Snowboard PGS - JJ Anderson Wins Gold!

Our last ticketed event was the snowboard parallel giant slalom at Cypress. Excellent that Jasey Jay Anderson won the Gold after many, many years on the slalom curcuit. Well deserved before retirement. The downside was the rain! This was by far the most unpleasant environment. The rain came down in buckets and Victoria and I were soaked and cold. Good that the organizers had warming tents to keep us going!
Click here for the video.

Bobsledding at Whistler

Our first (and last) Olympic event as a family was visiting Whistler for the 4-man bobsled qualification competition. We wandered around Whistler a bit and in the town centre for a couple of hours before the event.
Surprisingly it was not too crowded and easy to move from store to store to get some quick shopping done. Since we are two days from the end of the Olympics, things might be winding down hence no crowds. We did notice one interesting change-20% added service tax in the restaurants. It would seem many people around the world don't tip for food service, so Whistler (and Vancouver) have adopted a 20% service charge.
Not a big deal as service was good in restaurant we ate at, but it better disappear after Olympics. Here's us at the rings and a quick photo with one of the display bobsleds. On to the event...

Click here to see the view from the bobsled grandstands.

Click here to see the Russian team come down at the bottom.

Click here to see the British team come in at the bottom upside down!

Freestyle medal even at Cypress

I took my father in law Paul to the freestyle mens at Cypress Mountain on Thursday. It was a quick bus trip from Capilano University up the hill by bus. We were in the general seating area but managed to score some good standing at the front fence right below the jump. Canada looked good initially and "wookie" scored will but we slowly slipped behind in scoring as other skiers made their jumps. They all looked great to me. It such a fine line between perfection and error to the judges. Click here for video.

Canada vs. Swiss Hockey!

The second hockey game we attended. Took my dad to this one. Canada won over Switzerland but it was close. My dad enjoyed the game so it was an Olympic first for him at 87 years of age. Had good tickets this time around at row 10 in one of the net ends. Luongo will probably be in net until the end after Brodeur wavered a bit in US versus Canada. Still hoping for that call from a mystery host inviting me to the gold medal game. Click here for video.

Russian Tall Ship Kruzenshtern North Vancouver Quay

In celebration of the Olympics, the Russian tall ship, Kruzenshtern, is moored at the dock in North Vancouver near Lonsdale Quay. The Kruzenshtern is a 114.5 metre, four-masted Russian barque and tall ship, built in 1926 in Germany and is based in Kalingrad. The 84 year old vessel houses a crew of 220. The Kruzenshtern was given to the USSR in 1946 as war reparation and renamed after the early 19th century Baltic German explorer in Russian service, Adam Johann Kruzenshtern. The Kruzenshtern is one of the tallest sailing ships in the world with a height of over 51 meters.

Fawkes' Ziptrek!

Victoria and I did the Ziptrek on Sunday. We got up at 5:30am and Heather drove us downtown and dropped us off (yes, I know, crazy but where else can you do this once in a lifetime). We got there at 6am and joined in line. Our estimated wait time was 5 hours. It was a beautiful morning, not too cold and coffee from Starbucks kept us going. Here we are after 5 hours at the start of the lineup to get to the waiver forms / harness.

Here's our video from bottom of the tower walking up to the end of the journey, click here. What an awesome experience. The scariest part is walking up the tower stairs, anticipating the ride. Cost of time waiting: 5 hours - - cost of lifetime experience: priceless.

North Vancouver Seabus Lineup

We are glad we went to Vancouver early! Here is the lineup, from North Vancouver to go to Vancouver - - 3 hour wait at 2pm! Crazy. Most people will miss their events. I hear you can just drive to most events outside of downtown, and park nearby. Going over in the morning was no wait at all - - we used our Olympic tickets to board for free (don't tell anyone they were not for events that day).

Robson Street Mayhem

Look at all the people! Parts of Robson street in downtown Vancouver are closed along with Granville and streets in between. We got downtown early, at 9am, had lunch at 11am (at Cactus Club - - tip, go at 11am to a restaurant to avoid the waits). We walked around for around 3 hours. Many, many lineups, most several hours to get into the events.

Olympic Cauldron

Saturday was our first family day at the Olympics. First stop, the Olympic cauldron. Many of you may remember the big fuss over access to the flame. It was behind a fence quite a distance from the actual flame. They moved the fence closer and added a plexiglass viewing section for pictures on the Friday before, so we got a bit closer.

IOC Copyright Police YouTube

Well, I thought it would happen quickly but not within a day! The short 30 second hockey video I posted was removed by YouTube with the usual warning. I guess it was not too bright on my part using the keywords "olympic" and "hockey" and "USA". I've put the Olympic videos elsewhere - click the links to see videos.

