My Zip Lining Day

It was an absolutly beautiful day here in Whistler - nice temperatures and not a cloud in the sky. Cooler than Vancouver but still great. I arrived shortly after noon at the check-in place, paid my fee, then waited with some others for our adventure to start. Our tour guides, both pleasant young guys from England, outfitted us in our harnesses and we set off through the village to the short gondola ride up Blackcomb. We then got into a snowcat pictured here for a further ride up the mountain.

 

They  have a series of  4 lines running between the mountains varying in length between 400' and 700' and along one of 2200'. We each (there were 8 of us in our group plus the 2 guides) take turns going  across on a line with a guide at the receiving end applying the brakes as you come in. I was a bit apprehensive the first ride but once you got the hang of it that was replaced by terror. Kidding- you got used to it. Here are some pix from others on the lines.

 

The views are stunning. The guides also mix in little lectures about the local ecology as it is also called an ecotrek. Very interesting as this was taking lace in a rain forest.

 

One of the young guests had an extra thrill. When she came into the landing zone she didn't make it far enough and went about a third of the way back out and just hung there over the river between the two mountains. The guide at the receiving end grabbed a rope and clamp and slid out to attach the rope to her. He then hand over hand pulled himself back then hauled her in via the rope. She took it all in good humour. Funnily enough it also happened later on to her boyfriend. This next picture shows the line crossing the river.

 

The zip lines start and end up in the trees and they have elaborate structures built there, including walkways between the  end of one line and the start of the next one.

Here I'm pictured in all my gear at one of the start stations. Magnificent views...

I tried to video some of my rides but a couple of them didn't turn out well. The best one came with a later ride across the 2200' span shown above. That was a great ride but I did it mostly backwards - don't know why... It goes near the Whistler Sliding Centre and crosses the river 5 times. My video is about 50 seconds long and is too big too include here so you'll just have to imagine it or somehow view it on my computer.Apparently somebody in another group using a GPS unit recorded their maximum speed at about 47 km/hr.

 

Our last ride took us down the mountain to the village which you can see in the background.The guides had told us to think about doing some freestyle moves or doing the ride upside down. I was pretty lame about it and just waved my arms and legs about. But several people  did do the ride inverted. Here's a picture of one of them.

He did this all the way down going along side skiers finishing their runs on the mountain. All in all a very cool adventure.

When we got back this evening our young Norwegian roomie had two announcements for us. He will no longer have to sleep on the pullout couch and live out of his suitcase as they gave him his own room. His other announcement was to tell us he has been invited to a reception here in Whistler on Wednesday with the King and Queen of Norway. Good week for Christain and Norwegian athletes,many of whom he knows, as Norway has pulled ahead of Canada by 4 medals . I tell him to wait until the real sports start to give medals instead of the endless variations of cross country ski medals that Norway seems to win. We have a toonie each riding on the total count.

Tomorrow I'm back at the athlete village for a late shift and we'll see how busy that is. I keep hoping they'll shift me elsewhere for this shift and Wednesday but so far no luck.

a great day at the Whistler Sliding Centre

My day got off to an ordinary start - did my laundry then went for a run. I also phoned son Geof  to wish him Happy Birthday . Deen and I are still trying to figure out how we're so young and he's so old but he is a great son! Funny how I'm doing laundry and Deen is home shovelling the driveway and taking out the garbage.

This afternoon I wet up to the Whistler Sliding Centre(WSC) for a work shift. Although I had been at the venue previously as a spectator for women's luge there were parts of I hadn't seen before, especially the work areas. The view from our station on Blackcomb Mountain is of course spectacular and is right beside an attraction called Tube Park.

 

This would be the type of downhill I could handle.

At the sliding centre itself our chaperones and coordinators first encounter the selected athletes after they pass the finish area and come to a stop at the top of a rise. The athletes stop the sled, get out of it, and the sled is moved quickly off the track onto an adjacent ice surface , where it is turned over and wooden tracks put on the blades to protect them. The whole sled is weighed as there is a maximum weight for the sled and the riders. Interesting to watch in operation and it can become quite hectic as the race is finishing and athletes are being notified for doping control. I hope some of these pictures capture a sense of it.

 

This is the Canada sled of Leuders and Lumsden.

 

The finish area where all the post race stuff happens . It can become quite hectic here.

I did have time for a press conference with my American colleague Steve in which we provided to the world press our views on the Olympic Games. Fortunatly this took place before the Canada US men's hockey game.

 

I meet several interesting athletes after the event in the course of our testing. They are HUGE with legs like tree trunks and well muscled upper bodies ! And they all have tattoos- must be part of the bobsled culture. I also saw the Aussie bobsled support team  - like who knew the Aussies had a bobsled team?

