Day 9: Olympic Debut of Men's Ski Cross

These early morning shifts are not as much fun as they used to be... Especially not when you're still trying to get rid of that pesky cold. However, each shift is an opportunity to see something new, meet new, interesting people, mingle with new athletes, and - as it happens to be today - experience an Olympic debut of a relatively new winter sport: ski cross.

I was up on the mountain shortly after 4am. That's even too early for a coffee! I waited around for Caroline who finally arrived and we headed out together to the New Day Lodge, for our briefing and assignments. Not only we got scheduled together... we got the grand stand positions, again! Excited, we met up with the team and walked over to the grand stand.

It is cold up there that early in the morning. The sky was still pitch black and some of the lights were not even on yet. The crews were already working on cleaning the spectator area, setting up media zones, prepping the stage for a band, and - most importantly - shaping the course for the athletes.

The gates opened shortly after 7am and we greeted our first spectators to blue skies and a slowly rising mercury. Andrew and one of his friends had tickets for today's event. I welcomed them on the big stairs leading up to the grand stand just after 8am. Qualification rounds started at 9:15. There were three Canadian hopefulls in the line-up: Christopher DelBosco, Davey Barr, and Stanley Hayer. Dave Duncan was also there but he couldn't participate due to injury. Instead, CTV invited him to their broadcasting booth to commentate. Not knowing who he was, I gave him really hard time getting through my Access Control check-point that I was manning at the time, since he didn't have the right accreditation. In the end, CTV resolved that quickly by getting him the right card and I did the right thing, although afterwards I regretted not getting a picture with him.

Coming back to the important stuff: the race. DelBosco was the sole Canuck that made it all the way to the final. The crowd was on fire when he joined his three rivals at the start line. And off they went! He had a good shot at bronze throughout the minute-and-twelve-second race. But right before the last jump, he decided to fight for silver instead of keeping his third position and... wound up a little too fast on the last turn, flying off course into a snowy heap. He ended fourth, while Michael Schmid of Switzerland reached for the gold. Davey Barr finished 6th and Stanley Hayer was knocked out in the quarter-final round. Andreas Matt (AUS) and Audun Groenvold (NOR) took the silver and bronze, respectively.

Luckily, I got to see the final run and was able to hang around the area where the grand stand meets the snow zone and where athletes often mingle with the press and their families and friends. This translates to numerous candid pictures of the ski cross guys who are in general tall and heavy, more like hockey players than cross-country skiers...

Speaking of hockey... What happened tonight? Canada got defeated by Team USA 5 goals to 3. There are still hopes for the podium but we're off to a rough start against one of our biggest rivals. I didn't see the game though so it's less painful for me, I guess. After my shift, I headed home to eat and change. I then made plans with Rebecca to meet up at her sister's place for supper and some more Olympic TV watching, and - of course - to meet up with our common friend Dan (the Step Up Dan for those of you who know him) who just flew in from Australia and is making a pitstop in Vancouver before heading back home to Montréal. It was a really fun reunion. I shared my Olympic stories and he shared tales from his travels down under. I can't wait to catch up with him again before we both head back home. He still has no idea what Vancouver has in store for him!

I, on the other hand, do. And I will try to enjoy some more of it all tomorrow. Hence, I shall leave it here and get some well-deserved sleep. :)

À plus...

Day 8: Second Day Off... 'We Were Made For This'

I finally got some sleep last night! Not too much, but just enough to function relatively normally right from the get-go.

Today's mission:

• Hit the HBC Superstore downtown and get some Canada gear

Result:

• HBC 1 : 0 Michal

So, the Superstore is basically an oversized Olympic apparel section at the Bay downtown Vancouver. It's the official site where one can get anything from a pin to a hoodie to a giant Quatchi. Well... so one would think considering that the store is open 24 hours a day and it is constantly restocked. I got there in the early afternoon and joined the queue of happy tourists and locals eager to get their hands on anything red and white, or... big and hairy. Mascots, folks, I'm referring to the mascots here...

After a 45-minute wait, I finally got in. "Get your free large Quatchi if you spend $60 or more on mascots!" was blaring from a megaphone at the store's entrance (I would not want that job... Actually, I would not want any of the jobs at that store. Period.). I dove into the men's section. Browsing, browsing, browsing... Where are all the cool jackets and hoodies? Where are the nice Canada backpacks? (I really want one. Like... REALLY!). There was nothing nice left! Well, unless you're a newborn - they may have still had a few nice things in those sizes. It was an upsetting experience. One of the associates promised that they restock regularly but that initial queue is hindering me from wanting to go back...

After that disappointing start to the day, I met up with my buddy Laine and we went for coffee at Gastown. We hang out for a bit, until he had to head to work. I walked him there and decided to check out the Bell Ice Cube, which was just around the corner. The queue was only a couple of minutes long and they were giving out free earbuds. So I went in. It's basically a giant glass cube structure, filled with Bell's latest technology and flat screens displaying various Olympic events, live. You can plug in those fancy earbuds to the numerous outlets hanging from the ceiling by each viewing station to get an audio feed from a specific event and get the full Olympic TV experience. It was pretty neat, I must admit.

From there, I headed over to Cambie Bridge to get a few shots of BC Place and then down to LiveCity Vancouver. Andrew managed to sneak us in without waiting in the queue (by sweet-talking the gate guards) that was over 60 minutes long. We got some decent Chinese food on-site and enjoyed some live music while waiting in yet another line, this time for the Coca-Cola tent. At that point, I decided that I would much rather sit at a bar than stand in another queue (this one looked like it would take 2 hours to get in...). So, I bounced off to Scores, where my other friend Adam was having beers with some friends. We had some brews and watched Canada lose in a bunch of speed skating events. It was quite upsetting and I was getting quite tired. Also, the thought of getting up at 2am for my 5am shift forced me out the door and back home. After all was settled and done, it was already past 11pm. Thus, 3 hours of sleep is all I'm getting!

Will I survive Day 9?

According to HBC: "We Were Made For This" :)