Whistler

Nelson asked me a couple of weeks ago if I was interested in going to Whistler to go skiing. I could not say yes fast enough! Unfortunately, I had to wait a few days to find out if I was free and then the trip was a go.

Nelson and Debbie's son Geoff was going up for the day with his school so we dropped him off at the school at 5:45am (I know, way too early for me!). Then the four of us, Nelson, Debbie, their daughter Cathie, and I, hit the road. It was dark almost the entire way but we arrived at the hill for a full day of skiing. I rented some equipment and hit the slopes. Unfortunately, it was raining at the bottom of the runs but we were told that it was snowing at the top. After a long ride up in the gondola, we reached the top of the musical runs with runs like Harmony, Symphony, and Adagio. There are a set of wooden pipes at the peak that make music when the wind blows.

My first run of the day was absolutely wonderful but it became more difficult as the cloud/fog layer at the top became thicker. It was very difficult to distinguish between the sky and the snow and it was also tough to get any depth perception on the hill. I could not see where the snow was thicker or looser so the skiing was very hard at the top. However, the middle level of the hills was just fine so we spent a lot of time skiing there. The upside to the questionable weather is that there were not a lot of skiers on the slopes and there were almost no lineups for the lifts.

After spending a couple of hours on the Whistler slopes, we took the Peak to Peak Gondola over to Blackcomb. Because of the fog and cloud mix, we were unable to see much from the gondola. We took some time to have lunch at the Glacier Creek chalet. By this time, my legs were quite sore and I spent a little longer in the chalet while Nelson, Debbie, and Cathie skiied another run. I met them about 20 minutes later and we hit the slopes again. At this point, I realized just how little of the hill I had skiied, in terms of vertical drop. We took a combination of lifts all the way to the top of the hill and skiied one of the longest runs all the way down into Whistler Village. Including stops along the way to take pictures, it took us the best part of an hour to ski down. Now we weren't exactly bombing along but it is amazing to be able to ski such a great distance without taking a lift.

It was now getting quite foggy again and it was raining at the bottom of the hill. The visibility was getting very low and my legs were done. You can see from the picture just how poor the visibility was.I decided that it was time to return my rental equipment and I spent a bit of time trying to dry off while the others went to find Geoff. They signed him out of his school trip and we spent some time wandering around the village. There is a lot of activity going on in the village right now as they construct the medal plaza and the CTV broadcast centre. We also looked in a few of the shops and even stopped to eat at a couple of old favourites!

What a Day!

I had two appointments today relating to my Olympic assignments, one to get my accreditation and uniform, and one for some orientation. Of course, they were in different parts of the city and several hours apart.

At some terribly early hour this morning (I think it was about 6:15), we left the house and caught the West Coast Express train into Vancouver. Nelson takes it daily for work and Debbie had a seminar downtown. Debbie and I walked to the Sheraton Centre at which point I was on my own. I knew that I had several hours to kill so I decided to do some tourist stuff. My first destination was the tourist information centre, marked clearly on my map with a big I. Alas, the info centre was not so easy to find. I did manage to find a small wooden building that was all locked up and alongside it was an information sign on its side on a trailer. I think the map was printed before the info centre was actually ready. I set off to find the other info centre and this time had greater success.

After picking up a walking map of Vancouver, I figured that I could easily walk along the seawall to the edge of Stanley park and back in an hour. However, my plans changed when I happened across a bike rental stall on the seawall. Now I can actually bike right into Stanley Park and see some of the sights!


I spent an hour touring around Stanley Park, returned my bike, and then wandered over to Gastown. This is a charming section of Vancouver with cobbled streets, Victorian buildings, and the Gastown Steam Clock.

I made my way up to East Hastings Street to catch the bus to the PNE grounds where I would pick up my accreditation and uniform. I remembered Debbie saying that she does not like a certain section of Hastings because it is somewhat unsavoury. Sure enough, at Main Street, there were dozens of apparently homeless men just hanging out with their shopping carts. The sheer number of them was somewhat unsettling but, since I was on the bus, I was not worried.

Uniform pickup and accreditation went very smoothly and, one hour later, I carried out a large bag with two turquoise shirts, one turquoise fleece vest, one pair of navy pants, one turquoise toque, a turquoise coat, a travel mug, a bottle of ColdFX pills (they are a sponsor), an Olympic ColdFX pin, a gas discount card, and an accreditation pass that gets me access to pretty much everything (because of my role in International Client Services).

With a few more hours to kill before my orientation session, I had arranged to meet my friend Sonja at the McDonald's near the Olympic Village. I asked the bus driver on Hastings how to get there and he told me to get off his bus at Main, cross the street and wait for another bus to run along Main (you really want me to get off at Main and wait around?). Before actually getting off of the bus, I had a look around and decided that the other corner of Main and Hastings did not look so bad so I would probably survive this.

