Roman - day 7

Hi,

It's Roman here. Over the last few days I have been skiing with my cousins, shopping, and watching the olympics. To the left is the start of the olympic men's downhill ski race. My cousins' names are Teal and Kole. They live in Campbell River, on Vancouver Island, and ski at Mount Washington. Mount Washington gets alot of snow each year. Right now, they have 4.5 meters of snow at the base! That is over 15 feet of snow. They're biggest problem is shovelling and clearing all the snow so people can drive and walk around.

My cousins are 13 (Teal) and 11 (Kole). So far, we have done alot of skiing with them and swimming too. Teal loves the terrain park and moguls, like me. Kole is a racer and he can ski very fast.

We have seen many olympic athletes, coaches and support people from many countries. We have seen the Swedish team, Swiss team, and definitely alot of Canadians. There are free concerts every night, and day. Other fun things are entertainers in the village, such as "Duh Hockey guys". They are 2 men on stilts, with hockey costumes, and they walk around in the village and they play hockey with kids and act silly. They have a french canadian accent and will have their picture taken with you.

We also saw a high school marching band that was very very cool. They played rock songs and did different formations with flags and cool moves. Me and my cousins had to stand on the garbage can to see, because there were so many people watching.

CTV is broadcasting from the Whistler Village square and if you are lucky, you can be on TV! Everyone is outgoing and happy in the village because we won the first olympic gold in Canada! (Alex Bilodeau) I do the kind of skiing Alex does, but I am not that good yet!

TTFN,

Roman!

Today we went skiing in whistler at a place called the Harmony Bowl. There was lots of powder and there was lots of very steep conditions. We also skied the peak chair which takes you to the very top. Thats above the tree line which was really cool. In the photo thats me, skiing in the harmony bowl. it was so steep and if you catch an edge, you will fly forward and tumble down the hill in the deep, deep snow.

In the village, they have all the cool stores that they do in Toronto but they are a lot more expensive.

The pool here, at my Grandpa's condo is amazing because its outdoor and its really warm to swim in. we go in every day at night while the parents do the dishes!! (teehee)

Soon we will go to the women's aerials so we'll keep you posted on that too!

bye!

Downhill racing start - Lisa

Here are other shots of the downhill course.  You can see how steep it is by looking at the volunteers below.  You can also see faint blue lines in the snow.  This is dye that is regularly sprayed onto the course to help the racers with depth perception.  This racer is probably already doing over 100 km/hr and he has only hit 3 gates!  The gate down by the volunteers is at the lip of the hill and the racers are taking about 50 ft of air as they go over it.  Racers try to take the least air possible as they are actually faster on snow, and begin to slow down in the air.  
This is the start of the olympic men's downhill.  The women's start is further down and in another area of the mountain, although they share the bottom part of the course and have the same finish.  If you watch the race on Monday, you will see this start!

All for now,

Lisa

Downhill racing by Lisa

Hi all,

This is a picture of one of the men's downhill racers (I'm not sure which country).  This is a training run, prior to the race.  Downhill racing is so fast (120 km/hr!) that the racers are allowed training runs to help them get ready and to test the course conditions.  Training has been difficult lately as there has been too much fog on the mountain.  This is the first gate after the start and this racer is probably already doing 80-90km/hr.  His position (called a tuck) helps him stay aerodynamic and increases speed.  The ski poles they use are bent around their bodies also for aerodynamics.  

Lisa - Opening ceremonies

Hi everyone,

It's Lisa here.  I am here to report on the opening ceremonies.  I can't wait to share with you all the pride and excitement we experienced yesterday.

Our day started with the drive down from Whistler with fingers crossed that we would find parking in downtown Vancouver.  We were lucky to find that most visitors to this Olympics were based in Vancouver and using the public transit system.  We walked through the downtown where there were many exciting events going on.  No shortage of security either, with most of the downtown streets closed for the day, snipers on the roofs and helicopters everywhere.

The gates opened to BC Place stadium at 2pm, they requested that we be in our seats by 5pm.  We went for sushi.  We should have gone to the line up!  We arrived at the line up to clear security at 3:30, confident that we had enough time to clear security and enter the stadium.  Two hours and 20 minutes later we got to our seats, with only 10 minutes to get ready to be part of the show!  The countdown to live air was on!  We donned large, light blue tunics, assembled LED flashlights with numbered film on them, and candle shaped flashlights.  We had tomtom drums and Canadian flags.  The lady next to us gave us last minute instructions and we were on the air!  

The show was fantastic, what a proud day to be a Canadian.  The use of light was amazing, the colours spectacular.  The singing and artistry were a constant surprise as each new act raised the bar a little more.  I hope that others visiting from countries and continents beyond had the same reaction and felt warm and welcomed by the open hearted demonstration of true canadianism (is that even a word?)  