  

Finally on this topic for today here is a picture of the Polish sleds in the container they travel in and where work is done on them. I'm back at the WSC for Friday and Saturday for the 4 men bobsled competition - Friday is qualifying and Saturday the medals day. I'm certainly looking forward to that - sadly however it will also mark the end of my winter Olympic experience , an experience of a lifetime. 

On my way back to my hotel this evening I received a phone call from our command center. What the command centre giveth, they also taketh away. My scheduled day off for Thursday has been cancelled as I'm going to work at the cross country venue. I was there for over a week in the pre-competiton period so it will be interesting to be back there for some competitions. On the Thursday I had planned to go on the Whistler ZipTrek but will now try to schedule it for Monday sometime or Tuesday morning before I report back to the athlete Village in the afternoon. We'll see what transpires and I know my darling wife will worry whichever time the zip line experience takes place. Check it out at www.ziptrek.com. The free zip line in Vancouver has been extremely popular.

enjoyed my 4th day off

After a lazy morning I went into Whistler to meet an old friend from my RMC days and his wife for lunch at a sushi place where their daughter-in-law works. Nice lunch and we were joined by some of their friends. One of the couples left their decorated dog outside and I had to include this picture for the cute factor...

 

When we came out from lunch we saw in the outdoor TV studio across from us the latest Canadian gold medal winner Jon Montgomery from Russell,Manitoba  being interviewed . I took a bunch of pictures and think this is the best one. I found out he won sitting in a restaurant with friends when my son Geof sent me a text message.
 

Wandering the streets afterwards I encountered some of the Olympic mascots sitting outside enjoying the day.

 

Then a bit further on there was another live concert taking place . I don't know the name of this group but they were very enthusiastic .Perhaps they are the Bare Naked Laddies.

  

Next I saw the Great Britain 1 Mixed Bobsled team performing some warmups for the crowd. Are these the people that won the gold medal for Great Britain?

 I mentioned in a previous post (I think) about a sign in a restaurant near our hotel. I had pizza there tonight with some American colleagues who are all very experienced and very entertaining people to be with. Well here is the Go Canada sign --- very Canadian if I do say so myself.

 

Our central command centre (the people who manage our schedules) called a while ago to tell me that my shift Sunday at the sliding centre doesn't start until 2pm instead of the 11am I had been told. Two man bobsled finals so that should be interesting. However my Norwegian roomie just came in a few minutes ago, not a happy person, as these same people took away his day off for a 12 hour (7am-7pm) shift at the downhill venue.

Once again an unexpected day off

Regular readers are no doubt aware of my whining about the inactivity of the past few days for us in the athlete village. Well after I posted yesterday's blog update they called and said I had the day off. Others were in the same boat - it was a gorgeous day here today and I was able to take advantage of it.

I naturally slept in a bit , had breakfast then later on went for a run , this time taking my camera. I'm getting spoiled running here and the streets of Stittsville will be very boring in comparison. Here are a few shots taken along the way.

 

  

This is the back of our hotel taken from the path on the way back.

After noon my friend Denise from Ottawa and her daughter Courtney, also from Ottawa but now living in Australia, came up for the day from Vancouver. They are both chaperoning here for the games. They did the Peak to Peak and it was sunny and clear for them. We had lunch after that. I had one actual sort of celebrity sghting , Premier Campbell of BC and a Garth Brooks look alike- maybe I should have started one of his classic songs like "I've got friends in low places" to see if it was actually him. After lunch we walked about in Whistler Village and many people were doing the same thing. Here are Denise and Courtney in front of a bandstand with another free concert.

 

There are many colourful team uniforms around and here are two :
 

These mannequins are in the Russian out fit and some stores have big sections of these - $450 for the jacket. 

 

If you can read closely this is the Czech team outfit. Very colourful.

Denise and Courtney left about 6:30pm for the bus back to Vancouver and I returned to Creekside. I met up with some colleagues and we had dinner at the Southside Diner. Neat spot. This next picture is for Deen as you'll see the Mac and Cheese special.

 

Final picture of the day shows Kathy having a press briefing where she explains the chaperone part of the anti-doping program. Did you all see it on TV?
 

A scheduled day off on Saturday and I'm meeting an old classmate and his wife for a suishi lunch - should be interesting. 

All Quiet on the Western Front

Whoever coined the phrase "early to bed,early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise" was clearly a sadist. Nothing healthy about getting up at 4:50am. This is going to be a boring report as no new mountain vistas nor exciting news.

We had one test today and woke up some poor unsuspecting cross country skier at 7am. He wasn't grumpy about it (unlike me). Otherwise we hung around until 2pm then back to the hotel. A nap for me then watch the hockey game with a glass of scotch. My Norwegian roomie keeps sending me trash texts about the game
.

