Olympics - Day 2

Friday morning found us waking up early, packing our stuff into a single backpack, and taking a taxi to the Olympic Bus Network station East of downtown Vancouver. We boarded the charter bus and headed up to Whistler for a day of watching Ski Jumping! The bus followed the famous Sea-to-Sky highway, which hugs the Sunshine Coast before turning vertical and heading for the snowy slopes of Whistler. The sun rose over another beautiful morning as we enjoyed the beautiful scenic drive. We had been told to expect up to a 3-hour journey with traffic, but the morning proved to be quiet and we arrived at the Whistler Olympic Park about an hour and a half later. Nestled in the beautiful Callaghan Valley, the park is about 5 miles from Whistler Village and was the host of the ski jumping and cross-country skiing events. Before heading into the ski jumping complex, we stopped by the ticket booth on a whim and were able to purchase tickets for the Saturday night victory ceremony in Whistler. The security was similar to an airport, where we had to pass through a metal detector while our bags were x-ray scanned. Luckily we didn't have to take off our coats or shoes, as the air temperature was a crisp 4 degrees Celsius. The only casualty of security was the metal fork that Christina had brought to eat her salad (the salad was allowed due to her food allergies). Once we made it through security, we followed the wooded pathway for about a half a mile to the ski jumping stadium.

The event on Friday was the Large Hill Qualifying round. They started the day with 63 skiers and narrowed that down to 50 with a single scored jump. They all got a practice jump, so we saw plenty of airborne skiers! This was the large hill, so the skiers started almost out of eyesight and plummeted down a steep ramp, departing the snow at approximately 95 km/hr (60 mph). The best jumpers flew for a distance of 140 meters (that's 460 feet!!!). It was amazing to just watch the first jumper, let alone the next 62. Our tickets were standing-room-only, but we were able to find a place to stand right by the finishing area with a clear view of the hill. We purchased official Olympics cowbells and quickly got into the spirit of wildly cheering for each athlete. There were only a couple Americans in the competition, so we found ourselves cheering for jumpers from quite a collection of other countries. The winner of the qualifying round (who would go on to win the gold medal the following day) was an amazing Swiss jumper named Simon Ammann. He made the competition look like amateurs by out-jumping the second place qualifier by nearly 6 meters! It was a beautiful day in the mountains and we had a fantastic time cheering and ringing the cowbells. One of the most incredible things about the event was the size of the skis. Coming from a slolom and GS background, my skis have always been in the range of 170 cm. The skis used in ski jumping are easily twice that long and much wider. The size actually allows the jumpers to generate lift as they sail through the air, extending their jump even more. I took some video of the jumpers, but the TV coverage provides much better views and explanations of the sport!

After watching ski jumping for a couple hours, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed back to the bus for the drive back to Vancouver. The rule of the Olympic Bus Network was that we had to be back on a bus within 2 hours of the event ending, so we didn't have any time to go into Whistler and explore. I settled into my seat and promptly fell asleep for most of the drive. I woke up just as we arrived at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. Located across the water from downtown Vancouver, the Quay reminded me a lot of the Seattle Waterfront. There was a market there that had wonderful fresh fruit and treats called beaver tails (think elephant ear, but smaller). We enjoyed some relaxing shopping and then boarded the SeaBus ferry to cross over to Vancouver. The nice thing about the Olympics was that our ticket got us onto all public transit for free on the day of the event.

Arriving in downtown Vancouver, I quickly found a place I wanted to check out: The Lookout. It was a 360-degree observation deck located on the 60th story of one of the downtown buildings. The perch offered breathtaking views of the city, water, mountains, and Olympic crowds below. Even better was the free wi-fi offered up there so we could check in with the world :-).

From the Lookout, we headed over to the Olympic Cauldron. There had been a lot of controversy over the cauldron placement, because it was placed at the ground level and surrounded by a prison-like chain-link fence. By the time we got there, the organizers had at least lowered the chain-link and cut a hole so that we could take clear pictures. It was quite a beautiful sight to see the Olympic flame and we made sure to take lots of pictures (with the free Canadian flags that we were given a short time before).


