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" :)

Day 7: First Day Off

I jump-started my day with a big breakfast, some Cold-FX and Tylenol. I uploaded a few pictures to Facebook and headed off to Oakridge Mall to get some Canada gear. I met up with my friend Laine there and we went in to the Bay. There is nothing good left! (unless you're a kid under 6) We tried Zellers, too... the Olympic gear zone looked like a disaster area after a hurricane. I ended up getting some mascots.

We got back downtown, had coffee, and navigated through the crowds toward English Bay, where we met up with Andrew, took some fun pictures of the sunset and the beach, had sushi, and headed back downtown. Laine went to work and Andrew and I went to Steamworks to meet up with the gang for beers. Rebecca, Flora, and their friends turned up at Steamworks shortly after, right when we heard an announcement on TV that Jon Montgomery just won gold in skeleton, Canada's 4th Olympic gold medal. The crowds went crazy and the cheers were accompanied by the singing of O Canada. Pitchers of Steamworks Lion's Gate Lager arrived and the party was on. Around 10pm, we headed out to a private event at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I have no idea how we got in! The party was awesome. There was a balcony that opened up onto Robson Square (picture). The view and the atmosphere were fantastic! Free wine was flowing by the bottle and everyone was having an amazing time.

Exhaused, I crashed at 2am...

This first day off really let me enjoy the incredible atmosphere downtown Vancouver. It's a true party town and we're not even half-way there... So, stay tuned! More to come... :)

Day 6: Ladies' Half-Pipe & Cold-FX

Another sunny morning! Tired, but happy, I headed out for my last shift before a 2-day break.

After check-in (I got my 6th shift gift today: a Quatchi mascot! Woohoo!), we went up to the lodge for our usual monring briefing and assignments. Today was my lucky day! Assignment: "Grand 20." As one can imagine, an assignment called "grand" must be, well... grand! It really is. I was dispatched to the grand stand, and on rotation between stairs leading up to the spectator area and the bottom of the grand stand, right in front of the half-pipe. Sweet!

Today's competition:

• Ladies' Half-Pipe (Qualifications, Semi-Finals, and Finals)

The weather couldn't have been better! The stand turned into a tanning zone. Some were in t-shirts and a few guys decided to take their tops off completely. It was probably close to 15 degrees in the sun and everyone was smiling, despite having to climb over 230 steps to their seats. In the VIP zone, I spotted Jacques Rogge's wife and numerous members of the athletes families.

By scanning the crowd, one can quickly discover who the favourites were. There were huge signs for Gretchen Bleiler (USA), Kelly Clark (USA), Hannah Teter (USA), Torah Bright (AUS), and a sea of red-and-white paraphernalia and maple-leaf flags for the three Canadians: Mercedes Nicoll, Sarah Conrad, and Taylor Palmer. Poland's Paulina Ligocka also had her loyal fans: her cousins Mateusz and Michal (also snowboarders who competed just a day earlier) waved big Polish flags up on the stands.

In the end, Torah Bright finished first and won gold for Australia. Hannah Teter finished second and Kelly Clark third. I was rooting for Kelly since her family gave me handwarmers as soon as the sun went behind the mountain and it got cold quickly. Thanks!! They came in very... handy (pun intended).

It was a really fun day! I finished my shift with a photoshoot with a fellow volunteer (and my partner-in-crime at Cypress) Caroline and Quatchi in the check-in tent, and headed home.

When I got home my throat was on fire and I was getting a fever. It was bound to happen: 6 long shifts, very little sleep, and hours spent on public transit are not the best combo for staying healthy... My immune system must have been down and I caught a cold. Luckly, the Games are sponsored in part by Cold-FX! Each volunteer got a bottle of Don Cherry's pills along with the uniform. So I popped a couple of them ginger-extract pills and went to bed just past 7pm. I woke up at 9pm to assess if I was in any shape to go out... negative. I crashed and slept until 9am the next day.

It was exactly what I needed! And Cold-FX may have worked... I felt better already and ready to enjoy my first day off...

Day 5: Shaun Does It Again!

Today, I will be brief because I have another one of those late finish / early start shift combos... So, I will try to get full 4 hours of sleep.

Highlights:

• Main event at Cypress today: Men's Snowboard Halfpipe (HP)

To no surprise, the snowboard superstar Shaun White (USA) soared through to the first place on the podium and won his second Olympic gold medal.