What a great experience!  pics to follow....

Lisa

Hey!! today our cousins, Teal and Kole, arrived in whistler. They live on Vancouver Island, in a town called Cambell River. Kole does ski racing and he is amazing at freestyle. He does 720's, switch 720's, and he is only 11 and he is a decorated racer too! Teal, is a park rat and a mogul competitor like me. He does 900's, back flips and front flips and he is only 13. We skied whistler and we will ski Blackcomb another time this week. We skied some fun terrain and had some wicked falls, but the most fun part was that we were all to gather. I have some photos of the boys in the terrain park and other things that. See you later!!!

Roman's day on the mountain -day 2

Hey it's Roman again!  Today I skied on Whistler mountain and it was very foggy, but they had a great terrain park.  The gondola was very big, each gondola car can hold 10 people, and takes about 22 minutes to get 4000 ft to the roundhouse lodge.  The base of Whistler is 675 m above sea level (45 minutes away).  The peak of Whistler is 2,182 m above sea level.  

Whistler Mountain will be holding the men's, women's and paralympic downhill races, as well as GS and slalom races.  Blackcomb mountain,beside Whistler will be holding luge,skeleton & bobsled.  

We were able to watch the men's downhill skiing training run today.  Right after they go through the first 3 gates from the start, they travelling at 100 km/hr!  They paint blue dye lines on the snow so they can see the track better when going very fast.  My grampa says the fastest speeds they go are about 125 km/hr.  

After lunch we went to the Harmony Bowl, a large valley between 2 mountain ridges, which goes above the treeline at the top.  We couldn't see anything at the top because it was so snowy and windy.  We skied down the ridge and accidentally went the wrong way and skied into the Symphony Bowl.  It was very steep and powdery.  I had a lot of fun skiing in the steep powder.  

At the end of the day, we skied from the top of the Harmony bowl all the way down to the bottom of the mountain, into Whistler village.  We skied 1400 m in total to get there.  The temperature rose a lot as we got down the mountain.  Grandpa says there is about 7 degrees difference from top to bottom.  

TTFN,

Roman

COCO: 2nd day

Today we went skiing in the most extreme terrain I have every skied on. It was so much fun going in the trails and the trees and the steep pitches that over look small cliffs rocks. when got up to the top of the peak chairs, you could not at all see where you were going and we had to follow the fences so we didn't get lost and off trail which my mom almost did. In the morning we went to the mens downhill coarse and the coarse it self was insanely steep but the competitors were going over 100 km in the first 2 gates!! It was so amazing!! See ya later !!

COCO: 2nd day

hey!! today is Thursday and its 8:32 our time. We had an amazing flight (which my brother talked about). We watched movies, my brother was reading a book called "Wheres Waldo", I read "17 magazine and I have no idea what my mom was doing. The next day we didn't go skiing because it was raining and we were vary tired. Instead we walked threw whistler village, shopping. I didn't buy anything neither did my brother, my mom on the other hand bought some expensive things at 'Aritzia'. she bought some band: Citizen legging/jeans and a TNA plaid shirt that fits me too which is always helpful. In whistler village, there is about 20 Burton, QuikSilver/Roxy, Billabong, and other snowboard/ski shops, every one sells different merchandise. Today we are going skiing and we are so excited too. for a one day Whistler Black Comb pass for a child its $47!! and one for an adult is  $93.

We have to go out skiing, but well write in  tonight about our day!!

P.s  we have not taken any photos yet but we will post some tonight!!

ROMAN: 2nd day

Hey hey!

It is Thursday, Feb 11 and we are all going skiing today.  We may watch the training runs for the mens downhill.  

We flew in late on Tuesday night.  The plane ride was 2117 miles long.  It took 5 hours to get here.  The next day, we went into Whistler Village and went shopping.  We saw the Swiss team in their red and white uniforms.  We saw about 50 olympic volunteers in bright blue jackets.  They work on the event courses, they also work in the village welcome and help direct people who are visiting the olympics.  

TTFN

Roman

Search

Hey hey !!! this is coco2-9 and we are so excited to go see the olimpics!! we have not left yet and we are just giving the blog adresses to every one. We will keep you updated on the differant events that we are seeing and the different things we are doing. Don't worry teachers, we are doing our homework to!!!!

leaving dates

coco: There is one week almost exactly from when we leave. We leave Tuesday, Febuary 9 and we come back on Febuary 23. We are seeing the following events; Womens Arial skiing (every one), opening cerimony (Grandma, Aunt, and mother), Hockey/ Russia vs. Slovakia( father, grand father), and other events we will determine when we get there! we cant wait to go and we are glad that we can share our trip with every one who i s staying in toronto (or where ever).