After seeing the cauldron, we headed back up to the Lookout (the tickets were good all day) to watch the sun set over the city. We got some great shots and took in the views from all angles. After dark, we walked across town and ate at a waterfront restaurant with a pirate theme. We had some wonderful seafood and pizza before wandering back to the light rail. We rode home after 15 hours of exhausting fun and quickly fell asleep.

Vancouver Olympics!!! - Day 1

We just got back from an amazing trip to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC! We spent 3 nights/4 days up there and got to experience some great Olympic moments. Here are the highlights...

Christina's mom drove up from Portland to join us for this long-awaited adventure. We woke up bright-and-early on Thursday and headed downtown to catch our Amtrak train to Vancouver. The original intent was to avoid delays crossing the boarder by car, but we discovered that the train is a very relaxing a pleasant way to travel. As we left Seattle, we passed over many bridges and hugged the coastline of Puget Sound. We snaked our way North and eventually cut through the Sgagit Valley, home of the annual Tulip Festival. No tulips this time of year, but there were some great views of the farmland and coastline. The train was very comfortable and Evelyn and I spent most of the time in the dining car while Christina took a nap. The train certainly wasn't the fastest way to get to Vancouver (it took about 4 hours compared to the 2.5 driving), but it was a scenic ride and we were in no particular hurry to get to our final destination. As we passed the Peace Arch boarder crossing on I-5, we noted that there wasn't a single car waiting in line to make the crossing. So much for the much-hyped 3-hour boarder crossing! We arrived in downtown Vancouver and whisked through customs relatively quickly. The train station is located on the south end of downtown Vancouver, so we were able to walk out the front door into the Olympic excitement. We had packed lightly so we could wander around town without worrying about checking into our hotel in the suburbs until later that day. It helped that the weather was absolutely breathtaking, with sunny skies that would last the entire trip. At times, we could be spotted walking the streets of Vancouver in T-shirts. In February!

From the train station, we headed along the waterfront and found our first Olympic festivities. Lining the whole waterfront is a series of tents and exhibits featuring the past and future Olympic sites, including Beijing, Sochi, and London. There were all sorts of ellaborate displays and signs that said it all: Vancouver 2010. Walking further into downtown, the thing that struck me were the number of Canadians proudly displaying their colors through elaborate hats, scarves, jackets, and flags. It was a phenomenon that was described as "contagious patriotism". You couldn't help but smile at all the people enjoying their moment of national pride. Two of the major streets in downtown were closed to vehicle traffic, which opened them up to a plethora of street performers, artists, and Olympic displays. At any given time, there were approximately 100,000 people on the streets, so the combined energy was incredible! Our first true Olympic moment came while we were in a grocery store stocking up on supplies for the weekend. Like most stores in the city, there were multiple flat-screen TV's broadcasting the Olympics and at that particular time it was the finals of womens' 1000m speed skating. The Canadian woman ended up winning the gold medal by 0.02 seconds. It was the second gold medal for Canada in the games, and the whole store erupted in applause. Again, the sense of national pride was amazing.

After stocking up downtown, we boarded a light rail train and headed out to the suburb of Surrey where we had booked a room. Being the Olympics, the rate was over three times the normal going-rate at the Ramada, but it was still much more reasonable than anything closer to downtown. The lodging situation during these games had caused quite the controversy because the IOC had booked nearly all the hotel rooms in the city for VIPs and expensive travel packages. Staying an hour outside the city had its drawbacks, but the public transit system was very efficient and always available (albeit packed solid during peak times). One interesting thing about the rail system is that all the trains are operated remotely, so there are no operators on-board. This allows for some unique views from the primo seat in the house. From the light rail, we took a bus about 15 minutes out to the hotel. The great part about the room was that it had two separate 40-inch LCD TV's so that we could watch, of all things, the Olympics! We spent Friday night watching the hockey game between Switzerland and Canada when the Canadians barely squeaked by with a win by a single goal in the shoot-out. We went to bed early to get ready for our Friday adventures.