Our Day as Spectators

What a great day! Well, except for a bit of rain initially. Out of the house by 9 a.m. and after meeting Peter & Dorothy at the hub we boarded the 98 bus to Whistler (just missed a ride on the double decker bus). We strolled through the village and met up with P&D's friend Jeff (father to Simon who is one of the full time groomers at the Whistler Olympic Park). We had met him last year when we were here for the World Cup. He has a wad of tickets mostly for cross country ski events but had also been to the men's luge so he was able to let us know where the good viewing was. We all spent the day together and it was nice to share the experience. Every once in awhile we'd go off in our own directions but eventually all met again. We rode the Excalibur Gondola up to the Whistler Sliding Centre (WSC) and very smoothly passed through the ticket scanning, security and up to the track area. (Well - we practically had to strip at the security point - OK that's a bit of an exageration but I did have to take off my belt, my jacket and fleece and explain the contents of my backpack. Richard kept beeping on the magnetometer and he finally found his memory stick in one pocket. Dorothy had her bottle of water confiscated because it was open but Peter was able to keep his because it was still sealed. We spent the first round of runs for the day in "the bowl" in front of one of the grandstands. It is right at curve #16 (called the Thunderbird). This is when they are at their fastest (130-134 km per hour!) and just before the finish. It is also where the big screen was so that we could watch them from the top and also watch the results. There was an hour break between rounds and a 15 minute break halfway through the second round so that the course could be checked and 'watered'. For the second round, we went up to curve #7 (the women were starting just about curve #6) to get a different view. We worked our way back down the course after every few competitors (27 of them) so that we could experience each curve. At these points, we could get very close. They just whiz by and the noise is not as loud as I thought it would be. The most amazing thing (other than that they have the chutzpah to shoot down the track feet first on little sleds) is to be at the outrun just after the finish. We stopped at three spots and they are still going incredibly fast GOING UPHILL for a very long way. A Canadian was in first place for a little while but since the last run is slowest to fastest we knew that it would take a miracle for her to remain in first place. Our return to the village was on foot as we decided that although the line for the gondola was moving reasonably quickly, it was still going to take some time to board. Figured that we had had enough bus rides in the last week so decided to walk back down beside one of the chair lifts. It was a little steep and soft but we made it in about 15 minutes and headed to the Brewhouse for a pint (not me - I had my usual ice tea) and dinner. We were joined for the beer part by a couple of Jeff's friends. Jeff went off to the medal ceremonies and Peter, Dorothy, Richard and I decided that we were feeling the effects of so many hours outside and on our feet so headed back to the bus exchange for the wonderful bus 98 back to Squamish.
Wednesday is another 4 a.m. wake up, out of the door by 5 a.m. in order to make it to our 7 a.m. briefing. A very exciting day tomorrow - men and women sprints - and we have some power there. Chandra Crawford was our gold medal winner in Turin in this event but there are two differences this year. (1) Chandra is a better free style sprinter than classic and this year's race is classic technique. (2) Chandra missed all of last season due to injury and who knows if she has recovered well enough. BUT we're going to think positively. We also have Sara Renner and Dasha Gaiazova competing - both of whom can excel at this race. Dasha is skiing so well this year.
Sidebar:
HURRAY - Canada just won against Germany in curling. My mother is surely glued to the TV for that! Our fellow volunteer who is also staying here is at the game so I'm sure we'll hear some good stuff about it tomorrow.
Return from Sidebar:
What isn't so exciting about tomorrow is where I've been assigned. In the morning (qualifying round - top 30 advance to the heats in the afternoon), I'm (once again) nowhere near the actual course. At least yesterday, I was near the pedestrian walkway so did have to make sure that people didn't try to get onto the course but I haven't figured out what I'm supposed to be marshalling way out in the boonies. I guess I'll find out in the morning. In the afternoon, I'm a little closer to the action but still not on the actual race course and won't be able to see anything because of some trees. I hope I can at least hear the commentary! Richard, on the other hand, has scored 2 prime spots in or near the stadium. In the morning he monitors who gets to the start and in the afternoon he just has to make sure that no spectators or other unauthorized people try to sneak onto the course and he'll have a great view of the stadium (start/finish) and a fair amount of the course. Since Richard can follow what's happening better than I can (I can't really see well enough to tell who is who) I'm glad he has decent views. (I know we are here to work not spectate but.......). Tomorrow evening, we are attending a reception in Whistler (oh boy - another return bus trip on the 98) hosted by Cross Country Canada. We are invited because Richard is on the board. There will be key sponsors and, we hope, some athletes. Must make sure that Richard gets some photos.
Richard took some shots at the luge today but the only one that has a competititor is blurry - it takes some practice to get these shots right! Jeff was able to gain experience at the men's event so he managed some pretty good shots today.
Well, tiime for some shuteye! 4 a.m. will arrive far too soon.
Hope you are enjoying the coverage of the Olympics on TV - you actually get the best seats and you don't have to take a bus to get there! Good night....