Listen to the sound of Vancouver as Canada wins gold

Listen to the sound of Vancouver as Canada wins gold

Just thought this was a very interesting youtube post.

Opening Ceremonies: Parade of Nations

I'm not sure how long this seemed to those sitting at home, but it seemed to go by so quickly for us in the stadium, much like everything else.

Don took out his binoculars to watch the athletes as they entered and he says it was quite fascinating to watch their faces as they walked in and saw the spectacle laid out before them. Of course most of them had cameras taking pictures of us as we were taking pictures of them.

We solemnly stood for the Republic of Georgia as they came in wearing black arm bands, having lost an athlete on the luge track that morning. Cheers were loud for all the teams, but especially for Great Britain, Jamaica and USA. However, as you can imagine, none was loader than than the roar when Clara Hughes walked in Team Canada.

Opening Ceremonies: Before the Athletes

More photos have now been posted, these ones from the Opening Ceremonies before the athletes walked in to BC Place.

We were there in plenty of time for our audience participation practice and when we saw the ramp set up behind and below the Olympic rings we knew there would be some kind of aerial component. However, we learned what that component would be the same time everyone at home did - right when the snowboarder jumped through those rings.

We were more than happy to don our white ponchos and shine our flashlights on cue even though all the props at our feet left little room for our toes.

Pre-Opening Ceremonies

All of our photos from before we attended the Opening Ceremonies have been posted on the Picasa site now. We spent the day wondering around Stanley Park and downtown as well as paying a visit to Yaletown and our old condo building as we made our way to BC Place. It's odd to think about how close we were to the kids calling Vancouver home instead of Toronto. Two more months and Ainsley would have been born there.

We got to Stanley Park after the torch had been through that morning and crews were still busy taking down the barricades. It was a dreary morning, as Vancouver can tend to be in the winter but the site of crocuses beginning to bloom made me wonder why we ever left.

This was the day that we realized Ainsley had no idea Vancouver was in Canada when she asked why there were so many people wearing Canada shirts but she knows now that she has been 'from sea to shining sea.'

Amazing Photos by Los Angeles Times

These are amazing Olympic photos by photographers for the Los Angeles Times. Just thought I would share.

LA Times Olympic Photos

Photos

I've started posting some photos for your viewing pleasure. The most recent can be seen at the top of this blog and clicking on one of them will take you to the Picassa Photo site I have set up for the photos. Picassa will allow you to comment and see a map of where the photos were taken. There is also a slideshow of the photos in the right sidebar of this blog.

I will be posting more over the next few days so check back often.

All About Ski Jumping

On Friday we entered the Long Hill Ski Jumping Qualifications at Whistler Olympic Park. This is located about a half hour south of Whistler meaning we had to get on one of the many Olympic buses to get to the venue. Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon are also located at this venue.

The event was scheduled for 10am and we were advised to get to the buses for 7:30. We thought this was crazy so aimed for 8:30 which was not an issue at all and were at the venue shortly after 9am.

However, the buses do not drop you off at the bottom of the ski jump - you have to walk about a km and a half uphill to get to the viewing area and it takes about 20 minutes plus you still have to go through security. We did accomplish this in plenty of time and found a great viewing spot with about 20 minutes to go until the first jump. The Canadians were all within the first 10 jumpers so we didn't want to miss the beginning - in qualifications you only get one jump, not two like in the actual event (or on the Wii). These 20 minutes were just enough time for Don to try to go to get something to eat from the concession stands (he had seen the sign for poutine!). Unfortunately they didn't anticipate so many hungry people at 10am so they had completely run out of muffins and were waiting for more fries to arrive before the event had even begun. We did get some really good chili though.

The event was quite short, lasting about an an hour and fifteen minutes. The Canadians did their best but are completely overwhelmed by the Europeans and we only managed to have Stefan Reed (nephew of Ken Reed for you Olympic junkies) qualified for the final. It is quite amazing to see how far the can fly off the jump even for me who is not new to watching the sport. It brought back memories of watching World Cup events at Big Thunder when the ski jump was operating in Thunder Bay, but that was a very long time ago in the days of Horst Bulau and Steve Collins.

Jumps in the range of 130m were not uncommon even when they moved down the start gate because of speed concerns for those that had been pre-qualified from the Normal Hill. Conditions were about as perfect as you could get - beautiful sunny day, very little wind. The crowd was very excitable, but none more so than the Polish who seemed to have a huge contingent at the hill. Swiss jumping superstar, Simon Ammann jumped last and then it was time to go.

Unfortunately leaving the venue did not go as smoothly as getting to the venue. We had delusions of getting back to Whistler and perhaps skiing in the afternoon. Unfortunately it took an hour and a half to get on a bus back to Whistler (an amount of time which exceeded the length of the actual event) and by the time we got back to the Village all we wanted to do was grab a beer and eat lunch with the window for skiing closed.

Regardless, it was still a great chance for us to see another venue.

Luge Impressions

I have already posted photos of our time at the luge. Unfortunately for us, there were no Canadians in contention for the final runs (runs 3 and 4) as we had hoped there would be. They blamed a change in the start position due to the fatal accident last week which moved the track 900 feet downhill, significantly altering the track and eliminating any home track advantage.

We took the gondola up Blackcomb mountain where the track is located and made our way through security and then on to our grandstand seats. We watched the race from this vantage point for run 3 but realized the more dramatic view would be track side so we moved down there for run 4.

Luge is fast and it becomes quite a competition among the spectators as to who 'got the shot'. Immediately after an athlete races by you can see the track side crowd check their cameras in unison.

We learned a few things from luge:

• The track is the same for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton (the only difference is the start position for the luge due to the accident)
• Spectators can stand right next to the track. So close you feel like you could touch them as they scream by.
• When the sun comes out they shut curtains to shade the track between racers.
• The kids prefer playing in the snowbanks at the venue more than watching the race.

Daily Schedule - Saturday

On our way home. I will still be updating with posts I haven't quite got to yet as well as adding better quality photos so keep checking back.

Ski Jumping Venue at Whistler Olympic Park