In no particular order, here are my top 5 Vancouver 2010 moments!
1. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir winning gold, and then seeing the rings change to gold!
2. Being in Whistler and being able to take this amazing picture:
3. The Peak to Peak Gondola between Blackcomb and Whistler Mountains.
4. Sitting in Pacific Coliseum before the Figure Skating Gala and getting really emotional because I know the Olympics are coming to an end and it's been an amazing trip!
5. Team Canada Men's Hockey winning Gold and seeing how happy Scott is!!!
Tonight should be one to celebrate, but I don't have the energy... after being at Cypress to watch Alexandre Bilodeau win gold in Men's Freestyle (moguls), the first ever gold on Canadian soil, we were treated to several punches from the VANOC police-state that has allegedly plagued the games since day 1 of planning. During my short time living in Vancouver, I was always uncomfortable with the use of hard authority - bans on this, that or the other thing (like bar closing time at 11PM), no walking in public parks after certain ridiculous times (like 8PM.. seriously.. I'd understand midnight)... I always felt like I needed a permit to do anything. Here's how things unfolded after the gold medal exhilaration...
1 - we waited 2 hours, in the cold, for a bus after the event. For some reason there was a major lack of service to Lonsdale Quay likely due to poor planning - there were half a dozen buses waiting empty for the other 2 dropoff sites, none of which were redirected to the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of people waiting to get to Lonsdale. Nobody had the authority to send some of these empty buses to where they were needed. Some kid got separated from his parents halfway through the night, and they tried to scapegoat this as the reason for the overall disruption, but it was still really slow after they found him (Note to parents: please hang onto your children, our sanity depends on it). Somehow the entire team of Cypress volunteers, who left the hill well after we did, managed to beat us to the restaurant for dinner... although apparently they parked at one of the less used bus stops, and knew they'd be able to get on one of the empty buses no problem... good on them for figuring out the system quickly... this whole situation might have turned into an angry mob (and almost did at one point) if we weren't riding high on the gold medal.
2 - our snowboard cross tickets ($50 standing room only) are cancelled tomorrow. apparently for the reason of "safety"... don't worry, if you bought the expensive tickets, you can still go. we'll get a refund and have to watch it on TV. I didn't come to vancouver to watch TV.
3 - Olympic flame is in jail. Seriously, it's behind a chain link fence with a no trespassing sign, and nobody can get near it within 50m. Paranoia, Vanoc, paranoia. You're embarrassing all of us normal Canadians, get your iron fist out of Rogge's ass, and cut the "security theatre". Let the flame stand in public so we can all see it, get close to it, and enjoy it.
4 - Security Theatre - BC's tax dollars hard at work. Last night I could have brought anything (a gun, knife, bomb, drugs...) into Canada Pavilion. I placed my jacket, full of my phone, wallet, keys and water bottle into a bin, the security guard promptly moved it across the table into the 'secure' area as I walked through the metal detector. He didn't question for a second what was in my jacket. Should have brought a flask... oh and when we got into the Canada Pavilion venue, one of the in-uniform, on duty security guards was having too much fun dancing with a possibly underage girl. Some 'security'... oh yeah we caught this one on video too :) Talking to an 'unnamed source' - if there is an attack of any sort, heads will roll for lack of preparedness on the part of the Vancouver Police, RCMP etc. There is only the illusion of security at Vancouver 2010.
I'm beginning to see the other side of the Olympics... as much as I love the celebration of Canadian athletes, culture, etc., the organizing committee deserves a solid smack upside the head for how they've handled all of this. Maybe (some of) the protesters do have a point, when they're not breaking glass or smashing things downtown... although I've yet to see it. Vanoc, you've failed me hard tonight, and watching SBX on TV tomorrow will be a bitter pill to swallow. You better hope Canada doesn't win gold...
Just picked up as set of EDGE Passes for Beth, Jen and I…so its for sure that we’ll be hitting the slopes in Whistler! Pam’s decided to take a knee and wander around Whistler for the day…
The EDGE Pass is basically just a reloadable card that acts like a seasons pass. The minimum is one day, so with the associated discounts it brings, going this route will save us $30-$40 off the costs of a lift ticket, rentals, peak-to-peak gondola etc. We just have to hit the Customer Service desk when we arrive in Whister on Day 12!
Should be good! I’m super pumped hit the mountain….hopefully I don’t make a jackass out of myself!
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I suppose it’s the risk your run, holding the Games in a maritime climate like Vancouver, but mother nature has not been cooperating so far at Cypress Mountain.
Last time I checked...8 degress wasn't good for snow...
Temperatures for the last few weeks have been significantly above freezing (err…see above for today), causing the majority of snow at Cypress to melt off. Officials have been drawing from snow reserves that were built up, and thankfully for the freestyle events there isn’t much ground to cover, but conditions are currently less than ideal. It hasn’t gotten to the point where there is serious discussion of cancellation, but everyone is watching this very very closely.
