Day 5: Finally Some Snow

Today, all four Lazios and Laura were off to the women's bobsledding event up in Whistler. And, of course to celebrate my little girl's 13th birthday. I have a teenager! Oh my gosh, I'm so old! (Lol.... that was Tony. I'm fine with it! ~ Kirsten)

The forecast was for clouds and a chance of sprinkles, and that is just what we got. We slept in just a bit before driving to Lonsdale Quay, which is the departure point for buses going up into the mountains. We walked around the marketplace shops and had a quick lunch before we made the two hour trip.

The road to Whistler is called the Sea to Sky Highway and is really a lovely trip. Apparently, they have widened the road to two lanes on each side, instead of one, just in time for the Olympics. Even though it was foggy, it was still a pretty view, as the road follows the shoreline for a great deal of the time. As you look out over Horseshoe Bay you can see many islands that dot the landscape.
We arrived in Whister around 3:30, and then walked through the village on our way to the Olympic sliding center. It is the same venue where the luge and skeleton events are held. Bodie was very excited to finally see some snow, and immediately after getting off the bus found the nearest pile to climb on.
The village is a very vibrant place, with lots of people and and a lot going on. I definitely wish we had come up hear a lot sooner in the day, so we could see it more. Oh well, I guess we'll have to come back for another trip sometime. Around the village there are several stages where they have nightly events going on. We also saw the stage area where the hand out the medals.

To get up to the sliding center, we had to go up the Blackcomb Mountain ski area. A gondola took us halfway up the mountain, then we had a bit of a hike though the security screening and to the viewing area. You can stand almost anywhere along the track, but some places are better than others. We watched all of the first runs from the large viewing area in front of turn 16. It's the largest viewing area, plus you can see the big video screen and know where the sled is on the track. Even though there is a track announcer that describes the action and lets you know when they're coming, the video screen was very helpful. At this spot you also get a pretty long view of the sled as it goes around the last big curve before the finish line. Standing near the track, you really get a feel for how fast they're moving. It was really cool. They are also surprisingly noisy. You can hear them coming several seconds before they come into view. You gotta ring those cowbells loud, to be heard! Right before the competition started, the sprinkles turned to a light snow. Finally, it was the WINTER Olympics for us.

But you'd be surprised how much uphill walking is required to get up to the various viewing spots along the track. We checked out a few others, but we decided that none of them were as good as the first one.

As all the teams were finishing their second run, we decided to head back down to the village just a bit early. We wanted to have time to take Julianna to a nice birthday dinner —which we did at The Old Spaghetti Factory— and look in a few of the shops before we had to be back to the bus at 9:00pm. If you missed the last bus, you'd be spending the night in Whistler.

Hi ~ Kirsten here, to give you my highlights of the day. As Tony mentioned in one of his first posts, the ski village of Park City, UT was so charming when we were there in 2002, it prompted us to attend these Games. And the beautiful village of Whistler did not disappoint. It began snowing when we first arrived at the Bobsleigh Run, and it was so lovely. Then you add the music and the people from all over the world, and that's why we are here! We saw a lot of athletes in the village, too - members of the Polish, Swedish, and Russian teams. Also, there are several national "houses" in Whistler village. You might have seen something about these on TV. These are places set up for visitors and athletes of different countries to congregate, mingle, eat and drink and watch giant TV screens; and their countries broadcast from there. We passed "Switzerland House", "Ireland House" and "Norway House".

The other special "Olympics" moment of the day, for me, was on the bus going home. There were two gentlemen on the bus wearing snow jackets and pants that said "Russia" on them, and a Canadian who was loading behind us saw them and said "Uh oh - Go Canada!" (Canada plays Russia in men's hockey today) and the Russian replied, in heavily accented English, "Oh, no -- eet's go Roosya!" Everyone on the bus laughed. That's the Olympics. This game is hugely important to both teams, but they're good-natured and friendly about it. You'd be hard pressed to find a Yankee fan and a Red Sox fan getting along so well the evening before a World Series game!


All in all, it was a great day in the mountains. And Happy Birthday, Julianna!