I thought I'd share our lunch menu as at least that's interesting to some - the meals are very good there.

We did have some interesting visitors early in the afternoon as two men from the 2012 London Games Committee dropped in to see the operation . Too bad we were idle as that might have given them a better impression but at least they got to see the setup. The following picture shows two of my colleagues hard at work. The lady is a blood collection officer from Vancouver and the man is a UK doping control officer.They are sitting in one of our doping rooms.

This morning in the Vancouver Sun there was an editorial cartoon depicting athletes jumping for joy for gold and silver and a guy lying on a beach chair in the sun reading a book for bronze- in another 2 weeks that will be me.

Final 3-2 Canada in a shootout - way to go Sidney!

WARNING: there may not be a posting tomorrow if things continue to be as dull today....

Bare Naked Ladies in concert

OK I wasn't at a stripper bar where the performers sang - there was a free concert this evening at Whistler Live in the Village Square. The Bare Naked Ladies are an iconic musical group of 4 clothed males but they are very good. They did their classic "If I had a million dollars" amongst many others . It was terrific and lasted just over an hour. A picture to prove I was there and another one of the group - I have lots of these and some snippets of recordings.

 

In the Village itself there is lots of strange things happening. The picture is a couple of Brits on stilts proclaiming the the best games ever inspite of the British press..

 

Today started very early at Dark O'Clock.. My alarm went off at 4:50am (as it will Thursday morning) and I got to the Athlete Village before breakfast at 6am.Our shift started after 7am but we did absolutely nothing all day  - the IOC did not have any missions for us as a lot of pre-competition testing had already been done and the current testing is being done right after the competitions following IOC protocols at the venues. I hope this improves as so many of us are sitting around waiting for something to do (we're kind of like firemen waiting). Our major task was to take inventory!

However I did take these 2 pictures there today - one shows the lunch menu n the workforce cafeteria and the other is my daily scenic mountain shot (this is the view the Canadian athletes have from their rooms).
 

  

Now this Old Timer , as my roomie Chris (he's 37) calls me , needs to take notes throughout the day so I can have my stories ready to go when I do this post. Here you can see me hard at work....
 

OK inspiration comes with the help of a beer or two...

Deen will be proud of what I did not do when I returned to the hotel bar. I did not have another beer but more importantly I did NOT join the singer in the bar who asked me several times to help her with some Jimmy Buffett songs. I told I was brutal and would help to clear the bar- however for my Barbados readers I can't make that same promise when I'm there in March.

a Canadian celebrity sighting and picture

I'm not really in to the whole celebrity thing but when the opportunity came up to have my picture taken on the bus on the way home from the athlete village ( no it's not Sidney Crosby) I couldn't pass it up. Some of you will recognize this guy immediatley but for the others you will have to go to the bottom of this post for the answer. Hint - I'm the guy in the blue.. I told him his picture was going on my blog and that he would then be famous.

I was going to title this entry "Another Day in Paradise (winter version)". Most of you know where my non-winter paradise is.I went for a run this morning along the winding trails just behind the hotel. Beautiful small lakes and ponds, snow covered trees, mountain vistas, and gorgeous homes. No wild animals so far but lots of people walking dogs. I could easily live here except for 2 reasons: I couldn't leave my family and my life in Ottawa and my gov't pension, while adequate at home, would be no where enough to live here. Many of the people who work in restaurants have 2 or more jobs.

I won my $2 bet with my roomie Christain from Norway about the men's hockey. I had told him if Norway won the game I'd try to find then wear the pants the Norwegian curling team wore this morning in their loss to Canada. A very colourful fashion statement.

The bus network they use here around Whistler and back and forth to Vancouver is very good. I have a feeling many are imported directly from the 1950's. But really many come from the US as VANOC has a contract with an American company.

This next picture is one of our chaperone volunteers in doping control. The lengths our volunteers will go to ... he may have a problem with VANOC and the IOC about using their brand. His name is Bradley and he's from Vancouver.

OK now for the celebrity answer. He is a star of a Food Network Canada TV program called Chef at Home and his name is Michael Smith. He has appeared on Hell's Kitchen and is a very entertaining and engaging person. For a non-cook like myself his show is interesting to watch. He is working here as the head chef at the Whistler Olympic Village- no wonder the food is so good. BTW there is a McDonald's in the meal area as well and for some strange reason people actually get food there as well.

Well it's just after 10pm PST and I have to get up at 4:50 am PST for a 6am shift start . Doing this for the next 3 days then my shifts are much more reasonable start times. At least I'll get back to the hotel at a reasonable hour and maybe have a nap. No maybe about it!