I was assigned to "Entry 30" today: assistance at the main entry point for spectators in the security screening zone and at the parking lot at the end of the event to ensure efficient spectator flow and bus loading. Given such assignment, I didn't get to see the whole event. I did however get up on the stands just before my shift, during the Qualifications round. I got a few shots of the boys flying way up high over the halfpipe's edges that I will try to share with you as soon as I can. I also went back there on my dinner break, just before the Finals. I got a few pictures of Shaun and a couple of other athletes warming up on the HP.

I guess the warm-up paid off as he swept off that gold medal with a score of 46.8 out of 50, beating Peetu Piiroinen (FIN - 2nd) and Scott Lago (USA - 3rd).

After the event, Shaun mentioned in an interview that when he got to Cypress, the HP was one of the worst he'd ever been on but after tonight's final, he agreed that the snow team did a great job overnight and today's HP was one of the best he's ever ridden through.

In Other News:

• My buddy got a picture with Tony Hawk, who was cheering on the USA team at Cypress
• Former PM Jean Chrétien was also on site, cheering on the Canadian snowboarders (maybe not loud enough as Justin Lamoureux finished 7th, Brad Martin 23rd, and Jeff Batchelor 32nd)

That's really it for today...

No Canadian medal at Cypress today but... there is always tomorrow to (as Chrétien's jacket so proudly displayed): Own the Podium.

Good night!

Day 4: Today, We Shake Hands With The Governor General

There is never a dull moment at Cypress... Today, we had a special visit!

I started my shift at 6:00am. Today's assignment: "Path 20." At first I thought: Oh, great... Crowd control - how exciting can that be? Was I ever wrong! In fact, I was in charge of a gate to the restricted area just off the main path that spectators take to get to the grand stands for SBX/Half-pipe. Who goes through it? The media/photographers, athletes, athletes' families, dignitaries, the mascots, even graffiti artists that were painting on a big graffiti wall along the main path. While controlling access, you also get to mingle with the spectators coming for today's women's SBX, so there is always action around.

The day started off on a bad note though. We were greeted by torrential rains that continued up until around 9am. Then we got fog. The competition was first moved from 10:30am to 11:30am, and later to 12:30pm. The fog finally lifted around noon and about half-way through the competition, the sun came out. So did the mascots, stirring quite the commotion in the crowd, especially amongst the youngsters!

But it's the surprise visit from our official Head of State, Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, that was on everyone's lips! Of course, she passed through my gate not once, but twice, greeting me and shaking my hand on the way out. Yes, we're pals now and I hope to hang out with her at the Keineken House tomorrow to party it up!

Today, there are enough reasons to celebrate, too. The main one: Cypress, the 'Special Child' of the Olympics, despite its challenges, has produced another medal: Maelle Ricker won the 2nd Olympic gold for Canada today in women's snowboard cross!

So for Cypress, our Canadian medal record to date is... 4 in 4!!

1. Feb. 13 - Jenn Heil (Women's Moguls) - Silver
2. Feb. 14 - Alexandre Bilodeau (Men's Moguls) - Gold
3. Feb. 15 - Mike Robertson (Men's SBX) - Silver
4. Feb. 16 - Maelle Ricker (Women's SBX) - Gold

It's all smiles amongst the 'blue jackets!' :)

After my shift, I got home and met up with Adam. We headed out to a local theater, the Cultch, for a play titled BASH'd (part of the Cultural Olympiad) and then downtown to the Deutsche Haus for some real German beer and bratwurst hot-dogs!

Another awesome day: check.

Day 3: Silver in SBX and My New Paparazzi Role

Feb. 15th started on just 2 hours of sleep. Yup. That is all I got last night. No, not because I went out. In short: my Sunday shift finished at 8pm and my Monday morning shift started at 6:00am. Here's a little breakdown for you so that you get the picture of what we sometimes go through (you'll see later why it's all worth it in the end):

• I leave my work position at 8pm
• I board the bus to Lonsdale Quay at 8:55pm (yup, almost a 1-hour queue)
• The bus drops us off at Lonsdale at 9:30pm
• I make it across the bay to Waterfront Station on the SeaBus for around 10:00pm
• From there, I get on the SkyTrain and get off at Nanaimo Station at 10:30-ish...
• Finally, I hop on the bus (line 7) around 10:40pm and ride it for another 10 minutes
• Add a 5-minute walk home from the bus stop and that brings us close to 11pm
• I'm in bed by midnight only to get up at 2am today
• I'm out by 2:30am to car-pool with a very cool volunteer, Hilary (in a white Mercedes B200, thankyouverymuch)
• She drives us to Capilano University, one of the 3 Olympic bus transportation hubs
• The bus leaves Capilano at 3:10am and we get to Cypress just before 4am.

Yeah... exactly...

