws tourists to Park City's Main Street district.

Eric Noland/Staff Photographer