Day 6: Aerials in the Fog

Wednesday started out as a lazy, rainy morning, with all of us sleeping in, since our only event for the day was in the evening. After getting in pretty late from Whistler the night before, it was a good time to get caught up on some much-needed rest. When we finally got up and moving, we decided to go out for some brunch before it was time to go to our Women's Aerials Skiing event at Cypress Mountain. We found a White Spot restaurant and had a nice meal there. White Spot is kind of an upscale Canadian Denny's or Coco's. The food was good and really hit the spot. The White Spot. Get it? (Sorry, I really didn't do that on purpose.) After brunch, we came home to watch the U.S.A. vs. Switzerland hockey game on TV. Wow! That game was a little too close.

The ride on the bus up to Cypress Mountain was not even half as long as the one to Whistler, which was nice. We had to be at the parking lot where the buses leave from at 4:30pm, and because it is close to the house we're staying in, that was easy to do. There were quite a few people already lined up for the buses, but they had plenty of them and the line moved very quickly. On the bus, I sat next to a local guy from Vancouver who had gotten the tickets to the event from his boss at work, but he really wanted to see the Canada vs. Russia hockey game on TV much more than the aerials. Fortunately for him, they were showing it on the big screen TV once we got to Cypress Mountain. As the bus climbed up the mountain road, the fog began to get thicker and thicker. I started to wonder what it would take for them to postpone our event and what that would do to our schedule. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
Once our forty-five minute trip was complete, we hopped off the bus and put on the rest of our cold weather clothing: jackets, scarves, hats, gloves; wear it if you got it. It was still sprinkling, so we knew it was going to be a wet evening. We walked what seemed to be about a mile before we arrived at the security checkpoint and ticket turnstile. After that, we walked what seemed like another mile to the venue site (I'm sure it was less, but when you're cold and wet, everything seems to take longer).
We found the general admission standing room ticket area and wondered how we were going to see anything from there in the fog, and there was already quite a crowd gathering. Kirsten and I went to get some food and found a better standing area, so we called Laura and the kids to come over to where we were. It was a pretty good view, but we were standing right next to the loud speaker and there was still an hour and a half before the event was to start, and we had to stand...in the cold...the whole time. The kids were real troopers throughout the whole night.

Hi - Kirsten here!  As you can see from the photo, the waiting was made easier by the giant "beach" balls being tossed around the crowd.  There were four of them, I think, and it was something that kept the kids occupied for awhile.  We also got some dinner while waiting - hot dogs and "Hearty Alpine Chili" which was indeed hearty, and delicious.  Plus hot chocolate for everyone!



Though the event was to start at 7:30, the fun really
starts before that.  They play a video with Olympic scenes on it, to get you revved up, and then they introduce each of the competitors.  There were 12 ladies vying for gold, from China, Australia, Belarus and U.S.   Laura and I attended this same event in Salt Lake City, and I enjoyed it just as much.  It's such an exciting sport to see.  You're in awe of the height they are achieving, then amazed at the flips they are doing while in the air, then excited to see them land cleanly.  If you were watching, you know an Australian won (which is the same thing that happened in Salt Lake, so Laura and I must be good luck for them!)  Also, if you were watching on TV, you might have seen Tony, Laura and me!  We saw ourselves when we watched it late last night, on NBC.  Very fun, although the kids were a little hidden.

We had a wonderful view, despite the fog, and we weren't too cold.  We made the long walk back to the buses with a crowd that was joining the Australian fans in shouting "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - Oy, Oy, Oy!"  It was raining and snowing (what we call "Wintry Mix") so we were pretty wet when we got back to the bus, but it was an uneventful trip down the mountain, thankfully.