My shift didn't really start until 5:45am. That's when we get our daily briefing and assignments. So, what does one do with close to 2 hours to kill? One gets RCMP officers to take pictures of him on the moguls, where Alexandre Bilodeau (or as they call him here now: Alexandre The Great) won the first Olympic gold on home soil. One also gets a ride on the chairlift that the world's best snowboarders will be taking later in the day to get on the snowboard cross (SBX) track. One basically loiters in search of the best spots to get a glimpse (and maybe a photo) of the athletes.

"Snow 20" was my assignment for the day. What does that mean? It means that our team would be taking care of the area in front of the spectator stands and the bottom of the run (i.e. the mixed zone reserved for photographers and media). Originally, this area was designated for general admission tickets but those got canceled due to unsafe snow conditions, i.e. the snow is too scarce to support the 4100 persons that the tickets were sold to. Sorry, folks! Refunds will be issued...

After helping with the set up in the area, I was positioned as Access Control coordinator for one of the gates at the Mixed Zone. Translation: I got front-row-seats' view of the athletes as they would come off their last jump and down the final stretch of the course and through the finish line, into the bay, out through the gates and the Mixed Zone, and down to the chair lift. Amazing! I have a few shots of Seth Wescott (USA - winner), François Boivin (Canada - 12th) and Mike Robertson (Canadian silver medalist), Zan Kosir (Slovenia, n/a), Damon Hayler and Alex Pullin (Australia - 10th and 17th), Xavier De Le Rue (France - 19th), and others. The chance to be so close to these fantastic individuals combined with sunny skies made for a great day at Cypress.

Exhaused, I crashed as soon as I got home around 7:30pm. I slept until 2:45am, when the alarm sounded to wake me up for my next morning shift and a day of women's snowboard cross...

Do we have more medals on the way?

We'll see...

(Picture: Mike is on your left)

Day 2: Canada Finally Strikes Gold Home

I was finishing my plate of vegetable medley in the volunteer cafeteria at the Old Day Lodge at Cypress when the men's moguls final was nearing its end. Alex Bilodeau from Quebec was about to go down on his final run of the day. We got dressed quickly and headed out to see if he could write a new chapter in this country's sports history books...

3, 2, 1... Go! He flew off from the gate and zipped down those moguls to a crowd of close to 10 000 cheering fans. First jump: completed... Second mogul stretch... he's as steady as ever. Second jump: perfect. Just a few more seconds... and he crosses the line. The crowd is clapping and the next 30 or 40 seconds feel like an eternity. The moment the score came on, the crowd went crazy! Not just the spectators, but so did the sercurity workforce, bus drivers, volunteers, and anyone really who was able to see Alexandre do it: write that new chapter in Canadian Olympic history. The first gold medal on home soil and the first gold for Canada at these Winter Games.

It is really the main highlight of the day. The fact that it was warm and sunny, that the spectator and bus flow went smoother than last night, that the volunteers and leaders were better prepared today... it's all secondary details. We all went home tonight feeling proud. Tired and cold, too... but mostly proud. And those smiles that VANOC kept asking us to always have on, well, they came naturally.

Let's be inspired by this great day.

Go, Canada, go!

Day 1: First Day at Cypress + Canada & Poland Get Silver

I woke up with a bit of a hangover to rainy skies but... that has not come even remotely close to wiping the smile off of my face. Today, I finally get to put on my sexy uniform and do what I came here to do: be the "face of the Games," as they call the Event Services (EVS) folks here, and greet the world to Cypress Mountain: the venue for all the freestyle skiing and snowboard events.

I got dressed and headed downtown, where I had a quick lunch with Andrew and some of his friends who just got down from the zip-line at Robson Square (one thing that I have to go on before I leave!). At 15:20, I boarded the SeaBus, which brought me to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. The Olympic Bus departs from this location, bringing spectators and volunteers up to Cypress Mtn. as no private vehicles are permitted at the venue. We left at 15:45 and got to Cypress about 40 minutes later. It was a funny site... There is really no snow anywhere except for the runs and the peak. Also, I don't think I have ever seen so many buses in one spot. Most were plated with California licence plates but some were also from Utah. I heard there are also about 30 coaches from Quebec. It's a big event... :)

After checking in at the Workforce Check-In tent for my 17:00 shift, I headed up to the Venue Operations Centre to meet with my team, our leader Sandra, and the VANOC crew. The site was already buzzing with all the freestyle skiing action. What was on today?

• 16:30 - Ladies Mogul Qualification
• 19:30 - Ladies Mogul Final

I was assigned the role of a Ticket Validator for the evening. It's fun because you get to mingle with the crowd and watch the event at the same time (the run was clearly visible from the validation area). A couple of other volunteers and I were fortunate enough to see the actual silver and gold medals runs! Seeing it live is absolutely amazing! Both Hanna Kearney (USA - Gold) and Jennifer Heil (CAN - Silver) flew down that mountain to an incredible support from the thousands of fans on site.