Troubling Brown Patches....
For our part, I really hope that the weather cooperates. I’m looking forward to both the Men’s Moguls and Men’s Snowboard cross…and I’d hate to miss out!
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Was over on Gamesbids.com, and it was posted on the message board that there are a few more tickets up on the official site for sale. Very strange with no announcement.
Anyways, as of right now, there are tickets up for: SS002 - W 3000m SS003 - M 500m SB002 - Women's Snowboard Cross SS004 - W 500m SS005 - M 1000m SS006 - W 1000m FS005 - Ice Dance Compulsory FR006 - Women's Ski Cross SS009 - M 10,000m SS010 - L 5,000m SB005 - Women's PGS SS011 - Team Pursuit Qualification ZC001 - Closing Ceremony
Thats in addition to the preliminary curling/hockey tickets that were already up there.
Guess they found more seating at the Richmond Oval eh?
Now that Scott has booked our hotel in Whistler (yeay!) it's official and I can be excited about it! So while I was at work, "working", I got looking around the internets and came across many beautiful pictures of Whistler! So many in fact, that Scott said the only way I was allowed to post all of them in the blog was if he could make them into a slideshow. Ahem...
Name: Whistler Sliding Centre Sports: Bobsleigh, Luge, Skeleton Sessions: BS003 (Women’s Runs 1 & 2) Days: Day 12 Location: 4910 Glacier Lane, Whistler, BC Capacity: 12,000 Opened: 2007 Costs: $105 million CAD
On Day 12, Pam and I will be leaving the cozy confines of greater Vancouver and head up the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler. One of the top skiing resorts in the world, Whistler is home to all of the ‘Alpine’ and ‘Sliding’ sports for the games. Having never been to Whistler, or any ‘Resort Town’ before really, I’m looking forward to the chance to get up there.
While in Whistler, we will be seeing one event: the Women’s Bobsled – Runs 1 & 2. This will give us a chance to check out the Whistler Sliding Centre, and the insanity that is someone rocketing down the track. Widely considered to be the fastest track in the world, sliders can reach speeds over 150 km/h at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Crazy, crazy, crazy stuff. For the Bobsled event, we have ‘Level B’ tickets, which function basically as general admission to the grounds. From there, you just find a patch of asphalt that looks good, and observe. The seating chart below gives an overview of the track; the general admission areas are in blue.
Having been to the Salt Lake track, I actually think that I prefer the idea of being in the general admission section, as it gives you a chance to be right on top of the track. Assuming a similar layout to SLC, you can stand right up against the railing, which is probably less than 6 feet from the surface of the track. If you had good enough aim, you could probably reach out and touch people going down the track.
The track itself is nestled up against the base of Blackcomb mountain, just outside of Whistler Village. The course drops a total of 152 m over its 1450 m length, which my calculator tells me is an average grade of about -10.48%. Its 16 curves generally are not named yet, with the notable exception of Turn 7: Lueders Loop. During the track testing phase, Pierre Lueders managed to flip his sled in Turn 7, earning him the subject notoriety. Accoridng to the reports I’ve read, Whistler’s track is supposedly one of the toughest in the world. The following video provides a very cool run down the track.
The Whistler Sliding Centre should hopefully see Canada win at least a couple of medals. As the home country, Canadian sliders will have had significantly more experience on the track versus international competitors, hopefully giving us a significant home-field advantage. On the Skeleton front, Canada has legitimate medal contenders on both the Men’s and Women’s sides. Although the primary focus will be on the persons of Jeff Pain and Mellisa Hollingsworth, having the home-track advantage should also help secondary medal threats like John Montgomery and Michelle Kelly. Mulitiple medals on either side are a possibility.
We may also be able to take home medals in bobsled, where the aforementioned Pierre Lueders is a solid threat in the Two-Man, and a secondary threat in the Four-Man. On the women’s side, Helen Upperton is favoured to bring home a medal, colour to be determined. In luge, it would be a surprise for Canada to register a medal.
We’re still not 100% on what our schedule is going to be like in terms of arrival/departure times from the Whistler area. As I’ve never been to Whistler, I’m really hoping to be able to not only see the Bobsled on Day 12, but also hit the slopes. I think we’ll be able to fit that in either during the morning on Day 12, prior to the bobsled start at 5:00 PM, or by staying overnight in Whistler, and getting on the slopes on Day 13, which we have open right now. Either way, I think it’d be a shame to be in one of the top resorts in the world, and at not get in at least SOME ‘boarding.
Anyways, I’ll leave you with a bit of a slideshow, as yoinked from Flicker and Google Images:
This blog is the online chronicle of our adventures leading up to, and including, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. We hope to give you a little insight into what went into planning our trip and a first hand look at the Games from the ground in Vancouver.
AMAZING TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're considering Sochi 2014 :)
