Today WOP was scoured by over 150 police officers, some with dogs. They were mainly looking for bombs. As of tonight, security will step up, and accreditation mandatory for entering most areas. Parking has become a privilege, not only up at WOP, but in town. A bit of a nightmare, as the regular skier parking lots have now been taken over by Whistler Transportation. There is no more parking in the Village. A big tricky if you do not live in the Village. The busing system is still being worked out...most drivers are not from here, so they are totally lost, and end up needing directions from their passengers. This is definitely an Olympics for people that love walking.
Dirk and I both had the day off. We knew this well in advance and had booked ourselves into the remote and decadent Callaghan Back-country Lodge, 12 kms above the race venues. Yesterday we skate skied up the 400m climb. I had forgotten that the climb was continuous, sometimes so steep we had to diagonal skate up...there were no flat sections what so ever. Once up on top, it is so worth the ski, that we quickly forgot how much work it was. We were greeted by an Aussie couple that resides at the Lodge, cooks gourmet meals and offers you tons of great ideas, or a cup of tea if you just want to relax by the roaring fire. As sleep has become a luxury, both Dirk and I went for an afternoon nap before dinner. A full nights sleep felt so special. We were up before the sun, and skied the 5km lake loop with head lights before breakfast. Then an exploratory snow shoe through the copious amounts of white fluff taking loads of photos, as each turn was more breathtaking than the last. Another mini-nap, a delicious hot soup for lunch and we were off on our skiis.
First a loop to the base of the Solitude glacier, and then down the screaming excitement of Wild Spirit Trail - imagine Penguin hill down for 10 kms ! I believe our smiles are permanently etched into our faces.
Temperatures are dropping again to - 3 degrees tonight, so the grooming crew left at 9pm to catch it in the transition. Hope to see Dirk in the early hours, before I head out for my marshal job. Whistler is starting to fill up...athletes from across the globe in their country uniforms are everywhere, and loads of 'smurf-coloured' Vancouver2010 volunteers, as well as the ubiquitous media. We met up with Sarah Recoskie (Barry's Bay friend, and head of the Kids 'instruction' program on the mountain) at the Mongolia Grill, Pierre Harvey was sitting in the booth next to us with his RDS (french TSN) crew, and Jim McCarthy strolled in having just arrived from Ottawa for his big role as assistant XC chief of competition. Small world within this big one !
Dirk and I both had the day off. We knew this well in advance and had booked ourselves into the remote and decadent Callaghan Back-country Lodge, 12 kms above the race venues. Yesterday we skate skied up the 400m climb. I had forgotten that the climb was continuous, sometimes so steep we had to diagonal skate up...there were no flat sections what so ever. Once up on top, it is so worth the ski, that we quickly forgot how much work it was. We were greeted by an Aussie couple that resides at the Lodge, cooks gourmet meals and offers you tons of great ideas, or a cup of tea if you just want to relax by the roaring fire. As sleep has become a luxury, both Dirk and I went for an afternoon nap before dinner. A full nights sleep felt so special. We were up before the sun, and skied the 5km lake loop with head lights before breakfast. Then an exploratory snow shoe through the copious amounts of white fluff taking loads of photos, as each turn was more breathtaking than the last. Another mini-nap, a delicious hot soup for lunch and we were off on our skiis.
First a loop to the base of the Solitude glacier, and then down the screaming excitement of Wild Spirit Trail - imagine Penguin hill down for 10 kms ! I believe our smiles are permanently etched into our faces.
Temperatures are dropping again to - 3 degrees tonight, so the grooming crew left at 9pm to catch it in the transition. Hope to see Dirk in the early hours, before I head out for my marshal job. Whistler is starting to fill up...athletes from across the globe in their country uniforms are everywhere, and loads of 'smurf-coloured' Vancouver2010 volunteers, as well as the ubiquitous media. We met up with Sarah Recoskie (Barry's Bay friend, and head of the Kids 'instruction' program on the mountain) at the Mongolia Grill, Pierre Harvey was sitting in the booth next to us with his RDS (french TSN) crew, and Jim McCarthy strolled in having just arrived from Ottawa for his big role as assistant XC chief of competition. Small world within this big one !
Mom That sounds amazing!!!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE YOU GUYS
Don't work tooooo hard
:)