I stood at the corner waiting for my bus, keeping my eyes on the people around me. There were several who appeared to be just fine, simply waiting for a bus. Along came a much older man who looked a little dodgy.

"You can't win them all dear", he said to me. "Would you like me to buy you a beer?"

At this point, I spoke up and said "No thanks".

"Are you sure, are you thirsty? I can buy you a beer. I have plenty of money. I have a nice little pension."

"No thank you."

"Are you hungry? I have some food right here."

Why did I not think to speak only in french until after the fact. Chances are that he would not have understood me and he would have left me alone! Looking for salvation, I walked over to the bus stop sign to see if there was anything there that I could appear to be reading. The young lady standing next to the sign looked at me and I told her that she looked safer than him and she agreed. Once I was on the bus, I decided to sit in one of the single seats so that I could ward off any further questioning!

I made it to the McDonald's for dinner but unfortunately, Sonja was tied up for much longer than she had thought with her training and we were not able to spend much time together. We both headed for the train station and went in opposite directions. I got off at the stop for my orientation and then decided to walk instead of wait for the bus. The bus was only supposed to be a four minute ride anyway. However, I may have chosen poorly this time since the walk involved going both up and down a very steep hill with no sidewalks and a considerable amount of traffic. I made it to the orientation session dripping wet from heat and five minutes late (although the tardiness was largely due to the fact that we could not find the correct door by which to enter the building.

I still do not know who I will be matched with and there is a possibility that they could send me up to Whistler to be based up there for the two weeks of the games, if they can find accomodations. It seems that they are very short of staff to do my particular role up there but most people aren't that keen on being away from their families for two weeks (yup, some of us run away for 5 weeks!).

At the end of the evening, Nelson and Debbie picked me up from the train station and we all headed home to pack up our ski gear for our day at Whistler tomorrow. I think the wake-up call is set for 5am (what am I doing?!).

Hello Vancouver!

Nearly two years ago, I started the application process for the Olympics and now, I have finally arrived. I spent most of the day travelling, leaving Ottawa at 9:45 in the morning and arriving in Vancouver at 3:30pm (6:30 EST). I had window seats on both planes and the skies were clear most of the way. I was not able to see much over Ontario but had lovely views over the prairie provinces and over the Rockie Mountains. It was really stunning to see the peaks and valleys and to see how the clouds had settled into some of the valleys despite the skies being clear else where.

I was really surprised though when we made our approach into Vancouver. Having lived in the San Francisco Bay area for a year and a half, and having flown in and out of there numerous times, I was expecting the same sort of terrain. In California, the mountains cascade right into the ocean and the cities along the coast are very hilly. Everyone is well aware of the hills in San Francisco! The Vancouver area sits at the mouth of the Fraser River and the Valley is really very flat. There are hills in the area but nothing like what I had been expecting.

My friend, Debbie, met me at the airport and we drove into town to meet her husband, Nelson. We all took the Skytrain right downtown and I was able to really see the impact that the Olympics have had on the city. There are flags and banners everywhere, all of the Skytrains have been plastered with Olympic logos, and there are large white tents and fences everywhere. We walked along the seawall and I saw the distinctive Canada Place with the highly recognizable sails as the roof. Alas, in my jetlagged state, I had left my camera in the van so I have no photos to show from my first day. Rest assured that my camera will be in my handbag from now on!

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Well almost! I have a couple of last minute things to pack (such as the laptop that I am using to create this blog) but most of my things are in my suitcase.

I found out that I will be matched up with someone from one of the Olympic partners. These include such groups as McDonald's, GM, Visa, Acer, ATOS, and Bell Canada. My job will be to take them wherever they need to go. I will also have a vehicle most of the time that I am in Vancouver so that will make my transportation somewhat easier. However, I also found out that I won't have a local volunteer with me so I need to spend a few days learning the lay of the land. It's a good thing that I don't get intimidated in new environments!

One Week To Go!

This time next week, I will be at the airport, ready to leave for Vancouver. I have a place to stay with great friends and a whole list of places that I would like to see. My friends are taking me up to Whistler to go skiing and, if I am not working, they are also going to take me to the Okanagan Valley (I hear that there might be some wine-tasting happening!). The Olympic volunteers have all been offered a ticket to the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremonies. All I need now is to find out my schedule to determine how much time I will have to participate in any of these activities!

Getting prepared.

The freezer is full of casseroles for Brian and the boys. I have started laying out items that I want to take with me. I am studying maps of the Vancouver area. In the next week or two, I will find out more about my specific responsibilities during the Olympic games and in just two and a half weeks, I fly to Vancouver and the real adventure begins. Stayed tuned!