In other news, Poland's Adam Małysz also got silver today in Men's NH Individual Ski Jumping, losing only to Simon Ammann of Switzerland by 7 points.

What else can I tell you about... They fed us well! I had a potato & bacon soup, sun-dried tomato and basil pasta with caesar salad (with real Canadian bacon), an apple, and a granola bar. It was really good! What else... My team, Bravo20, is really fun. There is one more Quebecker in it, Christian, from Richelieu, so I get to practice mon français. The whole EVS team is really energetic and enthusiastic, which is important since we really have to rely on team work to get things done and... we need to keep moving to stay warm. Even though the temperature today was above zero, it was windy and really wet. The uniforms are waterproof and quite warm (thank you, HBC!) but it's really the action that kept us warm throughout the evening. Since the crowds vacated the venue quicker than we anticipated (probably because they were cold and hungry as wait time at concession stands was over an hour), we got to go home an hour early.

We left the rain-soaked mountain at around 22:10 on an Olympic bus. I met two more fellow Montrealers on board. They were also volunteering at the venue, fixing up the moguls in between runs. When I got back downtown, I visited the torch again and continued down along the shore to check out the Olympic rings that are floating in the Burrard Inlet, between Vancouver's Waterfront and North Vancouver. I will take some night shots of both sites tomorrow, when I bring my camera with me...

It was an awesome day, really. I'm exhausted but that smile I woke up with is still on my face, only bigger! Can't wait to do it all over again tomorrow... :) Good night!

Day 0: The Opening Ceremony

2010-02-12. Not an ordinary date in Canadian history. This is the third time we're hosting the world for the greatest sporting event, and today we're kicking it all off! 17 incredible days are ahead of us. Years of waiting and preparation are behind. Let's party! But only after we pause for a moment in silence...

That's because today is also a day of mourning, for Georgia, after Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a horrific crash at Whistler, on the luge track, just hours before the opening ceremony. A grim start to this rainy day...

I kicked it off by meeting with an old friend from Montréal who's here working with CTV/RDS at the International Broadcast Centre. Pierre-Luc is one of many junior journalists contributing to the stories you read about on the net and see on TV.

We took the SkyTrain down to Main/Science-World station where Russian House (Sochi 2014) is located. From there, we walked along False Creek towards BC Place, where crowds were already lining up for the opening ceremony. After a brief pause for few Chinese dumplings, we continued through the downtown core, enjoying all the street action. And there is plenty of it here: from LiveCity areas to celebration sites to international houses, pavilions, and cultural centres... the city is buzzing! Police forces from all over Canada are patrolling the streets (I saw a few of our own Montréal cops!) but there aren't many protests and it's incredibly safe in the city, even late at night.

After the stroll, Pierre-Luc went to work to cover the main event and I headed home to change, pick up the bottle of my free wine (volunteering perk #28), and head to Kate, Dionna, and Marion's place on Quebec Street, for the opening ceremony house party! Why there? Well, A) they are 3 really cool girls I had just met on Wendesday, and B) the view from their 11th floor balcony gives straight onto False Creek, BC Place, and the downtown core. It's absolutely spectacular (and no, I still have't figured out a way to transfer pics from my camera onto my work laptop... but when I do, you will see what I mean.)!

The party was wild! I won't get into the details but watching the ceremony with a large crowd (there must have been at least 30 people there) of rowdy Canadians, drinking and cheering, and looking out the window to see the place where it's all happening... I mean... words can't describe it! Hopefully, my pictures will :)

My buddy Adam finished his shift at the main ticket place and joined us around 11:30pm. The party went on until about 1am at which point we headed out to see the torch (see picture) that Wayne Gretzky had lit up earlier on. My friend Andrew and two if his buddies (Dustin and Dan) joined us. Adam went home 'cause he had an early morning shift the next day and I hit the party scene with the boys. We had some drinks and watched parts of the ceremony that was replayed on all networks and all screens at the bar, to finally end up at some club called Odyssey, where we partied well past 3am. After some well-deserved pizza, I made it home without remembering much of how exactly that happened, and crashed at 5am...

So there you have it! The Games are open. The parties are on. The world is watching.

Tomorrow, I start my volunteering journey! Stay tuned...

I am already having an absolute blast here and I hope the tiny bits of it that I can share here with you are enough for you to enjoy these special times we live in with me...

Enjoy the Games, Canada!