Skier Sarah Burke has been Nominated for a 2009 ESPY Award in the Best Female Action Sport Athlete category.

The Annual ESPY Awards highlight sports top moments and performances from the past year in athletics around the globe. Award winners are determined by online popular vote.

Hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, this year’s ESPY awards will be taped at the 7,100 seat Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on July 15th, in downtown Los Angeles and will air on ESPN Sunday, July 19, at 9 p.m. ET.

Voting is open now so be sure to log-in, or register to vote at www.espys.tv. To vote for Sarah, scroll down to "Best Female Action Sport Athlete" and click on her photo. You can also vote on your mobile phone at www.espn.mobi.

_{Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images}

Last winter I was riding a chairlift with Heidi Voelker, former U.S. Ski Team three time Olympian and now Deer Valley Ambassador of Skiing. and we were talking about Park City skiing. Like me, Heidi was raised in the northeast, and when I asked her what brought her to make her home in Park City she said, "I came for the winter and skiing, but the summers kept me."

This seems to be the reason a lot of transplant "Parkites" put down their roots and stash their ski boots here year round. So when I had the opportunity to visit Park City in the summer I didn't need anybody to twist my arm except my wife who wanted to come along - Park City is a great family or romantic place to visit.

From hiking and mountain biking at the ski resorts, the Olympic Park, the USSA Center for Excellence, slides and rides, swimming, fishing, and boating at nearby state parks, the Farmer's Market at the Canyons, concerts, and shopping, to the Park Silly Market which takes place every Sunday on downtown on Main Street, with music, entertainment, activities for kids, and an open-air market, there is something for everyone at Park City.

Read what Park City is like in the good ol' summer time.

_{Photo © Mike Doyle}

Summer in Park City: Deer Valley | The Canyons | Park City Mountain Resort | Backcountry Day Trip Over Guardsman Pass

I recently visited Park City, Utah, to experience some of the summer events and activities at this family ski destination hub. While I was in town I was able to get a preview tour of the USSA Center of Excellence in its full operational mode.

All skiing and snowboarding fans who come to the dedication and open house on July 17th will be escorted on a tour of the facilities. Attendees to the ceremonies will receive an added bonus - you can meet and greet our athletes during an afternoon autograph session.

The 85,000 sq. ft. Center of Excellence, home for the USSA's top athletes, is a world-class training and education facility that will benefit the over 400 clubs of developing athletes affiliated with the USSA.

The Center opened its doors to the nation's top ski and snowboarding athletes in May and those athletes working out while I was there were definitely enjoying themselves. While the facility is open and airy with live rock music piped in, this is still the place for hard core, although highly individualized, workout routines.

If you can make it to the open house, you will see the Sports Science Center where data of every aspect of an athletes workouts are collected and analyzed. This analysis develops a base training routine for Marco Sullivan, based on strengths and weaknesses, that will differ from a base training routine for Ted Ligety, yet bring both athletes to top of their game.

The Sports Medicine department provides state-of-the-art equipment for injured athletes to work back to 100% under the watchful eyes of specially trained and certified physical therapist and physicians.

There is even a full scale kitchen where sports nutritionists teach these young athletes how to prepare healthy meals. This is most helpful especially when out on the racing circuit, where a foreign delicacy may be just the thing to kick off intestinal difficulties the night before a World Cup race.

What will really catch your eye is a unique "ramps and tramps" area. There is an actual skateboarding bowl and ramps to practice snowboarding and freestyle tricks, and even a ski and snowboardcross starting gate and ramp. While I was there the two bungee trampolines for high flying aerial training were getting a workout.

The dedication ceremony will take place outside the Center of Excellence from 12:00-12:30 p.m. Public tours of the Center will follow from 12:30-3:00 p.m. Car pooling is encouraged. Detailed information is available here.

You can see a lot of the Center of Excellence in a few of the USSA photo galleries. I didn't think to ask if a virtual tour of the facility may be in the works - nice idea though. Why don't you ask USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt about it on July 17th?

_{Center of Excellence training area © Mike Doyle}

Even though it's summer, not many people have all day, or every day, to get outside for a full day of exercise activities. That's especially true with all the rain we're getting in some parts of the country.

Hiking and biking can take up much of a summer day, but, you can do a gym workout in a short time before or after work, or even on a lunch break.

It doesn’t take a lot of strength training to work off extra calories, add some ski muscle, and tone little used skiing muscles. To cool off and stay in skiing shape try to hit the air conditioned gym a couple of times a week.

• Strength Training for Better Skiing
• Hiking To Keep Your Ski Muscles Strong
• Skiing and Biking

_{Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images© Getty Images}