USA vs SUI Hockey!

I attended the opening hockey game with USA versus Switzerland today. Score was USA 3 and SUI 1. A very close game with good quality play on the Swiss side of the ice. I thought USA would have the clear advantage but not as onesided as I thought. Arrived at 11:15, through security in 15 mins, grabbed drink/hot dog and in the seats by puck drop. Click here for video.

I gotta have more cowbell !

Our kids got Olympic cowbells for Valentines day. If you have not seen these then you can certainly hear them being rung at the Olympic events. The kids plan on taking theirs to the events. Me, I'm opting for the free iPhone cowbell app offered by Bell.

Kinda reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live episode where actor Chris Walken encourages Blue Oyster Cult to add more cowbell, click here.

How much would you pay for Gold Medal Hockey?

When I was looking for my hoodie on eBay I decided to check out the prices for Gold medal hockey tickets. The highest is around $20K a pair CAN, with most around $7K for 2 tickets. The one that caught my eye is a current bid today of around $4700 for 4x, which ends in a day. The seller looks reputable so someone of the 21 bids may win. I'll keep you posted if one pair actually sells.

Elusive Olympic Canada Black and White Hoodies

Well, I've been in search of the elusive Olympic hoodie. Heather bought the kids red and white ones for Xmas but I did not realize they would be in such demand, and left buying one for myself late. Apparently they have sold out of white S/M women and black mens XL in Vancouver, but not in central or eastern Hudson Bay stores. At $50 they are a trend setting bargain, along with a pair of red mittens of course. I finally managed to find one on eBay for $90 today, so not too bad a premium to pay - - I hope it gets here soon.

I hear they are rioting in Vancouver over the lack of hoodies, click here.

My Friend Janine's Mom Ann Thur

My friend's mother ran in the Olympic torch run Friday, click here. They put a video on YouTube which was about 5 minutes. It had Ann running with the Olympic torch on a road in Squamish. She had run with the olympic torch in the morning, and when I was dismissed from school she was in the hallway, holding the real Olympic torch! Everybody was touching the Olympic torch, and it was really cool! Ann got to keep the Olympic torch, but she had to pay about $196 for it. Virginia.

Vancouver Ziptrek Robson Square

The Ziptrek set up in downtown Vancouver for the Olympics is very cool, click here to see. Similar to the lines in Whistler or up Grouse Mountain, you are strapped into a harness and fly across the downtown core, over top of some of the Olympic celebration venues. It's located on Robson street - - I think the trouble will be that it's free! Yeah, but the lineups are going to be incredible to ride this thing.

Whistler Bobsled and Cypress Halfpipe/Freestyle via Google

I was looking around on Google maps and zoomed in on the Whistler Sliding Centre where the luge and bobsled events are being held. Also googlemapped over to Cypress for a view of the halpipe and freestyle course. These look like they may have been taken early in the season. While Whistler has a ton of snow, Cypress is not fairing so well -- there has been a lot of rain at the base of Cypress and snow is not as plentiful. There will likely be enough for the events as snow is being moved around from the summit of Cypress.

Olympic Web Linking Policy and Domain Names

I was looking at the Olympic 2010 site and I'm wondering if I'm violating the web linking policy and the "borrowing of images. I probably am and if Google/Blogger ask me to remove or "gulp" VANOC finds out then I'll remove their images and links.

Also, some asked my about the web addresses and where they came from. You can link to this blog from www.mywhistlerolympics.com and www.myvancouverolympics.com. Around five years ago I got the bright idea to register these with a domain provider and just sat on them. Vancouver had not won the Olympic bid but were contenders so it was a cheap investment. The bright idea turned not so bright when VANOC came down on those trying to profit on the Olympic logos, therefore, I could not sell them, nor transfer them. So, next best thing, start a blog!

Geoff.

2 Weeks Away From Olympics!

Well, better late than "over". I've finally got this blog up and I'll start tracking journey through the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver. I'll add some pictures, stories as we attend the event. We've got a pretty good selection of tickets, some hockey, snowboard, skiing, ice skating and hockey (no gold, oh well).

I'll start with us. Heather, Geoff, Victoria and Virginia reside in North Vancouver, all lifelong residents (mostly except for Heather's stint in Toronto growing up in her 20's). Some of us ski, snowboard, cross-country ski, skate, play ice hockey and generally have fun when it gets cold. Vancouver for the most part is not that cold in winter (a few degrees above freezing), so we can enjoy the outdoors comfortably.

Geoff.