Day 4 - Our condo in Club Intrawest randomly was the exact same one we stayed in the last time we were at Whistler in 2005. Only I would remember something like that, but hey, someone has to be in charge of such minutiae. There have been some updates to the condos in the form of flat screen TV's in each room, much better counter tops, different artwork, more and better dishes, flatware and glasses, new and improved saute pans, updated duvet covers for the beds, a new washing machine, and new living room furniture that features two single sofa beds instead of one large queen bed. The mattresses are a much more comfortable, too!
Dale and I slept in the living room so it was easy for me to be the first one up and first to put the coffee on every morning. On this particular morning I found that we only had coffee beans but no ground coffee so I quickly dressed and went down to the Upper Village Market for ground coffee, a magic marker and a piece of cardboard. The super friendly clerk let me grind the beans I already had and gave me cardboard so all I had to buy was the marker. I alsolutely needed to make a very important sign :-).
The Alpine race of the day was Ladies Super G, and we wanted to grab another prime spot for viewing that one. We knew just where to go this time so we were once again first tracks down to the course and joined by racers, coaches, volunteers and officials on our descent. Our early start got us a prime spot on the fence with an excellent view of the first long descent off the start and the big curve on a ridiculous slant. Again we were near a TV camera and had our flags and the sign ready. We also had hopes that our loud cheers and cowbell ringing would be picked up by the folks back home.
We watched in awe as all of the fastest skiers attacked the course and stayed until we heard over the speakers that Lindsey Vonn had captured the Bronze. By that time, the gorgeous day was just calling us to ski.
We headed immediately over to the new Symphony Bowl area off of Burnt Stew in the Harmony Bowl and absolutely LOVED it! We took two long runs over there with one of them through the magical and enchanted Glissando Glades. One of the runs is called "Jeff's Ode to Joy" and that was what I was singing the rest of the day! The conditions were absolutely perfect!
After Asian bowls for lunch at Rendezvous upstairs, we took off for Blackcomb via Peak 2 Peak and skiied the new run Hugh's Heaven in 7th Heaven plus several more Blackcomb favorites before skiing down to the village and apres. Again we tried for Merlins but had no luck. Through perseverance, Dale was finally lucky enough to find a spot on the terrace at Monk's. We did not see any medalists this day, but Dale did win a hat, called toque in Canada, courtesy of the Whistler Brewing Co. girls.
We had received tickets to the 2 man Bobsleigh event, but Marty opted out of going so Dale, Ken and I headed over to the Whistler Sliding Center on skis. Since this was our first event, we were not prepared for the level of security. It was at least as thorough as the most scrupulous airport security, and once through security we had to walk at least 1/2 mile to the venue. Once inside, beer, wine, softdrinks, hotdogs, pizza and more were for sale, and the atmosphere on this Saturday night took on a real party tone. It was so exciting to be actually in a venue, and we watched so many sleds literally fly past in the blink of an eye. We saw several accidents including a very serious one involving the UK sled. Fortunately the only injuries were two friction burns on the back of the UK pusher who was ejected from the sled when it flipped. We stayed through the first run and half of the second run before it was time to go to the condo for the dinner Marty had prepared. We retrieved our skis that we had left near the Excalibur Gondola mid-station and skiied and laughed down the incredibly icy but lit Magic Chair run. We were home in time to catch the end of the second run on TV and then watch Apolo win a Bronze medal in his short track event and Shani a Silver in his event at the Richmond Oval all while eating dinner!
We were all exhausted after our very active day, but I still mustered up enough energy for a walk to the hot tub and steam room for some real relaxation. By the time I returned to the condo, everyone had gone to bed!
Between the 1st and 2nd runs each evening, volunteers came out to sweep the course by hand. They were just using regular push brooms and these interesting little scraping brooms. This kept the surface super slick.
Curve number 16. The sleds crossed this one at the top of the lower two rings on the Olympic symbol. It was impossible to get a photo due to the speed.
Here comes one of the French sleds across the finish. Finally a photo.
A look at the crowd and one of the ubiquitous American flag capes.
Dale enjoying the Whistler Brewing Co. girls at Monk's
Granted I am short but that is still a heck of a lot of snow that has accumulated at the top of Harmony Express.
Ready for the descent from the top of the Symphony Bowl. Maybe you can see an Alpine lake just down over Dale's right shoulder. It is in a totally inaccessible portion of Garibaldi National Park.
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